[INTERVIEW] Kentucky bourbon master eyes global expansion with Korean bartenders

Jefferson’s Bourbon founder Trey Zoeller visited Seoul last week to recognize Korean bartenders who completed a six-month Camp Jefferson program and created cocktails with the brand’s bourbon. He said their creativity and knowledge impressed him, and described the program as a way to challenge bartenders while reflecting his own efforts to push beyond traditional bourbon-making. Zoeller sees an opportunity to grow bourbon’s appeal in Korea, where he said the whiskey market is dominated by highball-friendly whiskies and single malts. Korea was the first overseas market the brand re-entered after exports resumed, with Pernod Ricard Korea importing it again in 2024.

Zoeller founded Jefferson’s Bourbon with his father, Chet Zoeller, in 1997, and they were inducted into the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame in 2023.

The Camp Jefferson program involved 40 Korean bartenders, whose cocktails were judged on sales and how well they reflected Zoeller’s vision for the brand.

Jefferson’s Ocean is made by sending bourbon barrels on a voyage around the world, where ocean movement and changing sea conditions affect maturation.

Zoeller said bourbon must contain at least 51 percent corn and be aged in new, charred oak barrels, with no flavoring or coloring added.

Jefferson’s Bourbon follows a six-year aging process, although Zoeller said bourbon generally has no minimum aging period.

Published Oct 22, 2026 7:00 am KST

Rocky ocean waters key blender for Jefferson's Bourbon

Jefferson’s Bourbon founder Trey Zoeller poses with the company's bourbon lineup in Seoul, Oct. 16. Courtesy of Pernod Ricard Korea

Jefferson’s Bourbon founder Trey Zoeller was in Seoul last week for a special event in Korea, offering a unique opportunity to introduce his Kentucky-based brand to Korean consumers.

It marked the finale of a six-month program involving 40 Korean bartenders who explored the brand and developed their own cocktails using its bourbon.

Zoeller, who founded the brand with his father, Chet Zoeller, in 1997, came to Korea to recognize the bartenders whose cocktails for the Camp Jefferson program sold the most and best reflected his vision for the brand.

In 2023, Zoeller and his late father were inducted into the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame. During the event, he shared insights into the brand with the participating bartenders, explaining how his passion for outdoor adventure helped shape its identity beyond bourbon-making traditions.

Zoeller said he was surprised to see his bourbon transformed into a variety of creative cocktails he had never imagined before.

“I loved it. There was so much creativity that came through so many different variations of products that I never had. I tasted every one of them, judged and picked out my favorite. The winning cocktail was probably not the most complex but more to my liking, which I typically drink bourbon on a big rock. It’s kind of an old fashioned,” Zoeller said in an interview with The Korea Times last week.

“The bartenders were much more knowledgeable than others around the world. They know their history, they know combinations. Some of them brought their own ingredients. They were so enthusiastic about it.”

Zoeller said the program took bartenders out of their usual workplace environments to challenge their creativity and test their abilities.

The approach mirrored how he sought to push the boundaries of traditional bourbon-making, experimenting with new ways to enjoy the spirit and ultimately developing Jefferson’s Bourbon. Bourbon dominated the U.S. spirits market during the so-called Golden Age of American spirits from 1963 to 1970, and Zoeller's home state of Kentucky is home to more than 100 bourbon distilleries

Jefferson’s Bourbon founder Trey Zoeller talks about Jefferson’s Ocean, a line of bourbons aged during voyages across rough ocean waters, in an interview with The Korea Times in Seoul, Oct. 16. Courtesy of Pernod Ricard Korea

Zoeller loaded a 1,000 barrels of bourbon made using a traditional recipe onto a container ship and sent them on a voyage around the world. As the vessel crossed rough waters, the motion of the ocean caused the bourbon to move in and out of the wood, creating distinctive conditions for maturation.

By the end of the voyage, the clear spirit had taken on a caramel-brown color and developed the signature flavor of Jefferson’s Ocean, one of the brand’s flagship labels.

“So usually we go out of Savannah, Georgia, down through the Caribbean, around Australia, through Korea, back across the Pacific to the west coast of the U.S., back through the Panama Canal, up the east coast of the U.S., across the Atlantic to Europe, back to the U.S., down to Kentucky. They encounter daily sea conditions, whether it’s calm, moderate, rough or very rough, like hurricanes or typhoons. We lose barrels from time to time,” he said.

The idea of aging bourbon at sea came from Zoeller’s research into how bourbon was first made and transported in the early days of Kentucky whiskey production.

