My late grandfather (pictured) gets partial credit for my love of whiskies
We’ll skip everything that happened before I was 21. Technically speaking, none of that was legal. Let’s just say my parents gave me my first drink at an age 21st-Century Americans may consider abusive and that the French would commend for responsible parenting.
Working on a St. Patty's Saturday to get Beam's data in order
As luck would have it, my first major consulting engagement was for Beam just as they were completing their merger with Suntory. They were focused on understanding the events and occasions that motivate consumers to select one drink over another and how people choose among various formats for consuming (sip, shoot, savor, etc). This sparked in me a latent passion I didn’t know existed: how is it people come to differentiate between all those different drinks on the shelf? What makes one stand out to someone and not at all to someone else? What stories and signifiers make all the difference? I was hooked.
Lucky for me, just a few months later I was staffed to work on Diageo. And that's where things really took off, and I began learning and trying as much as I could. Within a year, I'd probably bought over 100 new bottles to sample and needed an outlet.
Launching my blog with a 64-whiskey bracket in March, 2015
To make use of all these bottles I was amassing, and to hold myself to account for really learning about them, I started a blog on Instagram: “The Amateur Alcoholist.” My goal was never to be an influencer. I never asked brands for product. I just wanted a canvas to free associate and share my growing relationship with whisk(e)y. It was always meant to be Amateur. The closest I ever took it to anything more was as a platform to offer free classes and events. Share the love for whisk(e)y!
As I continued down the rabbit hole, I suddenly faced the daunting challenge of having more bottles than I had apartment space. Oh well… it’s a good problem to have.
The part of the bar at Pernod Ricard USA
I most concerned myself with
I finally broke into the industry officially in 2017, going to work for international conglomerate Pernod Ricard. I started off working on Chivas, Avion, Plymouth, and Martell. But they soon realized whiskies were where I could make the most impact and I was eventually promoted to the US head of Consumer Strategy and Insights for the Premium Whisky Portfolio, covering legendary brands like The Glenlivet, Redbreast, Scapa, Longmorn, Middleton, Green Spot, and more.
The Amateur Alcoholist effectively was no more - on the one hand because Pernod censored the living shit out of it, and on the other because, as my Mom said, “there’s nothing amateur about you anymore.”
Ultimately, the corporate structure wasn't for me. I wanted to work somewhere where people really had a passion for the products, not feeling like I was part of a mega marketing machine. I preferred to build than to keep things from going off the rails.
The view into my home office / Tasting Room
Of late, my professional and my personal whisk(e)y journey have been focused on independent bottlers and upstart distillers. Nothing against the bigger guys, and I'd love to work with more of them. But at the same time, there’s something liberating and inspiring about working with the people chasing their own dream. I've also started acquiring casks of my own with the hope that one day, probably decades from now, I can bottle them on my own.
I love the independent side of the industry - the corners where the geeks and nerds get together with an idea and set out to make it work. I've converted enough friends and associates into fans of the category that they've repeatedly insisted I start a business to help share my passion. I've finally decided to listen.
So here we are. The bottom of the page. The present.
I hope you'll put your trust in me to show you a good time with whiskey. And who knows, maybe you'll fall in love with it like I have.