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The Bourbon Industry Was Opposed to Change. Then Jefferson's Bourbon Started Changing Everything -- and Winning.

Jefferson's Bourbon has upended the staid Kentucky liquor's heritage.

By James Higdon

Cristiano Rinaldi

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Trey Zoeller walks into Jack Fry's, a Louisville bistro founded in the 1930s by a beat cop with the winnings from a fixed horse race (or so the story goes), takes a seat at the bar and orders us a couple bourbons. And then a couple more. And then some more. And as time drifts past and Jack Fry's fills with diners and drinkers, and more bourbon flows, Zoeller -- a tall, slim, engaging man with blue eyes and a dimple in his chin -- tells the story of how he became a heretic.

Related: How Two Entrepreneurs Turned an Idea Into a Blooming Floral Business

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