After graduating from the University of New Mexico, I’ve spent my entire adult life in sales traveling to every state in the country except Hawaii and Wyoming. Thanks to those plane rides from corner to corner of the U.S., I got to eat and drink at some of the finest establishments in the country. The food was so mouthwatering, it would be a sin not to commit to recreating their flavors of heaven and sharing with the world.
I currently live in El Paso, Texas where the tequila quality is unlike anywhere outside of Mexico with its flavor and potency. Prior to El Paso, I spent 15 years in St. Louis, Missouri where I really began to develop my passion for cooking and drinking. Eating at the Hill in St. Louis, BBQ in Kansas City, and just about every great restaurant in Chicago gave my pallet the license to cook high caliber flavor meals with the right beverage pairing. While in St. Louis, along with two friends, I started a scotch club. Due to the exchange rate between the Euro and the dollar at the time, scotch had become quite expensive. We decided to pool our money together in order to buy and taste truly great bottles of Scotch and just like that, Glenassels Scotch Club was born. Soon after that, I made my first trip to the Kentucky Derby where I also took a trip along the Bourbon Trail. WOW!!!! My love for bourbon was born. Sticking my arm in the mash pit at Makers Mark and watching the beautiful thoroughbreds at the Woodford Reserve Distillery were almost as amazing as the bourbon I drank that day. With bourbon being so cheap relative to Scotch, bourbon soon became my whiskey drink of choice.
Some years ago a friend of mine who has a rare disease called Von Hippel-Lindau syndrome told me that when he was lying in his hospital bed he realized that what kept him going was the experiences he had with his family. It wasn’t the big house and the luxury vehicle, all deserved from the fruits of his labor, but dining and drinking on a beach in Hawaii at sunset are the things he wanted to live for. What’s the use of working for a living if you can live? My friends, I want to bring that dining and drinking on a beach in Hawaii to your backyard.
All this brings us to where I am today. On December 25, 2020 I had a calling unlike anything I have ever experienced. My calling suggested for me to share my love and passion for great food and great spirits while helping those in need. Very quickly I realized I could do this via YouTube and social media. I then assembled a team that is much better and smarter than I am. The people I have surrounded myself with have recently come into my life, so whether you believe in fate or the forces of the universe, it is clear that none of what we are all doing together is by accident. I can’t explain how it happened and I can’t imagine a better calling in life. We will change lives one sip and simmer at a time.