On the face of it, Never Say Die is as American as apple pie or biscuits and gravy—it’s a bourbon, after all, and it’s distilled in Danville, Kentucky. However, it’s also got more than a bit of tea and crumpets in its pedigree.
The brand ships the barrels of bourbon to England for additional aging before they’re emptied and bottled. Its founders describe the product as having “Kentucky provenance, English character.”
“We thought about building a distillery in England, but then we wouldn’t be able to call it bourbon; we’d have to call it ‘bourbon-style,’” says Brian Luftman, the brand’s general managing partner, speaking with me via Zoom from his home in Lexington, Kentucky. The distance between him and where I’m sitting in Manchester, England, is roughly equal to the nearly 4,000 miles that Never Say Die barrels travel to the neighboring county of Derbyshire, where it finishes its journey.
Luftman says that friends and cofounders Patrick Madden and David Wild came up with the idea for the brand at the 2015 Kentucky Derby. Madden owns a horse farm that in 1951 produced a foal that almost died shortly after birth, before he received—so the story goes—a revivifying shot of bourbon. They named him Never Say Die.
Three years after his eventful birth, the horse was in England to compete in the Epsom Derby, one of the most prestigious horse races in the world. Ridden by legendary jockey Lester Piggott, in front of 250,000 spectators–including Queen Elizabeth II and Winston Churchill—Never Say Die faced outside odds at 33-1. He won, the first American-born horse to win that race in more than 70 years.
It’s an inspirational tale, and—considering bourbon’s own inseparable bond with the Kentucky Derby—a strong one upon which to build a whiskey brand.
American-Born, Finished in England
The rules for which whiskeys can use the name “bourbon” are clear. The mash bill must be at least 51 percent corn; once distilled, the spirit must age in charred, virgin, American oak barrels. It can be distilled up to a maximum of 160 proof (80 percent ABV) but barreled at no more than 125 proof (62.5 percent ABV). Once matured, the finished bourbon must be bottled at no less than 80 proof (40 percent ABV) but no higher than 150 proof (75 percent ABV). No flavorings or colorings can be added at any stage of the process.
There is no specific minimum age requirement for bourbon, but to label it “straight bourbon” it must be barreled for at least two years. In comparison, Irish and Scotch whiskey must be aged for at least three years; they also must be produced and bottled in Ireland or Scotland, respectively, to earn the distinction. Bourbon must be distilled in the United States—but no law says it must be finished there.
The Never Say Die brand hasn’t disclosed exactly which distillery produces the whiskey. Luftman is tight-lipped, but he describes the distillers themselves as “geniuses” and says the distillery itself is in Danville, about 35 miles southwest of downtown Lexington, in the heart of the famous Bourbon Trail. (Danville is home to two major distilleries—Wilderness Trail and Luca Mariano. Campari owns a majority of the former; the latter has a dedicated contract-distilling program.)
Luftman’s praise may sound exuberant considering the first batch of Never Say Die was distilled in 2017 and bottled in 2023. However, there is a notable accolade to back it up: In its first year, the bourbon won a gold medal in the American Whiskey category at the Global Spirits Masters in England. The other five category winners were all rare expressions from the coveted Uncle Nearest label, but Never Say Die was the only bourbon among them (leading a Forbes headline to describe it as “the world’s best bourbon—according to the Global Spirits Masters.)”
“It shocked us,” Luftman says. “We had no idea it was coming.”
Its Composition
While its parent distillery remains undisclosed, Luftman is open about the whiskey’s production. The signature expression of Never Say Die features a grain bill that’s both high in corn and rye—at 75 and 21 percent, respectively—with barley malt making up the final 4 percent.
To taste, the high rye content in Never Say Die is immediately apparent, lending it a mellow, white-pepper character, underpinned by a rich, defined note of sweet caramel. It’s bottled at 95 proof (47.5 percent ABV), which gives it enough heft for those flavors to shine without overpowering. The bourbon’s finish is smooth, with a slightly leathery quality.
“We asked [our distillers] to make a ‘drinkable yet intriguing bourbon for everyone,’” Luftman says. “We feel it’s strong enough so that someone who enjoys a higher-proof whiskey would love it, but it's also drinkable enough, more-or-less, for a beginner. That was the reasoning for the mash bill they came up with.”
After spending up to six years maturing in Kentucky, barrels of Never Say Die then spend about four to six weeks at sea. Once they land in Britain, they eventually makes their way inland to the picturesque village of Ambergate, Derbyshire, in the heart of the English Midlands. Here, the White Peak Distillery—a rising star in the English whiskey market, thanks to its Wire Works brand—stewards the Never Say Die barrels for another year or so.
“It’s a super-exciting position for us to be in,” says Max Vaughan, who founded White Peak in 2016 with his wife Claire. “What it means is that the day we empty a barrel to bottle it on their behalf, we’ve then got this empty bourbon barrel that’s as fresh as a daisy, which we can immediately put our whiskey into.”
Vaughan explains how the relationship with Never Say Die came about through a mutual friend, Nathan Dawes, who had set up a specialist bourbon import company based in London. The relationship is mutually beneficial: Never Say Die gets access to a bonded warehouse in which their bourbon can undergo its final maturation, and White Peak gets access to arguably the freshest bourbon barrels used by any whiskey producer in the United Kingdom. That’s a huge bonus, considering stocks of bourbon barrels are thin on the ground, and good-quality barrels often come at a huge premium.
“They’ve been a phenomenal partner,” Luftman says. “It’s also really cool that our fans can go up to White Peak, see our barrels sitting there.”
The concept of ocean-aging isn’t unique to Never Say Die; brands such as Jefferson’s Ocean from Kentucky Artisan Distillery in Crestwood have built an entire strategy around a similar idea. Finishing a bourbon in England, however, is unique.
“It certainly makes a difference, the 12-plus months that barrel spends in our warehouse, as opposed to Kentucky,” Vaughan says. “They’re doing something different and winning some great awards, so somewhere along the way they’re producing some very good bourbon.”
It remains to be seen how deeply this “English” bourbon will resonate with a stiff-upper-lipped British market. The American whiskey industry is about triple the size of its British counterpart, and the latter is dominated by big-name Scottish producers such as Glenfiddich and Macallan.
However, Luftman is bullish, convinced that the brand has both the provenance and the flavor to endear itself to the British whiskey drinker. Meanwhile, their early, unexpected awards success means there’s also growing demand back home—so, after it’s aged and bottled at White Peak, some sails back to the United States for American consumers eager to taste it for themselves. Whether its time at sea has a tangible impact on its flavor is up for debate, but Luftman says he is convinced.
“You could just put a boatload of barrels on the ocean for a year and then expect it to taste like a six-year-old whiskey,” he says. “However, it absolutely does accentuate the process. We’re obsessed with it at this point. It’s our secret sauce.”