Words by Kade Krichko
Lisa Sawyer Derman knew the weekend was make or break. A 30-year beverage industry veteran with brands like Absolut, Stoli, and Macallan notched in her belt, the born and bred Kentuckian had bet it all on Five Springs Infused Bourbon, her independently owned take on a regional institution. What’s more, she’d brought her daughter Kayla Derman in on the play. Never one to make a soft entrance, she had decided to debut Five Springs at the state’s premiere beverage gathering, the 2023 Bourbon on the Banks. But as the gates opened, the pair watched as crowds trickled up to any bottle but theirs.
“We had a bright booth and no one there,” remembers Sawyer Derman. “We started thinking, ‘hey if we guessed wrong, good thing we learned it now.’”
Kentucky is a place deeply rooted in tradition. Bluegrass. Horses. Bourbon. The latter is a particular point of pride, a libation that can be distilled anywhere that there’s corn and rye but seemingly keeps its singular home in the Bluegrass State. Sawyer Derman grew up on a cattle farm in one of the state’s dry (aka bourbon-less) counties but still remembers the beverage sneaking its way into local weddings and the occasional sickbed.
Yet while bourbon culture has always been something Sawyer Derman is deeply proud of, she also began seeing its limitations. The loudest bourbon enthusiasts insist the drink is enjoyed straight-up—without other additions or flavors. However, that narrow lane didn’t make much room for other points of view, or the multitude of potential drinkers left out by the culture’s one-size-fits-all mentality.
“We saw this gap,” explains Sawyer Derman. “It felt like bourbon could be more approachable.”
That gap is ultimately what inspired the creation of Five Springs Infused Bourbon. After watching her son mix up cocktails at the family lake house one summer, she began to dream of a product that would resonate with mixologists, cocktail enthusiasts, and exploratory consumers—something that could be based in quality but bring more people in.
Starting with high rye mash, 118-proof bourbon (for reference, Bulleit comes in at 90-proof) Sawyer Derman infused real flavors and natural sugars into her new project, producing iterations like Honey Sage, Blood Orange, and Maple Vanilla that could easily be batched into cocktails or enjoyed with an ice cube or two. She remembers her mother warning her about stepping outside the realms of traditional bourbon making, and that she might face some backlash for thinking a little too far outside the box.
“Then [my mom] ordered a bourbon ginger ale,” remembers Sawyer Derman, laughing.
Still, the words echoed in her head on that first weekend in Bourbon on the Banks. Droves of whiskey enthusiasts descended on the 15 Stars tent next to Five Springs, an operation that had won several quality awards over the years.
But, after one woman tired of waiting in line wandered over to Lisa and Kayla, more people followed, curious to see what this twist on a classic was all about.
“People wanted something new and I guess it spread,” says Sawyer Derman. “Before the end of the weekend, we’d sold out.”
The trial by fire transformed into a proof of concept for the mother-daughter duo at Five Springs. With the attention of the most devout bourbon-drinking culture on the planet, they have worked to expand in more cocktail-centric locales like New York and just launched in Austin, Texas (Chicago and Nashville aren’t far behind, according to Sawyer Derman).
Along the way, the long-time industry pro has found new perspective thanks to the people who have given her nascent liquor brand a chance. With a bit more flavor and less harsh afterbite, Five Springs has been instrumental in bringing more women into the bourbon space, and Sawyer Derman says the brand is constantly getting batching and cocktail ideas from original and new drinkers alike.
“I love seeing the way people use our infused bourbon,” she says. “I want it to keep bringing folks together.”
As Five Springs continues to grow, Sawyer Derman knows its roots need to stay firmly connected to her heritage. She sources Five Springs’ bourbon primarily from Kentucky distillers and insists on attending bourbon festivals in Kentucky every year. The family farm is still in a dry county, but she hopes it will someday grow the corn that will be used by Five Springs’ distillers.
It's an effort that hasn’t gone unnoticed by extended family in her home state—acknowledgement that let’s Sawyer Derman know she’s on the right track. Even her dad—a straight bourbon-drinking cattle broker who won’t be caught without his cowboy hat and silver belt buckle—has jumped on the bandwagon.
“In the beginning, he was really nervous,” she says, smiling. “Now, he’s proud.”
