Dixon Dedman: The Man Behind The Bottle

Dixon Dedman (0:00)

This guy sent me an e-mail and he said, you know, I just wanted to send you this picture. He and his son, they had a bottle of batch two of Kentucky Owl, and they were toasting with little Styrofoam coffee cups.

In the background was a big window, and what was beyond that was this gentleman's grandson and his son's firstborn son. And so it was the first, the second, and the third that had just been born. It was one of those moments where you get that and you think, you're doing something that goes beyond selling bottles.

Mick Hunt (0:40)

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Mick Unplugged, and today's show gets personal. I'm talking to a guy that I call the Prince of Kentucky. If you know Bourbon, you know him.

From his beginning roots at Kentucky Owl to now leading 2XO, which is my favorite Bourbon on the market, and I have no shame putting that on record. We're talking to none other than the brilliant, the amazing, the master blender himself, Mr. Dixon Dedman. Dixon, how are you doing today, brother?

Dixon Dedman (1:15)

I'm a lot better after that intro.

I'm not sure I deserve it, but I sure as heck appreciate it. That's awesome. Thank you.

Mick Hunt (1:24)

Bro, you deserve it in so many ways. I mean, again, I've been a huge fan of you and your story, the family history that you have with Bourbon. Like I've been telling folks for the last 18 months, you can't tell the story of Bourbon without talking about the Dedman family.

And I'm just honored to truly have you on, man. Like I've looked up to you forever. We're around the same age. We have a lot of connections. So I'm honored, Dixon. I truly am.

Dixon Dedman (1:58)

Listen, I feel the same way. I mean, I think what you've done is amazing. You've talked to some amazing people. You continue to kind of-

it was a real honor, real privilege. The invitation was extended to get to talk to you. It was something that meant a lot to me, and I certainly do appreciate the opportunity, and goes both ways here, my friend.

Mick Hunt (2:31)

Well, much appreciated, and this show was about you, and it's about 2XO, and knowing the story, and we'll get into it a little bit, but you sold Kentucky Owl to Stolle, right? You could have relaxed, as I like to say. You could have rode off in the sunset, found other things that you wanted to do, but you came back to Bourbon, and I don't know many master blenders, right? But what I can tell you is that you've perfected something that I would say most people haven't. But my first question to you, Dixon, is this, and this is what I ask all my guests, like, what's your because?

That deeper purpose, this deeper than your why. Why does Dixon Dedman continue to do what you do and give back the ways that you give back? Like, what's your because? And what's your purpose today?

Dixon Dedman (3:28)

You know, I think about, yeah, yeah, like, why did I come back and do this? But to me, and I think with a lot of things, like, it just always, there's, it goes deeper, like, there's a deeper current to a lot of that stuff.

You know, I grew up in the hospitality business. My family, very, you know, a lot of tradition, a lot of history, you know, long legacy, generational business, kind of a historic and, and, you know, long time Kentucky.

So there's a lot of pride there, right? There's a lot of, you know, continuing that legacy, extending that legacy, building on that legacy. So that, like, that was kind of the way I was raised, right? Like, and a big part of that is about the people component, the hospitality component, the, you know, when it, I used to talk to our team about it a lot. It was like, you know, we, you know, when people come to stay with us, when they were coming to visit us, you know, we've got really a number of options, but the one that we're after is to provide them an experience that is unexpected, that is beyond, you know, if they think they're just coming here to stay for a night in a hotel and have dinner and sleep and have breakfast and leave the next day, or if they think they're coming to stay here for four or five nights but this is just kind of base camp and they're looking for all of these ancillary things to do outside. All of that, you know, it's like, okay, our goal is to exceed that, right? Is to become a part of their special moment, become a part of their experience, to elevate their expectations, to go beyond their expectations and to be a part of something special for them. And so, you know, with Kentucky Owl, as I got into the bourbon world, and all of a sudden, we're creating these things, and they, in a different way, they become part of somebody's special, like special moment, special experience there. You know, it's like, you get the note, I've been saving this bottle until certain, you know, a certain, you know, time, a certain moment, certain thing happened, and this is when we opened it. This is when I shared it with my son, or with my father, or with my friends, or this is how we celebrated that, or whatever. All of a sudden, it's like, oh, you know, you can kind of do the same thing in Bourbon that we were doing in hospitality, and that's, you know, being a part of someone's special moment. And so I think, like, leaving Kentucky Owl and wanting to create something else was a lot. When you say the because, the because is that it's just really special to, to like be able to passionately develop something, put yourself into something, to really, you know, to create something that then goes out into the world, and becomes a part of people's people, you know, something that moves people, that excites people, that they say, hey, you know, I have that bottle, and that reminds me of this, or we use this to celebrate, or, you know, whatever. I mean, it's, probably you were looking for a one-sentence answer to that question, but that's what I got.