It should have been a whiskey launch to celebrate. It isn’t every day you see a 16-year-old rye whiskey pop up in the market. But for the folks behind Lock Stock & Barrel 16 Year Straight Rye Whiskey, this is a bittersweet occasion, as their leader and founder Robert Cooper recently passed away unexpectedly at the age of 39.

Cooper, better known for being the creative force behind the popular elderflower liqueur St-Germain, also had  Cooper Spirits the Hochstadter’s Vatted Straight Rye Whiskey and Lock Stock & Barrel in his company stable.