(Photo: Blue Run Spirits)

Blue Run Spirits has been named the most innovative pandemic start-up in Kentucky and one of the top 50 in the United States by Bloomberg.

Bloomberg selected Blue Run because the brand “showcased the mixture of inspiration and perseverance” a startup needed to launch amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “We received word that a number of different brands were postponing or canceling their launches” during the pandemic, Mike Montgomery, chief executive officer and co-founder of Blue Run, said, according to Bloomberg. “And so that created this window for us. I think people were looking for something new; they were looking for something different; they were looking for something kind of interesting.”

Blue Run was formed by Montgomery, who comes from a background in politics. First launching in October 2020, Blue Run originally released 2,600 bottles that were priced around $170 each. That first launch sold out in less than two weeks. Since its inaugural release, the brand has maintained its highly regarded reputation with wins from the 2021 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, where its whiskeys won in the best single-barrel bourbon 11 years and older and best small-batch bourbon 11 years and older categories. Blue Run has launched 10 releases of bourbon and rye since its founding in 2020, most selling out quickly.

This news comes from a long string of positive press the whiskey brand has seen recently, including stellar reviews, expanding locations and acquiring star players in the bourbon industry.

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