Closing Shot: A Splash Of Nostalgia

If you mash it and ferment it, people will drink it. People will most definitely drink it, Ray. They’ll arrive at your door as innocent adults, longing for a sip. Because bourbon — like baseball — has been the one constant through all the years.

While not as eloquent as Terence Mann — played by James Earl Jones — from the cinematic classic “Field of Dreams,” the premise is proving true thanks to the idea of one former MLB pitcher and the band of brothers he assembled to launch Field of Dreams Whiskey Company last year.

The company’s rookie season saw the venture riding high, from selling out all 22,860 bottles — one for every player in MLB history — of its Field of Dreams bourbon, increasing online distribution to five states and even getting its product inside an MLB ballpark (Truist Park).

After seven years in the majors, former MLB relief pitcher Drew Storen decided it was time to hang up the spikes and take on the next adventure.

Storen, who became a whiskey fan during his years in the big leagues, decided to enter the distilling business and create a whiskey made from the “most famous corn on Earth” located in Dyersville, Iowa, site of the “Field of Dreams” movie and the host of MLB games in 2021 and 2022.

For years, fans of the movie, and of baseball, have made a pilgrimage to the small farm to have a catch, hit a ball and walk the warning track lined with corn stalks, but never once was the corn used for anything special until Storen inquired about its availability. From there, Storen, along with childhood friend and business partner Andy Keller, went to Iowa and loaded up a U-Haul trailer with 31,000 bushels of corn and took it back to Carmel, Ind., to be distilled.

In its first year of operation, Field of Dreams Whiskey featured only two products: its bottled bourbon ($84.99) and its Southpaw whiskey lemon-ginger canned cocktail ($16.99 four-pack). But entering its second season, the group of relief pitchers is expanding its offerings with the release of Field of Dreams Small Batch Bourbon (price to be determined) this summer, which will be more available than the main bottle. The main line will be capped at 23,114 bottles this year, adjusting for the number of MLB players since the initial batch, and the first 5,000 bottles are scheduled to go on sale May 20 (the partners expect those to sell out in one day).

So far the company’s products are sold in stores in Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Illinois and Kentucky, with online sales in select additional areas.

While many celebrities and influencers have tried their hand at spirit creation, Storen, Keller and fellow owners and MLB relief pitchers Tyler Clippard and Jerry Blevins all stressed a specific mission.

“We wanted to set the tone as being the right storyteller for this corn, because a great story is there because the right person is telling it,” Storen said. “It’s not just the most famous corn in the world, it’s a baseball guy’s take on a real bourbon.”