I first met Ali Reynolds shortly after BarLifeUK launched, over ten years in the past. Since then, Ali has proved to me a grasp of constructing transitions – from bartender to ambassador, and now from established Previous World whisky, within the type of Johnnie Walker, to upstart New World Whisky with Denmark’s Stauning Distillery.
On this interview I discuss to Ali about shifting from bartender to model, Scandinavian hospitality, influential folks he has labored with alongside the way in which, and his new gig with Stauning.
BLUK: Ali, I feel it’s at the least ten years since we first met. I imagine you had been working at Hawksmoor again then, however I’m getting previous and my reminiscence goes, so may you give us a fast rundown of your bartending historical past, and the way you grew to become an envoy?
AR: My bartending profession started in Nottingham the place I labored at a spot referred to as brass monkey. I moved to Bristol and labored at some wonderful bars most notably Home Bar and it was there that I obtained a love for traditional cocktails. I ultimately moved to London and began working at an unimaginable restaurant referred to as Pollen Avenue Social with a unbelievable bar crew together with Gareth Evans, my brother Joshua Reynolds, and different individuals that basically impressed me. I then moved to Hawksmoor and it was there that I actually type of had freedom to handle a crew and to place my very own spin on issues.
However all through all that point in Nottingham, Bristol, and London I used to be at all times very focused on cocktail competitions and I feel by means of there you study to precise your self and problem your self, however most significantly you get to fulfill new individuals and also you get to see some wonderful issues and expertise some wonderful locations should you’re fortunate sufficient and I’ve been very fortunate in my bartending profession. It was in 2015 the place I competed for the GB world class title with Diageo and I gained the GB warmth and represented the GB in South Africa in 2015. I completed fourth on this planet in after that I joined Diageo as a model ambassador for Johnny Walker and that’s how I obtained into the ambassador function.
BLUK: Most BarLifeUK readers will know you out of your time as Johnnie Walker ambassador. Earlier than we speak about your present gig, what was it like working for such a large model, and while you look again on the time, is there a selected reminiscence or second that can at all times stick with you?
AR: I look again at that on a regular basis and I feel my most notable expertise was definitely opening the model properties up right here in Scotland, which is the place I dwell now. We opened customer facilities at six completely different distilleries and clearly Johnnie Walker Princess Avenue, which is within the coronary heart of Edinburgh, flying the flag for Scotch whisky and it’s been so nicely acquired the funding the corporate made into whisky tourism is one thing fairly spectacular. I really feel that they’re doing such a fantastic job at placing Scotch whisky on the map, it’s clearly a world-renowned spirit however getting the newcomers right into a spirit like that’s at all times difficult.
I’m so, so grateful to have met some wonderful individuals and I feel other than that point a private working expertise working with individuals like Jack Sotti and Jason Clarke who got here up from the World Class programme, and dealing with individuals like Pippa Man and Jo Final. Unbelievable bartenders and unimaginable ambassadors now, who’ve labored on the Savoy in London. It’s wonderful to depend your self amongst these individuals, they’re such heroes of mine and such inspiration. Additionally wanting again at a number of the wonderful occasions that we hosted with Dan Dove, Dave Beatty & Andrea Montague, these are all unbelievable names if them inside the business, and so they’re all such great individuals and I can by no means underestimate that high quality time that I had with these guys and studying from them has introduced me to the place I’m now.
BLUK: I’d think about the expertise you gained with Johnnie Walker opened plenty of doorways. What attracted you to Stauning Whisky, and the way has the transition to a non-Scotch whisky been?
AR: I feel I used to be drawn to Stauning as a result of I favored the ambition and philosophies they’ve. Alex, one of many founders, flew me out to Denmark earlier than I began and I had a tour of the distillery it’s a completely mind-blowing place. I’ve by no means seen a distillery prefer it, and as soon as I obtained to know a number of the wider crew and actually obtained into what Stauning desires to realize in the long term, I used to be actually comfortable to be a part of this mission and be a part of this wonderful crew. Everyone seems to be so welcoming the whole lot appears to be a collaboration, it’s a very open place for dialogue and I’m actually excited to get began and put in place a number of the new plans that we now have for 2024.
Nonetheless I feel the toughest half has been shifting from such an enormous Scotch whisky model, seeing a number of the challenges that that brings, however the brand new world whisky class is such an thrilling place to be proper now there’s a lot great whisky coming from international locations exterior the whisky producing giants of Scotland, Eire, Japan and America. What we’re doing being one of many first if not the primary Danish whisky is making an attempt to interrupt down boundaries and get individuals having fun with the unbelievable liquid we’re making.
BLUK: Whisky as a class tends to put worth in age and custom, whereas the Stauning distillery in Denmark, which was in-built 2018, seems like quintessential piece of contemporary Scandinavian design. From the skin, this provides the impression of a special mindset or strategy to having fun with and dealing with whisky. Is that this an correct assumption?
AR: Coming from a Scotch whisky background I’ve at all times skilled individuals’s mindset to be concerned with age numbers on bottles and distillery names. There’s a protracted line of custom inside Scotch I feel that’s what Stauning does so nicely, it’s wanting again at what the wonderful Scotch whisky class has achieved. So we do our personal ground maltings, we now have 24 copper pot stills which might be direct-fire heated, and I really feel that the mindset isn’t that a lot completely different.
