Meet Our Team Member, Gretchen
MB Roland Distillery would like to introduce our team members, the folks responsible for the continued success of what we do here.
Meet Gretchen Wessels-Robertson! Gretchen is celebrating her 3rd work anniversary with MBR this month! Prior to starting here, she was a dance teacher.
Here are some additional Q and A’s to get to know Gretchen!
Q: What was your first job at MBR?
- A: I started out bottling and shortly after, I started doing tours and tastings. I also worked several special events bartending on-site and off-site. I moved to distilling this past spring 2021.
Q: What is the best part of your job?
- A: I’d be hard-pressed to find a bad part of my job! You can’t beat the foggy drive up through the cornfields first thing in the morning and the faint smell of smoking corn and Angel’s Share in the air. And that view reminds me of home. Best part though, by far is the amazing group of people I work with. We really are a family… a slightly, off-kilter one! But that’s what makes it so great.
Q: What is your favorite product of MBR?
- A: The Rye Whiskey is my favorite MBR product.
Q: Do you have a favorite cocktail made from MBR products?
- A: Ha! Well, I like to dabble in amateur mixology so I won’t bore you with my long list of experimental cocktails! A few of my faves are…
- Bourbon Palmer, made with Flagship Bourbon, lemonade, unsweet iced tea, and mint.
- Paloma, made with Añejo KY Azul, grapefruit juice, lime juice, simple syrup, and club soda.
- Blackberry Lemonade made with Blackberry Moonshine.
- Brown Derby, made with Bourbon or Rye, grapefruit juice, and honey simple syrup.
Q: Do you have a favorite pet at MBR?
- A: I like all the animals at the distillery (even the human ones!) But my favorite is Cass. He’s my buddy! His sweet face makes me happy. And at 16 years old, he manages to turn into a 2-year-old pup when he gets a chance to play fetch with his favorite ball. I can only hope to have his spunk when I get that old! I make sure to give him lots of belly rubs every day. *
Q: When giving a tour, what is the most asked question about the distillery?
- A: When I was giving tours, the most asked question I got was, “How did you get this job?” I laugh because it’s a bit of a fluke. When we first moved here and realized there was a Bourbon distillery just 7 miles from our house, we had to check it out. We gradually became friends with the workers and owners and I guess they figured I may as well do some work since I was there all the time!
Gretchen went on to say, “I am originally from Upstate New York. I live in Clarksville, TN with my husband, Tom, and our two dogs, Bullitt and Dalton.”
Find more information on our MB Roland products here, or book a tour and tasting today.
MB Roland Distillery is a completely “grain to glass” craft distillery located in Pembroke, KY. We use local white corn to hand make our products ranging from our unique “distillation & barrel proof” Kentucky Bourbon to our naturally-flavored Kentucky Pink Lemonade. Stop by for a tour or visit our website today.
*This interview took place before Cass passed away on September 16, 2021. Our hearts are broken. Please raise a glass in a toast to our sweet, beloved Cass.
