Evan Williams Bourbon Expands “Bourbon Nation” with New Schools and Brand Ambassador Molly McGrath

Oregon, South Carolina, and Oklahoma join the roster as Game Day’s #1 Pour gains new voice in celebrated ESPN reporter

BARDSTOWN, Ky. – Evan Williams Bourbon today announced a major expansion of its multi-year partnership with Learfield, the leading media and technology company in college athletics, as it welcomes three new schools—the University of Oregon, University of South Carolina, and the University of Oklahoma—to its growing collegiate lineup. The brand also proudly introduces Molly McGrath, nationally recognized ESPN sideline reporter, as the new Brand Ambassador for the Evan Williams Bourbon Nation platform.

Launched in 2024, Evan Williams’ Bourbon Nation initiative aims to unite collegiate sports fans through game day traditions, spirited celebrations, and responsible enjoyment of America’s second-largest selling Bourbon. With the addition of Oregon, South Carolina, and Oklahoma, Evan Williams is now the Proud Partner of eight iconic college programs, including the University of Florida, Syracuse University, TCU, The Ohio State University, and University of Alabama.

“From pre-game rituals to post-win celebrations, Evan Williams is the Bourbon that resonates with college sports fans and alumni,” said Molly McGrath, Brand Ambassador for Evan Williams. “As someone who lives and breathes college sports, I’m thrilled to bring that same passion to a brand that’s all about celebrating tradition, connection, and team spirit.”

Molly McGrath joined ESPN in July 2016 and currently serves as the sideline reporter for ESPN/ABC Saturday college football games. She has also hosted College Football Live, College Basketball Live, and contributed to the XFL on ABC as a sideline reporter. Previously, she worked on ESPN’s Thursday night college football package and covered men’s college basketball on both ABC and ESPN.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Molly as the new voice of Evan Williams Bourbon Nation,” said Max Stefka, Associate Vice President at Evan Williams. “Her credibility, energy, and passion for college sports make her the perfect ambassador to help us connect with fans everywhere.”

As a hallmark of the campaign, Evan Williams Bourbon Nation taps into the thrill of game day and the passion fans bring to the stands—serving up custom cocktails, fun fan promos, social media moments, and nonstop support all football and basketball season long. The enhanced partnership will activate across in-stadium signage, branded bar experiences, and dynamic tailgate events at all eight participating schools. Complementary campaigns include in-store and on-premise programs, local and regional media integrations, and digital promotions, all timed to launch with the 2025 collegiate football season and flow seamlessly into the 2025 collegiate basketball season.

“By expanding the Evan Williams Bourbon Nation platform and aligning with talent like Molly McGrath, we’re not just showing up for game day—we’re becoming part of how fans celebrate,” said Bill Hirsh, Senior Vice President of Corporate Sales at Learfield. “We look forward to growing this program even further.”

Evan Williams Bourbon and Learfield remain committed to promoting responsible consumption and elevating the fan experience through every kickoff, buzzer-beater, and celebration in between.

ABOUT EVAN WILLIAMS: The flagship Bourbon of Heaven Hill Distillery, Evan Williams is among the leaders in the rapidly growing American Whiskey segment as the world’s second largest-selling Bourbon. In 1783, the brand’s namesake opened Kentucky’s First Distillery on the banks of the Ohio River. Many years and barrels later, Evan Williams Bourbon is still produced the right way, using the same time-honored methods. As an American-made and American-owned brand, Evan Williams has recognized true American heroes through their exceptional stories of honor and bravery on special edition American-Made Hero labels for the past nine years, now supported by the American-Made Heroes Foundation Fund. The Evan Williams Bourbon Experience (www.EvanWilliamsBourbonExperience.com) celebrates the legacy of Evan Williams through an immersive visitor’s center experience which brings to life the history and tradition of Kentucky’s native spirit as an official stop on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Learn more at www.EvanWilliams.com. Heaven Hill reminds everyone to think wisely, drink wisely®.