“When people started distilling in Kentucky, they were in the wilderness, so they had to put it in barrels and float it down the Ohio River to the Mississippi River to New Orleans, then put it on ships and sail around Florida before taking it back up to New York and Boston,” he said.

“When that whiskey went on that journey, it changed from being colorless to looking like this and having all that flavor. They were like, ‘Wow, this is so much better than the stuff we're making up here. We want more and more of it.’ So the distilleries started getting bigger and bigger.

“So it's really going back to how bourbon was originally made and, at the same time, building on traditional bourbon maturation with another step by taking it on these voyages.”

A map illustrates the worldwide voyage of Jefferson’s Ocean bourbon, which begins in Savannah, Ga., and ends in Kentucky, according to founder Trey Zoeller. Created with Nano Banana 2.

Rise of bourbon in US

Bourbon, a type of whiskey, is subject to strict U.S. regulations designed to preserve its traditional character, Zoeller said. These include using a grain mixture containing at least 51 percent corn, aging the spirit in new, charred oak barrels and adding no flavoring or coloring. Although there is no minimum aging period for bourbon in general, Zoeller said Jefferson’s Bourbon follows a six-year aging process.

These requirements add to production costs, making bourbon one of the more expensive types of whiskey to produce and bottle, he said.

“When I started my business, 99.9 percent of all bourbons were made in Kentucky. Now, it is made in all 50 states but still 95 percent is made in Kentucky,” he said, citing a huge fluctuation of local temperatures in the state which maximizes the depth of maturation extracting new tastes. “A joke about the weather in Kentucky is if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes and it’s going to change.”

Jefferson’s Bourbon entered the market amid a three decade decline in the drink's popularity, as Scotch and malt whiskies dominated the market. About a decade after launching the brand, Zoeller witnessed what he described as a “meteoric rise” in bourbon’s popularity.

“People started understanding the nuances of bourbon and how delicious it is and what goes into it. They really geeked out on it,” he said.

Zoeller said he sees a similar opportunity in Korea, where the whiskey market is dominated by highball-friendly whiskies and single malts.

“There is now a global perception that bourbon is even superior to Scotch whiskies. Here, that perception hasn't come yet, but if we can show what has happened in other places, then I think that prestige will come with it and will open people's minds and they'll be looking for it,” he said.

Jefferson’s Bourbon founder Trey Zoeller poses with Korean bartenders at the finale of Camp Jefferson, held at a glamping site in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Oct. 14. Courtesy of Pernod Ricard Korea

Zoeller said he hopes Korean consumers will learn the story behind the voyage taken by each bottle.

“I try to put a story in every bottle — the story of Jefferson's Ocean, where we put barrels on ships and sail them around the world to bring in some great flavors. The salt is able to get in so it's salty. When we cross the equator, it caramelizes the sugars in the wood so you get a salted caramel flavor,” he said.

Zoeller said Korea was the first overseas market Jefferson’s Bourbon returned to after the company halted exports during the COVID-19 pandemic, when surging U.S. demand left it with insufficient supply for international markets. Pernod Ricard Korea began importing the brand again in 2024.

“We had to stop all exports because our sales rose so much in the U.S. we did not have enough to supply the international market and we made the decision to stop all exports. Two years ago we decided to start export again and Korea was our first market to go into,” he said.

Zoeller, a longtime friend of Korean American celebrity chef Edward Lee, who also hails from Kentucky, said bourbon pairs well with Korean fried chicken, particularly varieties with bold flavors and spices.

“He and I were drinking bourbon and then went to his restaurant and then I said what food should we order to pair with bourbon? We chose Korean fried chicken that had some great spice on it. But the bourbon really didn’t have enough spice to hold up to the chicken. So we talked about creating a new whiskey and created Jefferson’s Chef’s Collaboration, which was actually two bourbons mixed with a rye whiskey. It worked phenomenally well together,” he said.

杰斐逊波本威士忌创始人特雷·佐勒上周访问首尔，表彰了完成为期六个月的“杰斐逊训练营”项目的韩国调酒师。这些调酒师使用杰斐逊波本威士忌调制鸡尾酒。佐勒表示，他们的创造力和知识给他留下了深刻的印象，并称该项目旨在挑战调酒师的技艺，同时也体现了他本人致力于突破传统波本威士忌酿造工艺的努力。佐勒认为，在韩国，波本威士忌的市场潜力巨大，因为韩国威士忌市场目前以适合调制高球鸡尾酒的威士忌和单一麦芽威士忌为主。韩国是杰斐逊波本威士忌在恢复出口后重返的首个海外市场，保乐力加韩国公司将于2024年再次进口该品牌产品。

