Why are we insuring distilleries?
New Leadership & A New Event
Following a family tragedy that caused the unexpected loss of both of his parents, Chuck Tomberlain stepped down as Agency Principal of Tomberlain Insurance. Cole Tomberlain, at the age of 23, took over this third generation agency that was founded in the 1950's.
In 2012, before he knew that he would be taking over his family's insurance agency and real estate business, Cole Tomberlain rallied a group of his friends to start a new fundraiser that would benefit Longview World of Wonders Children's Hands on Discovery Center. This new event, Bourbon & Bowties, would bring distilleries from all over the State to Longview, TX to promote their products.
Texas Distilleries On The Rise
Each year as the number of Texas bourbon distilleries grew, so did Bourbon & Bowties. Cole Tomberlain began to form life long friendships with the distillers and distillery owners involved in the event. Watching these new young distilleries grow and evolve deepened his desire to learn everything he could about the distilled spirits that are so deeply interwoven with the history of our great nation.
Bourbon & Bowties took on a life of its own with all of the selfless hard work of countless volunteers. The event has now raised over $1,000,000 for Longview World of Wonders, and Cole Tomberlain was recently honored for all of his efforts in this event year after year.
We Can't Get Enough Bourbon!
There was just too much time in between Bourbon & Bowties each year. So Cole Tomberlain and his birthday sharing buddy, Andrew Griffith, proposed a monthly meet up, and the East Texas Bourbon Society was founded. Now with chapters in Longview, Tyler and Nacogdoches, the East Texas Bourbon Society has about 120 members that meet up each month to try bourbon and other distilled spirits and discuss mash-bills, flavor profiles, and distillery histories.
