Four Gate Whiskey Company Eagle Thief Hole 1

Eagle Thief is a tribute to the late Kevin McLaughlin of Kelvin Cooperage, who passed away in December of 2019, and funds a donation to his charity of choice: West End School of Louisville.

Kevin McLaughlin ran Kelvin Cooperage with his brother, Paul, after their father founded the cooperage in Glasgow, Scotland in 1963. Kevin passed away December 27th, 2019, after a courageous battle with cancer. Kevin was an avid and skilled golfer, who played collegiate golf at Pepperdine University, where he captained the golf team. As such, much of the labeling of the batch are tributes to Kevin’s golf game and the cooperage he ran so successfully. Kevin and Kelvin Cooperage was instrumental in the founding and early success of Four Gate Whiskey, and the company hopes to unveil a new Eagle Thief batch, or “Hole,” each year in his memory.

Highlights of the label include:

• The label Colors match the collegiate colors of Pepperdine University
• The year of his birth (1963) and passing (2019) are included
• Kevin was an impressive +2 handicap, so the 12-year age statement is listed as 10 “+2”
• The release is named ”Eagle Thief,” incorporating the golf score of “eagle” and the “whiskey thief” tool used to extract whiskey from a barrel
• “KM” and “RIP” are printed as watermarks on the back label
• The proof was 122.7, which is also the day of his passing (December 27th)

The underlying whiskey is a barrel proof 12-year Kentucky Straight Bourbon with a mash bill of 74% corn, 18% rye, and 8% malted barley. Only 4 barrels were selected, resulting in 423 total bottles