Koopers Whiskey just made a hire that reads less like a corporate reshuffle and more like a homecoming. Jeremy Murray, the Austin hospitality veteran who put Koopers behind the bar more than ten years ago before most people outside Central Texas had ever heard the name, is now stepping inside the company as its Director of Sales. The move, effective July 13, 2026, hands Murray the keys to the brand's on-premise and off-premise sales strategy, its distributor relationships, its key accounts, and its push into new markets. It also marks the end of an era for Murray himself, who is walking away from ownership stakes in the very bars that built his reputation to bet everything on one whiskey brand.
For a company headquartered in the small town of Ledbetter, Texas, and still very much a family operation, this is not a small announcement. It is a signal about where Koopers Whiskey intends to go next, and who they trust to get them there.
A Decade-Old Handshake Deal
The story behind this hire goes back to 2015, when Murray's Austin bar Blackheart became the very first establishment in the country to pour Koopers Whiskey for its customers. At the time, Koopers was a small, largely unknown Texas whiskey brand trying to earn a foothold in a crowded market. Murray took a chance on it, and that early bet turned into a working relationship built on something that's increasingly rare in the spirits business: actual trust, built over actual years, between actual people.
That relationship never faded. It just kept compounding, bar after bar, pour after pour, until it eventually became the foundation for something bigger than a supplier agreement.
The Résumé of an Austin Institution
Before Koopers came calling with a full-time offer, Murray had already spent his career becoming one of Austin's most respected names in hospitality. He didn't just tend bar — he built the kinds of places people organize their week around. His fingerprints are on Blackheart, Kitty Cohen's, High Noon, Daydreamer, Alba Wine Bar, and Proof & Cooper, a run of concepts that collectively shaped how a generation of Austinites think about a good neighborhood bar.
What set Murray apart in that world wasn't flash. It was consistency — building beverage programs with real thought behind them, creating spaces that felt like they belonged to the neighborhood rather than a chain, and doing the unglamorous relationship work that keeps a bar industry running: knowing your distributors, knowing your regulars, and knowing which brands actually deserve shelf space.
That firsthand, on-the-ground understanding of what makes bar owners, retailers, and distributors say yes to a brand is exactly what Koopers says it's after.
Walking Away From What He Built
Taking this job wasn't a side gig or an easy addition to an already full plate. Murray is selling his ownership interests in his hospitality businesses entirely, closing one chapter of his career to open another. It's the kind of decision that tends to separate people who talk about believing in something from people who actually put their name and their livelihood behind it.
What Koopers' Co-Founder Had To Say
Troy Kooper, who co-founded the brand and serves as its Master Blender, didn't mince words about why Murray was the right call.
"Jeremy has been part of the Koopers story almost from the beginning," said Koopers Whiskey Co-founder and Master Blender, Troy Kooper. "He was one of our earliest supporters, became a trusted friend, and understands firsthand what makes a whiskey brand work at the account level. He's built businesses, earned the trust of operators across Texas, and lived on both sides of the bar. There isn't anyone better suited to lead our next stage of sales growth."
That last line matters. "Lived on both sides of the bar" is a specific kind of credibility — the kind that comes from having poured a competitor's product, argued with a distributor over pricing, and watched customers make split-second decisions about what they order. It's not a credential you can fake, and it's not one most sales hires bring with them.
Murray's Own Perspective on the Move
Murray, for his part, framed the decision as both a professional evolution and a continuation of something he'd already been doing for years — just from a different seat.
"I've watched Koopers grow from a whiskey we put behind the bar at Blackheart more than a decade ago into a powerful brand with a real opportunity to expand well beyond Central Texas," Murray said. "I've spent my career building places where people gather over great drinks and great conversations, and I understand what makes bars, retailers, and consumers respond to a brand. I believe in what Troy and Michelle have built, and I'm ready to put that experience behind growing Koopers Whiskey."
Why the Timing Makes Sense
This appointment isn't happening in a vacuum. Koopers Whiskey has been actively working to grow its retail and on-premise presence across Texas while looking at opportunities beyond the state's borders. Bringing in someone who already has fifteen-plus years of built-up goodwill with bar owners and distributors across the region isn't just a nice hire — it's a shortcut past the years of relationship-building that usually have to happen before a spirits brand can expand its footprint.
Most sales directors have to earn trust from scratch when they walk into a new market. Murray already has it. He's sat across the table from these same distributors and account managers for over a decade, just from the buyer's side instead of the seller's. That's a meaningful head start for a brand trying to move from a strong regional following into something with broader national relevance.
Rooted in Texas, Built Without Pretense
Koopers Whiskey was founded in Austin by husband-and-wife team Troy and Michelle Kooper and has since relocated its headquarters to Ledbetter, Texas. The company describes itself as family-owned and built around old-world blending traditions, crafting boutique Texas Bourbons and Ryes that lean into maturation, blending, and finishing rather than gimmicks or marketing shortcuts. The stated philosophy is straightforward: let the whiskey do the talking, and build a brand around flavor, complexity, and craftsmanship instead of pretense.
That approach has apparently resonated. A brand that started as a single pour at one Austin bar has grown into something substantial enough to attract a sales leader with Murray's track record and to justify a genuine push into new markets.
Anyone curious to see the operation firsthand can visit the Koopers Whiskey tasting room at 100 West U.S. 290 in Ledbetter, Texas, or shop the lineup online. The company also keeps an active presence on social media and through its email newsletter for anyone who wants to follow along as this next chapter of expansion unfolds.
The Bigger Picture
There's a broader lesson buried in this announcement for anyone who pays attention to how small, independent brands actually grow. It rarely comes down to a slick ad campaign or a celebrity endorsement. More often, it comes down to relationships built slowly, over years, by people who show up consistently and deliver on what they promise. Koopers Whiskey didn't hire a stranger with an impressive LinkedIn profile to run its sales operation. They hired the guy who believed in them before almost anyone else did, and who has spent the last decade proving that belief was well-placed.
Whether that translates into shelf space in new states and taps in new bars remains to be seen. But if a decade of loyalty, a stack of respected Austin bar concepts, and a direct line into the region's distributor network count for anything, Koopers Whiskey just made itself a lot harder to bet against.