ABOUT LEARFIELD: Learfield is the leading media and technology company powering college athletics. Through its digital and physical platforms, Learfield owns and leverages a deep data set and relationships in the industry to drive revenue, growth, brand awareness, and fan engagement for brands, sports, and entertainment properties. With ties to over 1,200 collegiate institutions and over 12,000 local and national brand partners, Learfield’s presence in college sports and live events delivers influence and maximizes reach to target audiences. With solutions for a 365-day, 24/7 fan experience, Learfield enables schools and brands to connect with fans through licensed merchandise, game ticketing, donor identification for athletic programs, exclusive custom content, innovative marketing initiatives, NIL solutions, and advanced digital platforms. Since 2008, it has served as title sponsor for the acclaimed Learfield Directors’ Cup, supporting athletic departments across all divisions.

SEPTEMBER AUCTION NOW LIVE!

We have a small but interesting auction for you this month, with some old, limited and rare bottlings, including this 16 Year Old expression, distilled in 1981 and released in 1997 to mark the 100th anniversary of Aultmore Distillery. A rare commemorative offering, which lists the staff that worked at the distillery at the time of its centenary. Bottle number 109.

Released in 1982, this Lagavulin 12 Years Old was one of the Ascot Malt Cellar series, widely regarded as the precursor to the highly popular Classic Malts range, which replaced this 12 Years Old bottling with a 16 Years Old.

Another fascinating 12 Years Old, this bottling was discontinued from the incredibly popular Flora & Fauna series due to dwindling levels of stock. The Pittyvaich distillery began production in 1975, only be closed in 1993 and then demolished in 2002. This is one of three bottles in this month’s auction.

We love something a bit different. This bottling was distilled at the iconic Springbank Distillery in 1993. Matured in single Cask #9 then bottled at Cask strength in 2003 for a private individual. The distillation and bottling dates indicate that the whisky itself is 10 years old.

These are only a few of the old, limited and collectable bottles featured in our September 2025 Auction, to view more wee gems visit clickwhiskyauctions.com. Register to bid. Remember, you’ve got to be in it to win it! Auction ends Sunday 21^st September 2025 from 8pm BST.

Glengoyne Oak Masters’ Series

Mizunara Oak, White Oak 24 Year Old & White Oak

Embark on a journey through oak with the Glengoyne Oak Masters’ Series – where the world’s finest casks meet our smooth, fruity, and unpeated Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky. From the deep forests of North America to the tranquil groves of Japan, each oak cask tells a story, infusing our whisky with character and complexity.

 Explore the Collection

Mizunara Oak

Rare Japanese oak brings aromatic sandalwood, coconut, and exotic spice – a truly distinctive experience. Awarded Double Gold at the International Spirits Challenge 2025. A limited release matured in rare wood native to Hokkaidō, the northernmost prefecture in Japan. For ten years, classic first-fill sherry and refill casks laid the foundation. Then, for six long years, Mizunara Oak did its quiet work – infusing the spirit with whispers of sandalwood, soft vanilla, and spring blossom. Matured in the Highlands, shaped by Japanese oak, and bottled at 53.4% ABV, this 16 Year Old release is the third in our Oak Masters’Series, a celebration of the world’s finest oaks. With just 3,195 bottles available worldwide. Awarded Double Gold at the International Spirits Challenge 2025. 

White Oak 24 Year Old

Matured for over two decades in American white oak, delivering layers of sweet vanilla, crème brûlée, and gentle oak spice.Included in Robb Reports ‘Best of The Best 2025’ –  “This is a whisky you will want to taste over and over again”. They also ranked it the 2nd best whisky released in 2025. A limited release matured in rare wood native to Hokkaidō, the northernmost prefecture in Japan. For ten years, classic first-fill sherry and refill casks laid the foundation. Then, for six long years, Mizunara Oak did its quiet work – infusing the spirit with whispers of sandalwood, soft vanilla, and spring blossom. Matured in the Highlands, shaped by Japanese oak, and bottled at 53.4% ABV, this 16 Year Old release is the third in our Oak Masters’Series, a celebration of the world’s finest oaks. With just 3,195 bottles available worldwide. Awarded Double Gold at the International Spirits Challenge 2025. 

