The Whiskey Lifestyle sat down with Jonathan Wingo, The Whisky Scholar, for a very funny and informative interview about whiskey and the Dallas Cowboys.
The Whiskey Lifestyle :So, let’s start from the beginning. Once upon a time, you were a bartender who ran a whiskey shop?
Jonathan Wingo: Yep! I learned the ins and outs of service from the Ruotolo Brothers and their family of fellow disciples. The Whiskey Shop was an idea they had to round out their portfolio of bars and their spirit line. We approached that shop in the same vein as any of their new projects, and then let it have a life of its own. It became a practice in curation, education, and soft-selling… All without pretense. In terms of learning experiences, it was the most intense, and incredibly rewarding.
TWLS: How did you end up moving over to work for The Balvenie?
JW: A good buddy of mine, who works for William Grant & Sons, asked if I’d be interested in being “an Ambassador.” At the time, I wasn’t so sure because there was such a wide range in remit and ambiguity for that term, Ambassador. He encouraged me to apply, and I quickly learned that it was the type of work I’d love to do. It mixes education, great whisky, and travel. How great is that?!
TWLS: Besides your own brand of course, what do you drink at home?
JW: I do drink some whisk(e)y at home, believe it or not. If I’m not drinking some local craft beer from a place I just visited, I’ll likely be sipping on something unusual or new in the whisk(e)y world. I have some bizarre bottles at the moment. There’s a distillery-only bottling of Clynelish, an 8-year-old Lagavulin, a moonshine from Missouri, a Fuji Gotemba Single Grain, and some odd-casked Kavalan to name a few.
TWLS: Do you get to travel a lot working for a company like The Balvenie?
JW: I am on the road more than I am at “home,” so yes. What’s helped me has been learning to separate the concept of travel from commuting. My commute just happens on planes, and I’m not home at the end of the night. This job does, however, allow me to truly travel. Last year alone has been a whirlwind; traveling to Iceland, Scotland, Japan, and Taiwan for work—with stops in London and New York for a bit of work and friend catch-up. The frequency of packing, flying, and security line-waiting, has given all of us brand ambassadors a side-expertise in travel tips and tricks.
TWLS: What’s your usual day like working at a company like this?
JW: I don’t know how to make this line less cliche, but there is no “usual” day. In fact, any routine or repetition would be unusual. One of the tricks of this gig is figuring out a system that keeps you “you” so you can go out and be everything to everyone. If we break my job down into audiences, I have five audiences that, ideally, I see on each trip, if not acknowledge every day. Corporate speaking-wise that’s: Consumers, press, trade, distributor partners, and colleagues. If I get to meet with my local colleague for a coffee, conduct a meeting for our distributor partner on what’s new, head to lunch with a journalist, conduct staff trainings for bartenders in the afternoon, host a whisky tasting at night for the public, and then go discover talented bartenders and impressive back-bars in the late evening—that’s a great day. That’s a full day. As you can imagine, there are a lot of moving parts to coordinate, so my visits are usually planned out weeks in advance. There are some special requests that I ask to be fit into a visit sometimes, like local craft distilleries and breweries, time with local craftspeople, and finding the best coffee in town.
TWLS: What inspires you?
JW: I love aesthetic in function. I really admire folks that consider aesthetic in the mundane. Design consideration when it’s not needed. Ideas that address many different needs and audiences. New music.
TWLS: What can’t you live without?
JW: Let’s see… In-ear, noise canceling headphones a portable bluetooth speaker, a versatile pair of jeans and a blazer and intentionally made coffee.
TWLS: Can you beat Griffin at Madden? We’ve heard rumors…
JW: Can I? Yes, absolutely. Would I? I mean, why would I take something away from the man that he clearly needs?
TWLS: How did you become such a huge Cowboys fan?
JW: BECOME?! How did I BECOME a huge Cowboys fan? Listen here, it was birthright! I grew up in Dallas. When I was a youngster, I thought the game of football meant the Cowboys win, and everyone else just attempts to prove themselves against the best. The twenty plus years that followed solidified my fan status while also imparting maturing wisdom like: Your team isn’t guaranteed to win, great stats don’t equate to victories, win before you talk, try not to talk so much, as an owner it’s important to trust the folks you hire to do their job, art can be hung in sports stadiums, and you must have thick skin to be a Cowboys fan in New York, which is Giants territory. Football was ruined for me because of that upbringing. Even now, I always expect the Cowboys to win. Every. Week. Which means, at best they can only reach my expectation, never exceed it. After each game, I’m either nonplused or disappointed. It’s terrible.
TWLS: Fair enough. Just for kicks, what’s your favorite ice cream?
JW: For every day, it’s Blue Bell’s Homemade Vanilla, If I want to splurge, I go for Ben and Jerry’s “Americone Dream.” However, when I’m in New York, I have to visit Cones on Bleecker and get a mix of mate and corn ice cream. Trust me on that, and also, you’re welcome.
TWLS: And last but not least, what does “The Whiskey Lifestyle” mean to you?
JW: Whisk(e)y is so communal, I think it’s important to seek reasons to share it. Though silence is golden, whisky-fueled chat is invigorating. Even when you’re sipping at home, you’re part of the whiskey story that we all tell by participating. I’m lucky enough that my gig creates the mix of how I’d like my lifestyle to be if I was out of the industry. Sharing whisky, traveling, and aspiring (though I believe “Renaissance Man” is more noble) jack of all trades and master of none. Specifically, at The Balvenie, we promote and encourage craft and intention in making, so I’ve met some inspirational folks along the way. I’ve swung hammers in blacksmith anvils, inhaled sawdust at furniture shops, lost arm-hair in glass-blowing studios, marveled at printing presses, and even pulled my own sheets of handmade paper. Personally, I like writing postcards, seeing new skylines, learning drinking rituals, and the universality of “cheers.” In my job, it’s important for me to be able to chat to anyone about any subject. Whether that is recommending the best dive bars in Minneapolis, suggestions on where to vacation in the South of France, which suitcase is the most clever, who has the after-hours food, or what publications are refreshingly non-cynical, yet no fluff.
