Kentucky is bourbon country and Chris Morris ’83 (MA) is one of the reigning kings. Morris is the master distiller at Woodford Reserve, a small-batch bourbon distillery that dates back to 1812 and boasts the fastest-growing whiskey in the country. He is also one of only 10 who hold the distinguished Kentucky Bourbon Master Distillers title.

And like Morris’ super-premium bourbon, master distillers are not made quickly.

“There’s no coursework to be a distiller. You learn from practice, working as an understudy for a master distiller,” said Morris, who worked under Lincoln Henderson, who was at Woodford for 41 years. “I had been identified years before as the person with the skill set, passion and history to be a Lincoln successor. It’s not something you can do overnight. I’ve been in the bourbon industry for 28 years. I’m a second-generation distillery employee. Both my parents worked at Woodford Reserve.”

Morris’ bourbon roots are steeped in purple as well. While on assignment in the 1980s as a distillery sales rep in Fort Worth, he followed family tradition and picked up a degree from TCU.

“We have a number of cousins who left Kentucky in the 1890s and moved to Texas and some of them went to TCU,” he said. “I think I had relatives as far back as 1900 at TCU.”