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By John Allman, Hester Baker Krebs LLC
On September 11, 2025, the third annual Bourbon with the Bar networking event will be held at IndyBarHQ. This event will be hosted by the Commercial & Bankruptcy Section, Criminal Justice Section, Solo and Small Firm Division, and the Masters Division. This event will provide an opportunity for all members, including those not in the hosting sections and divisions, to meet attorneys who practice in other areas of law as well as mingle with some of Marion County’s judges.
The event starts with attendees getting to network in HQ’s lobby while enjoying some delicious finger foods from Quality Ingredients. The event then moves to IndyBar’s Education Center where the tasting is held. Including sponsors, the first two events have each included approximately fifty-five attendees who participate in the blind whiskey tasting led by Ray Vandivier of Rural Inn. Ray does an excellent job of educating the attendees on how to properly do a tasting, starting with “nosing” the bourbon before taking a sip and then letting the whiskey work its way down. After Ray provides comments and instructions on how to go through the tasting, the attendees work through all five whiskeys (labeled one through five) with their own tables while Ray works the room and discusses the tasting with individual tables. The event is set up with assigned seats in an effort to put attorneys who do not know one another together.
Over the past two years, Ray has been more than generous and provided several of his customers’ favorite store picks in the tasting, including a delicious 2017 Buffalo Trace pick, a 2019 Eagle Rare pick and a 2020 Blanton’s pick. Drew Black of locally owned Circle City Whiskey Company has also been involved, and the tastings have included one of Circle City’s spirits to try. Drew also sets up a table prior to the tasting that allows attendees to sample some of Circle City’s other products. Stagg Jr. and Old Rip Van Winkle have each been separately included in the prior events and a highlight for some. At the tasting’s conclusion, Ray reveals what bourbon each tasting was and asks attendees which ones were their favorite.
The event concludes with a live auction of the bottles that were included in the tasting, which have been auctioned by auctioneers Marc Huber and Nic Smock. There have been more than a few bidding wars throughout the auctions and a lot of good laughs. All auction proceeds go to supporting the Indianapolis Bar Foundation, as well as proceeds from “charity” pours that came after the tasting. The prior events have allowed the host sections and divisions to raise money for their annual budgets and generated several thousand dollars each year for the Indianapolis Bar Foundation!
This event was created as an alternative way for the hosting sections and divisions to provide value (networking) to their members, raise money for their groups and the foundation, and to generally bring people together. This year, the alternative value will be expanded to any IndyBar member. Aside from being in court, we used to see our colleagues at the continuing legal education courses held regularly throughout the year. However, that is no longer the case as remote CLEs have primarily ruled the continuing education landscape. This event allows for some great bourbons to be shared and for new relationships to be created!
This event is open to all IndyBar members, and you can register through www.indybar.org/bourbon. Hopefully you can join us this year as we look to grow this event!•
John Allman is an attorney with Hester Baker Krebs LLC where his practice primarily encompasses representing clients in commercial and consumer bankruptcy, insolvency, and related litigation. Allman’s practice includes representation of both plaintiffs and defendants in commercial or consumer bankruptcy adversary matters. He received his B.S. from Indiana University and J.D. and Tax LLM from Thomas Cooley School of Law. Allman is an active member of the Indianapolis Bar Association and its Commercial & Bankruptcy Law Section, is a Distinguished Fellow of the IndyBar Foundation, and is a co-founder of the Bourbon with the Bar Event.
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