Lead Archivist, Sazerac
Bourbon Archaeology: Unearthing Spirited Stories
Kentucky’s signature industry permeates all aspects of the state’s economy, history, and identity. Over 2.7 million visitors toured Kentucky’s distilleries in 2025 and there are more barrels aging in Kentucky’s warehouses than both people and horses combined. Bourbon Tourists are drawn to Kentucky through the common thread of a high-quality Kentucky whiskey. But they stay longer, visit more things, and spend more money through a commonality they share with Heritage Tourists: an interest in authentic histories relayed through a unique sense of place.
Bourbon’s prominence in Kentucky makes one thing surprising: we’ve only scratched the surface of Bourbon History. This talk will highlight how much there is still to discover about this industry. It can energize communities who want to join in community archaeology projects or share stories of their own families. It faces the same challenges as other archive and library institutions with a large percentage of uncatalogued materials in distillery archives though there are business cases for its long-term preservation. It crosscuts demographics and interests providing opportunities to leveraging unique discoveries even for audiences who have no interest in consuming alcohol. It is resilient and overcomes challenges like the record setting 2025 flood.
This talk will have something new for bourbon novices or even seasoned experts. Consider it an invitation to join us and learn more as we discover these stories together.
As the Lead Archivist for the Sazerac Company, Nick Laracuente is an archaeologist who specializes in historical distillery and spirits-specific research, as well as public outreach and education. Nicknamed the “Bourbon Archaeologist,” he played a key role in the discovery and excavation of Colonel E. H. Taylor, Jr’s formerly-lost nineteenth-century Distillery at Buffalo Trace Distillery, now dubbed “Bourbon Pompeii.”
In his current role at Sazerac, Nick oversees the cataloging, care and display of more than 400,000 artifacts associated with Sazerac’s global homeplaces and 500+ spirits brands. His work serves as inspiration to many new-to-world brands, including the resurrection of Prohibition Era whiskey brands with the award-winning Prohibition Collection. Additionally, through his work at Sazerac’s Domaine de Segonzac in Cognac, France, Nick is unpacking Sazerac’s history as a distilling company, which dates back to 1633 (thus far, according to his findings) and includes producing the global Cognac brand that inspired the eponymous Sazerac Cocktail in the 1850s.
Most recently, his focus has been on the preservation and historic research arm at Sazerac’s newly-acquired Irish Whiskey Distillery located in Sligo, Ireland, where he has been instrumental in building several soon-to-be-released Irish Whiskey brands produced at the historic Distillery.
Prior to his current role, Nick held a variety of titles that relied on his unique skillset, such as teaching Bourbon Archaeology classes at Midway University and leading award-winning archaeology projects featured in documentaries and publications such as Garden & Gun, American Whiskey Magazine and Whisky Advocate, among others.
As passionate about archaeology as he is about spirits, Nick is an in-demand speaker and the author of many academic publications. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Classical Studies from Tulane University, a Master of Arts in Anthropology from the University of West Florida, and completed many hours towards his Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology at the University of Kentucky before deciding instead to pursue opportunities in Kentucky’s distilling industry.