佐勒和他的父亲切特·佐勒于 1997 年创立了杰斐逊波旁威士忌，并于 2023 年入选肯塔基波旁威士忌名人堂。

Camp Jefferson 项目邀请了 40 位韩国调酒师，他们的鸡尾酒将根据销量以及是否体现了 Zoeller 对该品牌的愿景进行评判。

Jefferson's Ocean 的制作方法是将波旁威士忌酒桶送往世界各地航行，海洋运动和不断变化的海况会影响威士忌的成熟。

佐勒表示，波旁威士忌必须含有至少 51% 的玉米，并在新的烧焦的橡木桶中陈酿，不添加任何调味剂或色素。

杰斐逊波本威士忌的陈酿过程需要六年时间，不过佐勒表示，波本威士忌通常没有最短陈酿时间。

发布于2026年10月22日 上午7:00（韩国标准时间）

岩石嶙峋的海水是杰斐逊波旁威士忌的关键调配剂

10月16日，杰斐逊波本威士忌创始人特雷·佐勒在首尔与公司波本威士忌系列产品合影。图片由保乐力加韩国公司提供。

杰斐逊波旁威士忌创始人特雷·佐勒上周在首尔参加了韩国的一个特别活动，这为向韩国消费者介绍他位于肯塔基州的品牌提供了一个独特的机会。

这标志着为期六个月的项目圆满结束，该项目共有 40 位韩国调酒师参与，他们探索了该品牌，并使用该品牌的波旁威士忌开发了自己的鸡尾酒。

佐勒 (Zoeller) 于 1997 年与他的父亲切特·佐勒 (Chet Zoeller) 共同创立了该品牌。他来到韩国，是为了表彰那些为杰斐逊营 (Camp Jefferson) 项目调制出销量最高、最能体现他对该品牌愿景的鸡尾酒的调酒师。

2023年，佐勒和他已故的父亲入选肯塔基波本威士忌名人堂。活动期间，他与参与的调酒师们分享了对该品牌的见解，解释了他对户外探险的热情如何帮助塑造了该品牌超越波本威士忌酿造传统的独特个性。

佐勒表示，他很惊讶地看到自己的波旁威士忌被调制成各种各样他以前从未想象过的创意鸡尾酒。

“我太喜欢了。各种各样我从未见过的产品创意十足，令人眼花缭乱。我把每一种都尝了个遍，然后评判并选出了我最喜欢的。最终胜出的鸡尾酒或许不是最复杂的，但却更符合我的口味，因为我平时喝波本威士忌的时候会加一大块冰块。这有点像老式鸡尾酒，”佐勒上周在接受《韩国时报》采访时说道。

“这些调酒师比世界各地的其他调酒师知识渊博得多。他们了解调酒的历史，也知道各种调酒配方。有些人甚至自带原料。他们对调酒充满热情。”

佐勒表示，该项目让调酒师们离开他们通常的工作环境，以挑战他们的创造力并测试他们的能力。

这种方法体现了他力求突破传统波本威士忌酿造工艺界限的决心，他不断尝试新的品鉴方式，最终创立了杰斐逊波本威士忌。在1963年至1970年所谓的美国烈酒黄金时代，波本威士忌主导了美国烈酒市场，而佐勒的家乡肯塔基州拥有超过100家波本威士忌酒厂。

10月16日，杰斐逊波本威士忌创始人特雷·佐勒在首尔接受《韩国时报》采访时，谈到了杰斐逊海洋系列波本威士忌。该系列威士忌在穿越波涛汹涌的大海的航行中陈酿而成。图片由保乐力加韩国公司提供。

佐勒将1000桶按照传统配方酿造的波本威士忌装上一艘集装箱船，送往世界各地。当船只穿越波涛汹涌的海面时，海浪的摇晃使波本威士忌在木桶中来回移动，从而创造了独特的熟成条件。

航行结束时，清澈的酒液变成了焦糖棕色，并形成了杰斐逊海洋威士忌的标志性风味，这是该品牌旗舰产品之一。

“所以通常我们从佐治亚州萨凡纳出发，一路南下穿过加勒比海，绕过澳大利亚，途经韩国，横渡太平洋回到美国西海岸，再穿过巴拿马运河，沿着美国东海岸北上，横渡大西洋到达欧洲，然后返回美国，最后南下到肯塔基州。他们每天都会遇到不同的海况，无论是平静、中等、波涛汹涌还是像飓风或台风那样的巨浪。我们时不时会损失几桶原油，”他说道。