White Oak

A celebration of classic American oak influence – smooth, rich, and brimming with sweet, creamy notes. Awarded Gold at the San Francisco World Spirit Competition 2024, A first for Glengoyne, this brand new expression is matured exclusively in First Fill Bourbon and Virgin Oak Casks sourced from North America. These casks are charred for less than a minute allowing the Glengoyne spirit to shine, unladen. White Oak sings of vibrant wood and bright citrus, unripe banana and a hint of violets. The palate is soft and playful with touches of creme brulee, fruit gums and pineapple. At 48% the finish is long and smooth, giving flavours of toffee apple.Included in Forbes ‘The 8 Best Single Malt Scotch Whiskies in 2025 – According to Experts’ Scoring 98 points at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition (SFWSC) “If you like your whisky elegant, balanced, and refreshingly straightforward, this one’s for you. It’s proof that great wood can do as much for a whisky as age or smoke.”

Big Peat White Port Cask Finish

Anticipate Islay peat smoke combined with spiced fruit, toffee, and honey, fused with waves of almond and vanilla. Islay. Big Peat Hameldaeme. ABV: 48% As part of Big Peat’s Private Cask Series, this specialist release of no more than 420 bottles has been created exclusively for Douglas Laing & Co. We have finished this rare marriage of Islay Single Malt in specially selected White Port Casks. The resulting Big Peat Blended Malt delivers a defined Islay peat smoke combined with spiced fruit, toffee, and honey, fused with waves of almond and vanilla. Sip, savour and enjoy this unique taste of Islay.

£54.54

Big Peat is a marriage of Single Malt Scotch Whiskies only from the island of Islay. With Caol Ila spirit bringing sweetness, Bowmore the perfect balance, Ardbeg a medicinal, earthy quality and Port Ellen, a degree of elegance, Big Peat represents all that is Islay in a bottle. Part of the Remarkable Regional Malts range, the ultimate distillation of Scotland’s Malt Whisky Regions.

WHY SCOTCH WHISKY IS AGED IN BOURBON BARRELS

If you’ve ever opened a bottle of whisky and been greeted by aromas of vanilla or coconut, chances are there was an American oak cask somewhere in its past. While whiskies aged in sherry and other wine casks are popular at present, the white oak ex-bourbon barrel is still the most widely used cask type in Scotland. In fact, more than 90% of all whiskies ageing in Scotland currently reside in used bourbon barrels.

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Bladnoch Distillery announces partnership with Wigtown Book Festival

Bladnoch, Scotland’s oldest privately-owned Scotch whisky distillery has announced a partnership with the 27^th annual Wigtown Book Festival.

Running from 26 September – 5 October 2025, Wigtown Book Festival is a ten-day literary celebration in Scotland’s National Book Town, which is also home to the 208-year-old Bladnoch Distillery. Founded in 1999, Wigtown Book Festival is one of the UK’s most prominent literary showcases, with more than 200 events including music, theatre, food, visual arts and a prestigious cast of authors.

As part of the distillery’s partnership with Wigtown Book Festival, Bladnoch will sponsor the event’s team of more than 100 volunteers at the heart of the festival’s success, ensuring the unsung heroes behind the festival receive the support, training and recognition they deserve.

This collaboration unites two organisations rooted in resilience and community regeneration, strengthens community ties, supports cultural tourism, and showcases how grassroots dedication and enterprise can work hand in hand to transform a rural economy.

Rescued from closure in 2015 by Australian entrepreneur David Prior, Bladnoch Distillery is a major local employer and a hub for cultural events and whisky tourism in Dumfries & Galloway. This resilience and commitment to regeneration is at the heart of all the distillery does, including supporting the bold Galloway spirit of Wigtown Book Festival’s dedicated team of volunteers.

