10/26/2026
In Kentucky, we always tend to speak in terms of bourbon. Every bourbon tells a story, and every sip allows the customer to dive into that story. In the Commonwealth we do not think there is such a thing as good or bad juice… just different stories. I may prefer the story of one to another, but it does not make the others any less important, less creative, or less delicious.
Ham is the same way.
Growing up in Kentucky, it seemed we had a ham house in every community, and every ham house told the story of that community. Some were very dry and intense. Others are softer and more mild. Some were covered in layers of mold, while others looked spotlessly clean. Some are salty while others… well they were all salty…it is country ham after all.
This fall, for the first time in 27 years, the North Carolina State Fair welcomed back the Country Ham Competition, but unlike the Kentucky State Fair, North Carolina invited every ham producer in America to send their best hams to see how they measure against the others.
We have been curing hams for over 100 years at Broadbent’s. We are honored that for so many Kentuckians we are the standard of country ham. We are honored that we have heard our name called 24 times at the Kentucky State Fair when they announce Grand Champion. And more than anything…we are honored that we still get to tell our story and Kentucky’s story for so so many years.
But there is one honor we have never had: NATIONAL GRAND CHAMPION.
Until now.
On October 15, 2026 at the Fair Grounds in Raleigh, our name was called as the Smoked Ham National Grand Champion! 117 years of work, challenges, and changes to hear that call. 117 years of owners stressing, things breaking, people showing up on Sundays to work…117 years of telling a story ... .117 years of having a story worth telling!
I wish I was there to hear that call. But I wasn’t. In fact, I was a whole country away as I celebrated my 15 year anniversary with my wife in California.
She is a chef like me. When we were dating, I decided to take a Chef job back home in Bowling Green, and she followed me from Lexington. When I got to that Chef job and desperately needed cooks, she came to rescue and ran lunch service for me. When we opened our first restaurant she washed dishes while I did news interviews. When we opened our second restaurant she took care of the first so that I could focus on my dream steakhouse. And when we wanted to start a family, she quit being a chef so she could be the best Mom… and to make sure I could keep chasing my dreams.
But we are not the only ones chasing dreams. Two of my best friends joined me in this journey.
My friend Andrew Cole stepped away from his business he had run for 15 years to help me. We shared a cigar together every Monday night, and one night I asked him to come help me run Broadbent. I didn’t pitch it as a job offer. I pitched it as a friend that needed help chasing a dream. Andrew said yes and for over 2 years has split time between Kuttawa and his home in Kentucky. He has felt every failure just as I, and has committed the past 30 months of his life to learning this legacy company.
Thad Robinson was my Sous Chef at my restaurant, but with a new family, the nights were growing old. Thad has worked and worked and worked for my family for almost a decade now. At my restaurant he could handle the impossible. One of the best cooks I’ve ever seen. He is the most natural of leaders and commands respect not through his words, but through his relentless work ethic. With this comes the most humble of personalities with belief in humanity. He is an old soul that loves country ham like me. He is the guy that actually runs the ham program here. He touches every ham that comes in this place. Broadbent’s may be my story, but these hams are Thad’s babies. I promise you he hopes every time you eat Broadbent ham you love it!
That’s the part of Broadbent’s I wish more people saw. That ham represents all those things. For Chelsey and I it represented 15 years of being a team, choosing each other, and choosing to chase dreams. For the Drennans before me it represented something else. And for the Broadbent’s before them it was something else! It was their stories. It is the story of every single employee that has ever shown up to throw salt on hams. For every vendor that showed up at the wrong time at Christmas and was put to work. And to every kid who has run up and down the aisles of the ham house. It is their story. It is Kentucky’s story.
It’s never just a ham. The minute we think it’s just ham it’s all over. It’s a Broadbent Ham-- a National Grand Champion. And this year our story won. I’m sure in the coming years we will get to hear every producer’s story as their name is called, but we won’t mind reminding them for the next 12 months!
