If you live in the New England area, you may be familiar with the Mass Bourbon Alliance. Derek and Nick (the founders) started this group roughly a year ago, and it is steadily gaining traction. Let’s dive in, and get to know them a little better!

N- Hey! I’m Nick. I’m a Mechanical Engineer by trade; my day job consists of designing medical devices for a prominent company in the diabetes care industry. I’m an avid outdoorsman as well and love to find the parallel opportunities to enjoy multiple hobbies at once responsibly! I live happily with my lovely life partner Brittany who takes great care of our goldendoodle Fern (and great care of me when the IG lives go too long). 

D- I’m Derek. I have my CPA license but now I work on the asset management side of a real estate firm.  Happily married for almost 10 years with a 3.5 month old child and 5 month old. Besides whiskey I love getting out to play some golf, but with tow little kids that doesn’t happen much anymore.

N- I’ve been really into Irish whiskey since 2012 but I didn’t go all-in on whiskey in general until one fateful night at a gin bar in Dallas, Texas in February of 2019. I had no idea any whiskey could be that sweet with bold candy flavors. I foolishly texted myself to go try to find some Weller when I got home and the rest is history!

D-  I got into whiskey back in 2012.  I was watching Mad Men one Netflix DVD at a time and grabbed some Makers Mark to try a homemade Old Fashioned.  I was hooked, but stuck with 1-2 bottles at a time, drinking Old Fashioneds for a few years, until I slowly started falling farther down the rabbit hole.  There was so much to try that the bottle count kept growing.  I transitioned to drinking it neat after my Mom was over for a visit and I made her an Old Fashioned.  She asked, if my bourbon was so good why did I add sugar to it?  Great point.  I moved to ice and then neat shortly after that.  I’m glad I did, there’s a lot more nuances hiding in there without the sugar and bitters.

N- We really wanted to bring the Massachusetts residents (and broader New England if possible) good whiskey that was a bit more accessible than what we’ve seen in the past. There are a few existing groups in the space also doing awesome stuff for the community, but we had the vision to try to bring our picks to as many people as we could – with open dialogue and release information, not allocated lists only shared to a select few who are ‘in the know’. We also very intentionally included ‘Alliance’ in the name because we consider every pick as an opportunity to mutually collaborate with a store. More palates getting involved results in better whiskey picks that we decide to put our name to. It builds confidence in us and in the store and creates a better alliance between the consumer and seller. 

D- I was in a lot of different whiskey groups and they all do it a little differently.  I would always think I’d probably do it this way or that.  Once covid hit I started organizing monthly Zoom flights with a few friends.  I really liked the organizing, connecting people, and trying new single barrel picks.  I started chatting and made friends with one of the whiskey guys at my local store, Liquor Junction.  They do a ton of barrel picks every year and I started dropping hints on how much I’d love to jump in on a few picks.  I told him my idea about starting a group and how I thought we could help each other and it went from there.  At the time Nick and I lived pretty close to each other.  We had hung out a bunch and swapped samples.  We had similar palates and I knew he would be great to set up the group with.

N- The biggest pivotal moment for us was going from thinking we were going to be doing 2-4 picks a year in a laid back, sample-when-we-can kind of pace. That completely changed when we got the call that said “hey are you free next Tuesday?” and we jetted off to Kentucky & Indiana with Liquor Junction and got to pick 4 barrels at Starlight Distillery with Andrew Jerdonek & Christian Huber. We realized this was going to be a much bigger first year than we expected and the small plan for a certain number of barrels that would be done… seems to not have a ceiling at this point. The biggest learning that I think we’ve had in general in this group was that accessible, delicious picks are far more rewarding than getting a few people a unicorn. Seeing the outpouring support from people and how they are loving their NEBCo Stouted Bourbon pick we did with James has been incredible. Any time I open Instagram now I see at least one instance of someone enjoying a bottle, a sample, or discussing the flavors that they find in it. We wanted to do something local for our inaugural picks & NEBCo barrels were our first two as a group. The barrel picking experience that James has learned, crafted, and applied to his own process was world class. We ideally want to involve more of the community in these processes whenever we can. 

D- The pivotal moment was probably walking into NEBCo for our first barrel pick with James.  After all the talk and trying to line up picks, we were surrounded by barrels and had an awesome time.  We picked a 6 year MGP and then James mentioned he had another project he was working on and asked if we were interested.  We tried the four Stouted Bourbon barrels and knew we had to grab one of those too!  I hope he has another round of the Stouted Bourbons this year, last year’s were excellent.

N- I don’t think this group has a real grandiose Pinky-and-the-Brain vision. We want this to be fun, easy, and mutually beneficial to all involved. We will work to continue to collaborate with great stores who offer picks at fair prices and reward repeat customers with access to the things that everyone wants. We will continue to pull great barrels from companies we trust and we follow exceptional palates & skills like NEBCo. Ideally we would see more groups take up our model. Get involved with your local stores – chat, collaborate, and most of all have fun!

D- As a group we want to keep connecting good whiskey with good people, keep doing great single barrel picks and making them available to everyone.  I love talking about whiskey, trying new things, and sharing pours with people.  I hope to do even more of all of that going forward. 

N- Take a small sip – enough that there is a pool big enough to leave sitting atop your tongue. This is going to sting and burn a little, but resist that urge to just slug it back and hold it there for as long as you think you can. Then go ahead and swallow it (or spit it out if need be). Now before you groan and make a face… sit and wait for the flavors to come up. If you can’t find them on this sip, I bet you will find the experience much more enjoyable if you now go for subsequent sips, as the shock factor that typically blocks your senses will be subdued. 

D- Drink it how you like it, try lots of stuff, and don’t be intimidated.  I stuck with Old Fashioneds for a few years before finally transitioning to drinking it neat, no shame there.   Try lots of different stuff- share some bottles and samples with friends and hopefully they’ll do the same.  It’s a great way to try more without having to buy every bottle.  Don’t be intimidated by someone else’s experience or tasting notes, everyone has a different palate and tastes things a little differently.