在海上陈酿波旁威士忌的想法源于佐勒对肯塔基威士忌早期生产和运输方式的研究。

他说：“肯塔基州的人们开始酿酒的时候，那里地处荒野，所以他们必须把酒装进木桶里，顺着俄亥俄河漂到密西西比河，再到新奥尔良，然后装上船，绕着佛罗里达航行，最后运回纽约和波士顿。”

“当那批威士忌经历了那段旅程后，它从无色变成了现在的样子，并且拥有了所有那些风味。他们当时就想，‘哇，这比我们这里酿造的酒好太多了。我们想要更多这样的酒。’于是，酿酒厂的规模开始越来越大。”

“所以，这实际上是回归波本威士忌最初的酿造方式，同时，在传统的波本威士忌熟成工艺基础上，通过这些航行，又向前迈进了一步。”

这张地图展示了杰斐逊海洋波本威士忌的环球之旅，据创始人特雷·佐勒 (Trey Zoeller) 介绍，旅程始于佐治亚州萨凡纳，终于肯塔基州。使用 Nano Banana 2 制作。

美国波旁威士忌的崛起

佐勒表示，波本威士忌是一种威士忌，受到美国严格的监管，旨在保持其传统风味。这些监管包括使用至少含有51%玉米的谷物混合物，在新烧焦的橡木桶中陈酿，并且不添加任何香料或色素。虽然波本威士忌通常没有最短陈酿时间的规定，但佐勒说，杰斐逊波本威士忌采用六年陈酿工艺。

他说，这些要求增加了生产成本，使得波旁威士忌成为生产和装瓶成本较高的威士忌类型之一。

“我刚开始创业的时候，99.9%的波本威士忌都产自肯塔基州。现在，虽然全美50个州都有生产，但肯塔基州仍然占95%。”他说道，并指出肯塔基州当地气温波动巨大，这最大限度地促进了威士忌的深度熟成，从而萃取出新的风味。“关于肯塔基州的天气，有个笑话是这样的：如果你不喜欢现在的天气，等五分钟，天气就会变。”

杰斐逊波本威士忌进入市场时，波本威士忌的受欢迎程度正经历着长达三十年的下滑期，苏格兰威士忌和麦芽威士忌主导着市场。在品牌创立约十年后，佐勒见证了波本威士忌受欢迎程度的“爆炸式增长”。

他说：“人们开始了解波本威士忌的细微差别，知道它有多美味，以及它的制作过程。他们真的对它着迷了。”

佐勒表示，他在韩国看到了类似的机遇，韩国的威士忌市场以适合调制高球鸡尾酒的威士忌和单一麦芽威士忌为主。

“现在全球普遍认为波本威士忌甚至比苏格兰威士忌更胜一筹。虽然在英国还没有形成这种看法，但如果我们能展示其他地方已经发生的情况，那么我认为声望也会随之而来，这将打开人们的视野，让他们开始寻找它，”他说。

10月14日，在京畿道坡州市一处豪华露营地举行的“杰斐逊营地”闭幕式上，杰斐逊波本威士忌创始人特雷·佐勒与韩国调酒师合影。图片由保乐力加韩国公司提供。

佐勒表示，他希望韩国消费者能够了解每一瓶酒背后的旅程故事。

“我努力让每一瓶酒都讲述一个故事——杰斐逊海洋的故事。我们把木桶装上船，环游世界，只为带回一些绝佳的风味。盐分会渗入其中，所以酒是咸的。当我们越过赤道时，木桶中的糖分会焦糖化，于是酒就带有了咸焦糖的味道。”他说道。

佐勒表示，在新冠疫情期间，杰斐逊波本威士忌因美国市场需求激增而导致国际市场供应不足，韩国是该公司暂停出口后首个恢复的海外市场。保乐力加韩国公司于2024年开始重新进口该品牌威士忌。

“由于我们在美国市场的销售额大幅增长，无法满足国际市场需求，我们不得不停止所有出口，因此我们决定停止所有出口。两年前，我们决定重新开始出口，韩国是我们进入的第一个市场，”他说道。

佐勒是韩裔美国名厨爱德华·李的多年好友，爱德华·李也来自肯塔基州。佐勒表示，波旁威士忌与韩式炸鸡很搭，尤其是口味浓郁、香料丰富的炸鸡。

“我和他当时在喝波本威士忌，然后去了他的餐厅。我问他，我们应该点什么菜来搭配波本威士忌呢？我们选了韩式炸鸡，上面撒了不少香料。但是波本威士忌的辣味不够，配不上炸鸡的味道。所以我们就讨论着要不要调制一款新的威士忌，于是就有了杰斐逊主厨合作款，实际上是用两种波本威士忌和一种黑麦威士忌混合而成的。结果搭配起来味道好极了，”他说。