On a trip to the South of France in 2011, I drank pastis for the first time. I’d neither tried nor even heard of the spirit before, and initially was turned off by the taste. But over the course of the vacation, as I watched old men sipping pastis and playing pétanque in the park, I realized the drink told so much about the culture and lifestyle of this specific place in the world, and I developed a taste and fondness for the drink. I was captivated by the importance of this spirit as a cultural pillar: it embodied the artisans who created it, the cafes that sold it, and the community that gathered together drinking it.

I knew this kind of story could be told about all the spirits I love, so I set out to make a place to tell those stories. At a family reunion several years later, over a round of Old Fashioneds, I learned that my brothers Peter and Sean shared the same passion for distilling, mixing, and consuming spirits. The Liquor Cabinet was born.