Wigtown Book Festival was founded to revitalise Galloway during a period of economic hardship and industrial decline. Today, it has grown into a nationally recognised literary and cultural event, powered by a dedicated team of local volunteers whose efforts attract more than 11,000 visitors annually, boosting the local economy and fostering pride in the community.

As part of its partnership with the festival, Bladnoch Distillery will host an exclusive storytelling event to celebrate the distillery and the region’s bold Galloway spirit. Taking place at the distillery at 7:30pm on Thursday 2 October and hosted by Scottish storyteller, author and travel influencer behind @scotlands_stories, Graeme Johncock, Bold Spirit: Tales of Galloway will be a unique evening celebrating Galloway’s distinctive identity and sense of mischief.

The 27^th annual Wigtown Book Festival will also mark the release of Loch Maberry: Stories of Bladnoch, Chapter 2 on Thursday 2 October, the second chapter in a limited-edition series celebrating and selected by individuals who have a deep affinity with Bladnoch Distillery’s exceptional whiskies. The new single malt will be unveiled as part of the storytelling event, providing guests with the chance to taste the expression alongside Bladnoch master distiller Dr Nick Savage and the character who inspired its creation.

This will be the first opportunity for whisky enthusiasts to sample and purchase Loch Maberry Chapter 2, which will be available exclusively at Bladnoch Distillery and through Bladnoch’s online shop from this date.

Dr Nick Savage, Master Distiller at Bladnoch Distillery, said: “We’re proud to be working with the 27^th annual Wigtown Book Festival to support the event’s team of dedicated volunteers. Together, we have forged a meaningful partnership rooted in community regeneration and cultural enrichment.

“At Bladnoch, our commitment to crafting our bold Galloway spirit is at the heart of all that we do. Bold Galloway spirit is exactly what the festival’s volunteers bring – courage, warmth and a passion that fuels Wigtown Book Festival year after year.”

Adrian Turpin, Wigtown Book Festival’s artistic director, said: “Bladnoch Distillery and Wigtown Book Festival have each played a central role in the regeneration of Wigtown over many years, which makes this a very special partnership.

“While, sadly, we can’t actually bottle the bold Galloway spirit of our volunteers, Bladnoch Distillery’s generosity will enable us to better support them and acknowledge the irreplaceable contribution they make to the success of the festival.”

Dating back to 1817, Bladnoch Distillery is one of the oldest single malt Scotch whisky producers in the world and is enjoying a bold and powerful revival. For more information about Bladnoch Distillery, please visit www.bladnoch.com.

For more information about Wigtown Book Festival, please visit www.wigtownbookfestival.com.

About Bladnoch Distillery

Bladnoch Distillery was established in 1817, making it the oldest privately owned Scotch whisky distillery in the world. As the southernmost distillery in Scotland, Bladnoch is commonly referred to as the ‘Queen of the Lowlands.’

Hand-crafted using malt from British growers and the pristine water from the River Bladnoch which flows alongside the distillery, Bladnoch single malts are non-chill filtered to ensure the truest flavours shine through.

This legacy brand has been revived in recent years by Master Distiller, Dr Nick Savage, formerly of The Macallan, and owner David Prior, who purchased Bladnoch Distillery in 2015 and is the first Australian businessman to own a Scotch whisky distillery.

The team at Bladnoch is truly passionate about the preservation of the environment and the local community’s generational involvement in this iconic distillery.

About Wigtown Book Festival and Scotland’s National Book Town

Founded in 1999, the annual Wigtown Book Festival is one of the UK’s best-loved literary gatherings featuring more than 200 events, including music, theatre, food and visual arts.

The 10-day autumn festival takes place in Scotland’s National Book Town and was born out of a social and economic regeneration plan to help revive the fortunes of the Dumfries & Galloway market town.  This year’s festival takes place from 26 September to 5 October. Speakers participating include Reeta Chakrabarti, John Suchet, Kate Summerscale, Robin Ince and Helen Lederer.