We nonetheless need individuals to take pleasure in our whisky in the correct setting and take their time and expertise it for what it’s. It’s splendidly full bodied and filled with unimaginable flavours, and the whole lot that goes into that whisky comes from Denmark. It actually offers you a way of place, which is unbelievable and I feel Scotch does that for Scotland, clearly, and that’s why individuals fall in love with Scotch whisky, Irish whiskey, Japanese whiskey, and American whiskey – all of them present an unimaginable sense of place. We’re newcomers to this complete world however I really feel that the brand new world whiskey class is among the most expansive and attention-grabbing in the intervening time. It’s obtained everybody actually taking a look at completely different areas of the world and seeing what they will do, and we’re pitching ourselves up towards the perfect of the perfect. It’s laborious work however on the similar time we now have this big quantity of appreciation for the whole lot that’s come earlier than us however along with your assumption I’d say design is on the forefront of most Danish ideas alongside sustainability.
Danish up to date design, design colleges, and the design museum all make Denmark world-renowned, and we now have a number of the greatest eating places on this planet. It’s clear to see that design and accuracy and fervour inside our work begins from the get go. The distillery is probably the most breath-taking distillery I’ve ever seen, it’s a completely unimaginable place and I’d encourage everybody to get on the market and go to as a result of we’re doing issues in such a beautiful method and creating some scrumptious whisky on the similar time.
BLUK: I’d think about you’ve gotten spent numerous time experiencing the Scandinavian hospitality scene since becoming a member of Stauning. What’s it like, and the way does the UK evaluate?
AR: It’s been a whirlwind begin to my Stauning profession. I’ve been to so many wonderful locations experiencing Danish tradition usually, however Copenhagen is the place I’ve spent probably the most time in Denmark, alongside Stauning which is the village that the distillery is called after. How does it evaluate to the UK? It’s a a lot newer cocktail scene, however the methods and the ambition are all there. There are some fabulous fabulous cocktail bars in Copenhagen alongside, as most individuals would know, a number of the greatest eating places on this planet, and it’s nice to see that cocktail tradition is maintaining with that.
It’s solely a matter of time earlier than individuals begin to recognise Scandinavia usually as a dominant pressure inside the cocktail business, there’s some unimaginable stuff happening and we flew the crew from a bar referred to as Chook in Copenhagen out to do an occasion with us in New York, which was actually particular for me because it’s good to showcase what a fantastic bar crew from Copenhagen can do in a metropolis like new York.
BLUK: Again to ambassadoring, I feel numerous bartenders see shifting in to model work as a pure or fascinating profession development. I additionally suppose the ambassador function has modified fairly a bit through the years, from talking to varied veterans. Is there any recommendation you’d give to somebody who A: desires to get an envoy job; and B: has an envoy job and desires to be good at it?
AR: if you wish to get into an envoy function I feel you want to choose up plenty of info from across the business and study from individuals who have achieved your job earlier than, and attempt to create your personal fashion and see the place it matches for the model. Definitely have a love for the spirit class that you simply’re going into and be sure you have an honest community and an actual ardour for the business, but in addition exterior influences, whether or not that’s sport, meals, design, images, movie, artwork – something alongside these strains can at all times assist convey one thing new to the drinks business and I really feel that it is vitally necessary.
To have labored in a number of completely different locations is helpful to realize completely different outlooks and actually perceive how manufacturers function on each scale, what they need to obtain sooner or later, who the competitors however on the similar time the place you match into that competitors. Have a love of travelling and embrace the cultures of various international locations as greatest you’ll be able to.
The second a part of this query I wouldn’t need to inform anybody easy methods to do their job. I really feel that it’s altering an increasing number of, it’s not nearly tasting periods and making a drinks programme. You might want to be concerned with the advertising crew, you want to be concerned with the distillery operators, the model as a complete, whether or not that’s the homeowners should you’re fortunate sufficient to speak to these individuals. Get to know the distillery staff, get to know the ins-and-outs and the whole lot the model represents and holds expensive.
Additionally, don’t be afraid to ask questions. As I stated earlier there have been some unimaginable those that I’ve labored and who’ve been ambassadors and actually impressed me, from my time working in bars I obtained to fulfill a number of the greats: Max Warner at Chivas, Ewan Gunn at Diageo, Dean Callan at Monkey Shoulder, Mark Thomson at Glenfiddich, Meimi Sanchez at Havana Membership, and Shervene Blackburn at Bacardi to call a number of individuals I’ve at all times seemed as much as.
It’s at all times good to replicate on the nice issues that they did, the nice tasks they ran, however I assume my one takeaway and my one piece of recommendation could be to at all times analyse what you’ve achieved earlier than, whether or not that’s the very profitable issues or the odd errors you could have made, at all times analyse it as it may be really easy simply to maneuver onto the subsequent mission. At all times return and replicate on it and it’ll make your life a lot simpler.
BLUK: And eventually, you’ll be able to drink something, anyplace, with anybody one. What does that seem like?
AR: That is at all times a stunning query and a difficult one. Wow that is laborious… I’d say my grandpa, he died after I was comparatively younger I didn’t get to know him as a lot as I want I had. He’s my Dad’s Dad, and watching my Dad admire an increasing number of what myself and my brother do inside the drinks business has been nice, and I really feel that he has an actual appreciation now for all issues whisky and all issues cocktails alongside his love of meals and wine and that’s very nice however it could have been nice to get to know my father’s father.
Anyplace – if I may rewind time, my grandparents used to have this excellent orchard on the backside of their backyard which my Grandpa used to take care of, so most likely sit there in the summertime solar, and I’d make him a Sazerac. From the odd tales I’ve heard he favored cognac, so I’d most likely make him a Sazerac with equal elements of Stauning Rye and an honest cognac of his selecting. Yeah! that’s the drink, and we might take pleasure in that within the orchard sit there in deck chairs, surrounded by apple timber, with the solar setting.
I can’t consider something that will be significantly better than that.
Observe Ali Reynolds on Instagram: @ali.is.out.stauning
Stauning Distillery Web site
Associated
