Ray Werley

Most bourbon brands start with a story and find something to put in the bottle. I started with 1,600 acres of farm and ranch land in Knox County, Texas and worked forward from there.

That's how I've always worked. I built my marketing agency from the ground up over 30 years, one client and one decision at a time. The agency is mine. The brands were always someone else's.

My dad cleared that Knox County ground from raw mesquite pasture. He broke it, planted wheat, and stayed with it season after season until it produced. He didn't do it for recognition. He did it because that was the work in front of him.

Farming it myself is what pointed me toward bourbon. Wheat is what we grow, and wheat is what shapes the pour: round, full, and deep. Once I saw that connection, I couldn't unsee it.

What I didn't have was the rest of the business. I am not a distiller and I am not a blender. I'm a founder doing the homework. Sourcing, blending, and the people who do both well. Our launch bourbon is sourced from established distillers and blended to our standard. We say that plainly.

Sourcing is where we start, not where we end. One day the wheat in the bottle will come from our own acres. That day isn't here, and we won't say otherwise until it is.

Truscott Sky starts with wheat, land, and a standard the bourbon has to meet. What I learned building brands for other people is how to make sure the right ones find it.