Field of Dreams” Cornfields Fulfilled “Whiskey Dreams

A “dream” that has always been in the works.

The baseball movie classic “Field of Dreams” has been made into whiskey.

The touching final scene, in which Kevin Costner (70) plays catch with his late father, was filmed on a baseball field that was created by crushing a corner of a cornfield.

The film was shot in Dyersville, a rural town in eastern Iowa. Located in a vast granary, “Field of Dreams Whiskey” was created using corn harvested from the fields surrounding the ballpark as the main ingredient. We asked Drew Storen, 37, the manufacturer and former Major League Baseball player, about his motivation for starting the business.

The Dyersville ballpark is still a sacred place that baseball fans visit every year. The corn at the sacred site grows a grain of narrative that is different from the rest. We thought that each amber-colored drop, made by those of us who have experienced the majors and become its storytellers, would be a ″authentic″ taste that would sink deep into the hearts of baseball fans.”

Here’s a look at Mr. Storen’s baseball career.

He was selected by the Yankees in the 2007 draft, but went to Stanford University, a prestigious university in the West. He was selected 10th overall by the Nationals in the 2009 draft (Strasburg, which made national headlines that year, took him first), made his major league debut in 2010, and in his second year, 2011, he emerged as a major player with 43 saves.

But – in the fall of ’12, it was the playoffs against the Cardinals. With a two-run lead and two strikes in the ninth inning, he gave up four runs and was charged with the loss.

From there, he was at the mercy of inexplicable policies, including a reassignment to reliever, and experienced a demotion to the minors.” During his one-and-a-half year rehabilitation, he began to envision a second life.

I got married in ’14, and at my bachelor party the day before the wedding, I went to a whiskey bar, where the owner recommended the legendary Hirsch Reserve 16 Year Old Bourbon!　I was recommended the legendary Hersh Reserve 16 Year Old Bourbon by the owner of the whiskey bar. I have been keeping that dream alive ever since.

On the same day, Hard Water, a famous whisky store in San Francisco, presented him with a book covering the history of the whisky in question. The author of the book is Charles Cowdery, a well-known bourbon writer.

A.H. Hirsch emigrated from Germany shortly after the end of Prohibition and worked for some of the world’s largest liquor companies before buying bourbon from a distillery in Pennsylvania in 1974 at the age of 70. However, due to various reasons, the old bourbon was stored in a cellar until 1989, when the distillery went bankrupt. The distillery was able to age the bourbon much longer than it had been produced at the time, which deepened the flavor, and the Hirsch Reserve 16 Year Old was born. Stollen was impressed by the story.

It was a book of destiny,” he said. The multi-layered flavor of Hirsch Reserve and its history is beyond inspiring,” says Stollen, who has a gorgeous bar counter in his home, which is lined with a number of discontinued and phantom brands. The bar counter at Stollen’s home is luxurious, and is filled with many rare brands that are no longer on the shelves.

Every great film has a story.

In the spring of 2008, I participated in the Phillies’ camp as an invited player on a minor league contract. He was in perfect shape, but the days of realizing the decline of his shoulder “didn’t inspire a burning desire” in him. Then came the COVID-19 crisis that shook the world. The camp was suspended, and the start of the official season was delayed until the summer. Stollen’s feelings were easily changed after he was informed of his dismissal.

Catching on with Parents and Children

In ’21, he founded Field of Dreams Whiskey Company with his elementary school classmate and whiskey collector Andy Keller. Knowing that Mr. Storen was a whiskey aficionado who collected the finest from around the world, Tyler Clippard (40) and Jerry Blevins (41), two ballplayers from his Nationals days who had heard about his plans for a second life, offered their support, but Mr. Clippard was adamant, saying, “Not until I get the business on track and see that we can do it as a company,” and Mr. Blevins was not interested in helping Mr. Storen. But he was adamant that he would wait until he knew the business was on track and that he could make it work.

Stollen’s first step was to find a manager for the cornfields around the stadium.

Using LinkedIn, a social networking service that specializes in business, he connected with Andy Ray, a corn grower. Stollen thanked his lucky stars, saying it was a “miracle” that no one had contacted him before. With no other clients for Mr. Rey except for sales in town, he immediately retained a lawyer to obtain a patent.

However, there was an unforeseen problem before the grand finale. It happened on the way back to Stolen’s home in Indiana.

It was a seven-hour drive each way from the sanctuary. At 1:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, a police officer raised his voice when he was pulled over by a patrol car while driving down the highway. ‘Your tires are on fire! .

In a panic, he opened the door of the truck he was driving and got out to find that the rear wheels of the trailer he was towing were on fire. After the third call, they finally secured the large truck. This unusual incident also sits firmly at the toe of the “Field of Dreams Whiskey” story.

And the nectar of the story is MLB at Field of Dreams in the summers of ’21 and ’22, when Mr. Storen and his father watched an official Major League Baseball game at a ballpark in a cornfield in Dyersville. Before the game, father and son played catch together and walked through the cornfield, which grew as tall as the players in the movie.

In the 150-year history of Major League Baseball and the whiskey in the brewing barrels that nurture its rich aroma and deep flavor, Mr. Storen sees a thread of destiny connected by a time line. Beer is always a part of watching a baseball game,” he says, “but it’s the glass that makes you think.

Thus, “100% Baseball Whiskey” was born in May 2011. The story of a Major League Baseball player making whiskey with corn that smells like the “breath of baseball” grown in a fan-favorite place is certainly fascinating, and Stollen’s passionate love for whiskey lies between the lines of this story.

In 2011, 22,860 bottles of the “Player Series,” the market debut of Field of Dreams Whiskey, were produced, the same number as the number of players who have played on the major leagues’ stage. The following year, 23,114 bottles were produced, but they sold out quickly. The brewery’s production capacity can only be increased gradually. In order to meet the demands of fans, the brewery began to release a “small batch” series last summer, blending carefully selected bottles of original sake. The bottles were redesigned and the cork stopper was engraved with the faces of former major league baseball players. This added a fun element to the product: one never knows who will appear until the bottle is opened. Southpaw, a lemon ginger whiskey cocktail in a can for young people, has also been available since 2011.

Mr. Storen told the author, “We want to deliver dreams rather than revenue.

This year’s new 23,370 bottles will be released on March 27, the opening day of Major League Baseball in the United States. It will be available in liquor stores in nine U.S. states, online, and in bars in the Braves’ home state. While the overseas release has yet to be determined, he is eagerly anticipating its debut in Japan. A dream born in a cornfield is expanding to the world.

Hideo Kizaki
Baseball journalist who has been covering Hideo Nomo since his debut in the big leagues in 1995. In addition to his work as a local reporter for Full-Count, a baseball website, he has contributed articles and columns to numerous media outlets.

From the April 4/11, 2025 issue of FRIDAY