A Q&A With Jim Rutledge of Four Roses Bourbon

Jim Rutledge is about as southern as southern gets. Born and raised in Kentucky, and the master distiller for Four Roses—where he’s worked for more than 40 years—bourbon practically runs through his veins, and he knows just about everything there is to know about the classic southern spirit. Here the bourbon Hall of Fame-r chats with us about whether it was love at first sip, how he takes his whiskey and what southern food he’d be lost without.