Our collection schedule for September 2025 has now been finalised. Please click HERE to see the list of dates, locations and to register your interest in the collection service.

The deadline for collection requests is 12noon on Monday 15th September 2025.

Home collections are available for those customers sending 10+ bottles or bottles to the value of £1000. Lots can be split over the next three auctions.

Unfortunately this service is not available in London. Although we do have four collection points in London. Collections are limited and offered on a first come first served basis.

It is essential that a submission sheet is completed, you can find the link to do so under the selling section on your ‘My SWA’ page.

It would be appreciated if bottles could be packed for uplift with your name clearly marked on the front of the box.

A winner in our auction? We are now offering a delivery service to customers who are dropping bottles off for a future auction. This service is charged at £12 (inc. VAT), optional loss and breakage cover is available.

Start your Sullivans Cove collection with Double Cask

2011 Bruichladdich 11 Year Old “Dramfool’s Jim McEwan Signature Collection 5.1″ First Fill Bourbon Cask #2477 Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) (Previously $325) $225.00 View

According to the bottler: “Distilled on 11th July 2011 this whisky spent its whole 11-year life maturing in cask #2477. This maturation took place in a 1st fill bourbon cask from an unknown American Distillery. Bottled in July 2022 as Release 5.1 of the Jim McEwan Signature Collection, like all bottlings within the collection, it was bottled un-chill filtered, with no added colour, and at natural cask strength of 59.0% (as we always say, Jim would have it no other way!), it yielded only 238 bottles.”

2012 Port Charlotte 10 Year Old “Dramfool’s Jim McEwan Signature Collection 7.2″ First Fill Bourbon Barrel Cask #2554 Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) (Previously $370) $258.10 View

Jim McEwan

Aromas – Opens on a beautiful combination of peat smoked barley with tantalising hints of lemon & honey then waves of heather in bloom drift by. Little notes of juniper and pine mingle beautifully with the spiciness of bourbon residue and sweetness of malt extract. It’s Islay at its best, in the early summer with the warm winds from the Atlantic Ocean caressing the barley fields and depositing the salty moisture on the land that give the barley its unique flavour. Palate – The sweetness of malt extract is in harmony with the smokiness from the peat and also the spicy residue from bourbon-soaked staves, it evolves slowly creating the flavour profile that makes this spirit unique. The most important element of this spirit is that it is distilled by Islanders who simply walk in the footsteps of their fore-fathers; no computers, no chemists, no BS, just passion pride and patience.

This release was distilled on July 18th, 2012 after spending its entire 10-year life maturing in cask #2554, a first-fill Bourbon barrel from the Jack Daniels distillery. It was bottled in February 2023 without chillfiltration and no added color, at a natural cask strength of 60.6%. Only 232 bottles were produced. Tasting notes from Jim McEwan: “Aromas – Opens on a beautiful combination of peat smoked barley with tantalising hints of lemon & honey, then waves of heather in bloom drift by. Little notes of juniper and pine mingle beautifully with the spiciness of bourbon residue and sweetness of malt extract. It’s Islay at its best, in the early summer with the warm winds from the Atlantic Ocean caressing the barley fields and depositing the salty moisture on the land that give the barley its unique flavour. Palate – The sweetness of malt extract is in harmony with the smokiness from the peat and also the spicy residue from bourbon-soaked staves, it evolves slowly creating the flavour profile that makes this spirit unique. The most important element of this spirit is that it is distilled by Islanders who simply walk in the footsteps of their forefathers; no computers, no chemists, no BS, just passion, pride and patience.”

Email: wine@klwines.com
Phone: (877) KL-WINES (Toll Free 877.559.4637)
K&L Wine Merchants 3005 El Camino Real Redwood City, CA 94061 USA
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA

Nestled in the rolling hills of Perthshire, Edradour is one of Scotland’s smallest traditional distilleries. Edradour produces a diverse range of small batch, cask strength and wine cask matured whiskies, alongside heavily peated whiskies under the Ballechin label.

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