Alan Powell is a former HMRC Policy official who liberalized much of excise law/policy when in the Department, including correct reasonable application by HMCE of its policy on “under-sized” stills for the licensing of distillers and innovated the “trade facility” excise warehouse concept. Since leaving the Department almost 20 years ago, Read more…
Abbie Neilson is Co-Founder of Cooper King Distillery in Yorkshire. Inspired by her travels in Australia. At the distillery, Abbie produces single malt whisky and gin amongst other spirits and over the years has claimed several awards. Abbie has a background in biomedical science and Cooper King Distillery are dedicated to sustainability, being Read more…
Aaron Knoll is a Spirits Writer and Judge and is well versed in spirits, particularly gin. His website, The Gin Is In, was set up in 2009 and is a valuable resource for reviews, with 725 written so far. Aaron has written several books on spirits as well as contributing to Read more…
David T Smith is an internationally renowned gin expert, judge and author. He chairs judging panels for the American Distilling Institute and the International Wine and Spirits Competition, as well as the Gin Masters competition. He is the winner of the 2016 Think Gin award for the best communicator, and runs Read more…
Anne Brock is Master Distillery at Bombay Sapphire and has helped several other distilleries on the journey to success. She has won numerous awards for her work and has been part of the Craft Distilling Expo since it’s very early days, teaching gin workshops and speaking at several events on Read more…
Barb Grossenbacher is the Founder and Distiller of Edelwhite Gin based in beautiful Switzerland. Barb has a wealth of knowledge on distillery start up and how to take an idea and turn it into reality, and an award winning gin.
Ben Marston is a Director and Distiller of fie year old Puddingstone Distillery based in Hertfordshire and home of multi award winning Campfire gin. Ben is particularly knowledgeable about sustainability in distilling and eco packaging. He also has experience in marketing, working with Tring Brewery.
Tom Warner, Founder of Warners Distillery is quite the character. He also has a wealth of knowledge in running a distillery. Warners pride themselves on making great products. They brought one of the first rhubarb gins to the market, and continue to innovate, with a focus on sustainability, and environmentally Read more…
Russ Wakeman is the Co-found of Two Drifters, a rum distillery based in the UK. As well as making delicious rum, Russ is dedicated to sustainability in the distilling industry and has participated in a number of talks in for us over the years.
Veronika Karlova is an experienced spirits consultant within the vodka industry that has judged vodka panels for a variety of international competitions and has written articles on a number of various vodka topics, including the latest vodka trends and vodka-terroir subject. The Slovakian has an extensive knowledge of global vodka market Read more…
Tommy Haughton is one of the founders of Beacon Commodities, a company that has trading links dating back to the 1850s and trades in 6 continents around the globe. Beacon Commodities has become one of the main suppliers of gin botanicals to distillers.
Vanessa Piromallo wears many hats. A gin expert and judge, she has exceptional knowledge of the spirit and applies this to her businesses. In Golden Group she specialises in event organization, social media marketing, web contents, SEO, newsletter, AdWords As Content Specialist at IlGin.it, she specialises in web writing, interviews, events, analytics, SEO, Read more…
Nolan Kane is an experienced Business Development Manager and Account Manager with a passion for the spirits industry and the brands that drive it. He possesses a demonstrated history of developing and managing relationships with some of the most exciting brands in the industry. Skilled in negotiation, sales, international business development, Read more…
Peter Holland is a rum enthusiast, Spirits Educator, Consultant, Brand Ambassador and much more. Peter loves the sugarcane spirits category and has travelled extensively, seeing production first hand. He has an engineering background and so technical aspects come easily to him. He is a consultant for hire who specialises in the spirits category of Read more…