Joe Beatrice

Joe Beatrice has built his career on new ideas. A former marketing and technology entrepreneur,
Joe founded his first company, Blue Dingo Digital, in the 1990s to help companies use the
Internet to establish, brand, and grow their products.
At Blue Dingo, Joe gained over two decades of experience in technology, infrastructure,
management, operations, business strategy, digital and online strategy, and product development,
all bolstered by his uniquely creative mindset. A global client roster included companies of all
sizes in dozens of verticals, including spirits.
But after 20 years, Joe was ready for a change. A longtime homebrewer, Joe saw the true magic
of spirits after a transformative experience tasting whiskey straight from the barrel for the very
first time. In 2013, he launched Barrell Craft Spirits in Louisville, Kentucky, the epicenter of the
American spirits industry.
Instead of building his own distillery, Joe questioned the conventional wisdom and took a
different course. He sourced and blended exceptional casks from established producers, bottled
whiskeys at cask strength, and sold them as transparently as possible.
That approach was unique in the United States, but not the world. Scotland’s long-established
independent bottlers were a major inspiration, and Joe was captivated by their ability to elevate
barrels of whisky into something greater than the sum of their parts. He sensed that American
consumers, too, would embrace the chance to explore whiskey in an entirely new way.
Joe sold early releases case by case, personally pounding the pavement to drum up interest from
bartenders and retailers. It turned out his visionary instincts were spot on once again. Barrell
Craft Spirits’ cask-strength small-batch and single-barrel releases quickly became an influencing
force in American whiskey, picking up awards from the world’s most prestigious spirits
competitions.
But successful doesn’t mean static. Joe continues to push the creative envelope every day,
exploring opportunities to source and blend outside the box and showcase the world’s most
exciting spirits. After all, hidden opportunities are still out there—and somebody’s got to find
them.
Joe remains intimately involved with every step of the production process at Barrell Craft Spirits,
using his exceptional palate alongside master blender Tripp Stimson to choose and create great
spirits. Creative finishes, a liberated approach to blending, and a deep-seated commitment to
releasing each whiskey at cask strength and without chill filtration—just like that fateful barrel
tasting years ago—continues to guide every product release.
“That’s why I can never answer the question of my favorite batch,” says Joe. “Because I think
every batch we blend is great.