Spirits Journalist
Wayne Curtis is author of “And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails,” which was first published in 2006 and updated in 2018. He’s written frequently about cocktails, spirits, travel and history for numerous publications, including The Atlantic, New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. He currently covers spirits and cocktails for The Daily Beast, Garden & Gun, Spirited, Distiller, and 750 Daily. He lives in New Orleans except during yellow fever season.

Spirits Editor
Before getting into a writing career online, Zach spent years working around the globe as both a chef and a high-end bartender. Highlights include living with chefs in Thailand and cutting his teeth as a pizzaiolo in a Neapolitan pizzeria in Washington, DC. He’s also worked in organic wine bars in Prague and refined his cocktail skills at iconic bars in Berlin. Zach parlayed those skills into writing for UPROXX where his burger recipes get hundreds of thousands of views and his whiskey tasting notes are some of the most read in the industry.

Author, Spirits Journalist
Former restaurant critic and beverage columnist for the Louisville Courier-Journal, Susan is bourbon columnist for Food & Ding and Covey Rise magazines and also writes for Bourbon+, LEO Weekly, and American Whiskey (tasting notes and ratings). Susan has authored or co-authored six books including Kentucky Bourbon Country: The Essential Travel Guide, The Kentucky Bourbon Cocktail Book, The Bourbon Tasting Notebook, and The American Whiskey Tasting Notebook, and Which Fork Do I Use with My Bourbon? – Setting the Table for Tastings, Food Pairings, Dinner, and Cocktail Parties. Susan is a member of the Order of the Writ, former president of both the Bourbon Women Association and the Kentucky chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier International, an organization of women culinary professionals.

Barleycorn Director of Judging, Editor: Barleycorn Drinks, Spirits Journalist
John McCarthy is co-founder and Director of Judging for the John Barleycorn Society and editor of Barleycorndrinks.com. John is the author of The Modern Gentleman, A Guide to the Best Drinks, Food, and Accessories and Whiskey Rebels, The Dreamers Visionaries, & Badasses Who Are Revolutionizing American Whiskey. In a previous life, McCarthy was Managing Editor and alcohol aficionado at Men’s Health magazine. When not travelling the world in search of spirits, wine, and cocktail enlightenment, John works as a mixologist, spirits journalist, and consultant.