In this episode of Journey to Regeneration, Christopher Marquis speaks with Rob Samuels, eighth-generation whiskey maker and Managing Director of Kentucky bourbon brand Maker’s Mark, about embedding regeneration at the core of a global business. Samuels explains how Maker’s Mark connects its stewardship of soil health, grain varietals, water stewardship, and American white oak forestry directly to flavor and product integrity. The conversation explores the company’s transition to regenerative practices across 50,000 acres of partner farmland, and its investment in mapping the genome of American white oak to safeguard the future of bourbon barrels. Samuels also reflects on the firm’s “purposeful inefficiency”—from hand-dipping the tops of millions of bottles in the company’s iconic red wax to rotating barrels for consistency—and why operating with what he calls an infinite mindset reshapes decisions about people, community, and long-term value. The episode offers a concrete case of how regenerative principles can move beyond rhetoric and into supply chains, governance, and product design, suggesting a different model for resilience in legacy industries.

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