Bourbon brand honours baseball legends

Field of Dreams whiskey is strengthening its baseball ties by featuring former players on the corks of its new small-batch Bourbon.

Founded by Andy Keller and former Major League Baseball pitcher Drew Storen, Field of Dreams Bourbon is named after the iconic baseball movie and made with corn grown in the cornfields of Dyersville, Iowa, which are featured in the film. After debuting with a limited edition Players Series Bourbon, Field of Dreams has launched a new Small Batch Bourbon, which is its first core release. “The reason we started Field of Dreams Whiskey was to make great Bourbon and tell great stories,” Storen said. “I couldn’t be more excited to be doing both with Field of Dreams Small Batch Bourbon.” Each bottle of Small Batch will feature the face and name of a baseball legend on the top, hidden under a foil seal, replicating the experience of opening a pack of baseball cards. The brand has licensed 15 baseball players, including Hall of Famers Stan Musial and Bob Feller. “Growing up, there were few things I enjoyed more than opening a pack of baseball cards and discovering what new players I could add to my collection,” Storen said. “Field of Dreams Small Batch Bourbon gives you that same opportunity, while being able to sip from the most famous cornfield in the world at the same time.” The whiskey is bottled at 49.5% ABV and priced at US$55. It will be available in Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, and Washington DC. Storen recalls first developing a fondness for whiskey after trying the elusive AH Hirsh 16 year old and later reading about it and other rare bottles. While other players preferred wine, he began to chase whiskeys. “I was playing at the time, and it was kind of one of those pie-in-the-sky ideas,” he said about starting his own whiskey brand. “When I retired, I had to have an answer for what I was going to do. I was a product design major in college, and I was like: ‘I think we can pull this off’.” Though Storen is a fan of much-heralded Bourbons, he wanted to create Field of Dreams with an approachability that would appeal to the average baseball fan. He calls the corn a celebrity and envisions the whiskey being shared between children and parents as a way to unlock nostalgia and bond over whiskey and baseball. The brand launched in 2021.