Ballotin Chocolate Whiskey has partnered with Apron, Inc. and Moonshine University to offer quarterly scholarships to local food and beverage professionals for admittance to the Stave & Thief Society bourbon certification class, and the second recipient has just been announced. Feast BBQ’s Joshua Bigler will be receiving his certification in March. The first recipient, Ryan Lindauer received his last November and says he paired a thank you to Ballotin with a high recommendation of the course to anyone who wants to go beyond “whiskey enthusiast.”
The “Stave & Thief Society Bourbon Certification, developed by Louisville’s own Moonshine University, is a training and education course established to promote and uphold bourbon’s unique and distinguished culture by preparing establishments and individuals to deliver on the promise of the authentic bourbon experience.
“The teachers at Moonshine U developed a great hands-on curriculum in my opinion,” said Lindauer. “This course really broke down my conception of distilled spirits and replaced misconceptions with fact. The style of the classroom was somewhat of an open forum, which helped the class cover a wide range of topics and actively taste with each other. ”
Scholarship candidates are nominated by Apron, Inc. member establishments and one recipient will be chosen by the Apron Inc. Board of Directors per quarter. The scholarship serves to provide a premium, experiential bourbon certification that delivers real value to those with careers in the service industry with the intention to build passion, credibility, and professionalism in the local bar and restaurant community.
Bigler is excited to be the next in line. “I believe the hands-on instruction I receive will play a vital role in increasing my knowledge of and love for bourbon, ” he said. “The information I obtain about the bourbon distilling process and bourbon’s relationship to our sensory receptors will help me provide our patrons at Feast with a more authentic and in-depth experience.”
Ballotin Chocolate Whiskey founder, Paul Tuell, explained in a press release, “Apron Inc. honors and protects our local service industry workers in the way they deserve. We have been proudly aligned with Apron since our inception. This scholarship is an exciting, new, forward-looking way to help Apron Inc. and its member establishments build passion, credibility, and professionalism in our bar and restaurant community.”
