Authors
Browse all blog authors
Adam O'Connell
Adam O'Connell has been writing for Master of Malt for over eight years now. He’s visited distilleries, wineries, and breweries across the world, reviewed a variety of whiskies, gins, rums, Tequilas, mezcals, brandies, vodkas, wines, beers, and cocktails, and contributed all kinds of words in all sorts of places, including over 1,000 articles to its award-winning online blog, The Whisk(e)y Wash, and many of the handy guides you might have enjoyed. He’s even jammed with Kiefer Sutherland AND dined with Ainsley Harriott. Not at the same time.
Alex Badescu
Alex Badescu as part of the editorial team from 2022 to 2023, bringing plenty of her scientific acumen and curious disposition to the blog. But she first began working at Master of Malt’s sister company Atom Brands as a distillery assistant. Alex boasts a considerable background in organic chemistry, cell biology, and recipe development, and she’s also been a spirits judge at the People’s Choice Awards.
Alwynne Gwilt
Alwynne Gwilt was a contributor to the Master of Malt blog. Gwilt began in the industry back in 2011 when she launched her blog: Miss Whisky, and as a whisky consultant and journalist, she worked to change the age-old belief that ‘women don’t drink whisky’. This groundbreaking blog was one one of the first in whisky to be spearheaded by a woman. Since, she’s run tastings globally as an independent specialist, appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers, and worked as a brand ambassador for William Grant & Sons and The Balvenie single malt.
Annie Hayes
Annie Hayes is a journalist who writes about spirits, cocktails, health, and lifestyle. She covers everything from cocktail recipes and ingredients to Veganuary, hangover cures, and the finer details of spirits production. Annie previously worked at The Spirits Business and Men’s Health. She has also judged numerous cocktail competitions. Her work has appeared in titles including Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar, Runner’s World, Prima, and Women’s Health. But her best work is, of course, right here at Master of Malt.
Ben Ellefsen
Ben Ellefsen is a co-founder of Master of Malt, Atom Brands and Maverick Drinks, with a brain full of cocktail recipes, Alan Partridge quotes, and ideas for new and delicious spirits and flavours for your enjoyment. Since 2014 he has been both a Keeper of the Quaich (an honour that recognises outstanding commitment to Scotch whisky) and a Warden Rectifier within the Gin Guild.
Dave Worthington
Dave Worthington is That Boutiquey-Whisky Company’s beloved and hard-working global brand ambassador. Recognised as the world whisky Whisky Brand Ambassador of the Year by the Icons of Whisky awards in 2018, Dave started documenting his adventures and tastings as an enthusiast on his Whisky Discovery blog as far back as 2011 before leaving his engineering career behind to share his infectious love for this amazing spirit full-time.
Emma Symons
Emma Symons is a content executive at Master of Malt, where she has been working since 2014. Starting her days in the customer service department, she soon became immersed in the world of spirits with a passion for learning and sharing her knowledge. Having gained in-depth product experience, and qualifications as both a WSET Educator, and in its level three Spirits course, she now writes product-related content for the Master of Malt website and social media. You'll usually find Emma out taking photos, rummaging in junk shops, or anywhere that there's a tasting happening.
Felipe Schrieberg
Guest contributor Felipe Schrieberg is also a senior contributor to titles such as Forbes and Whisky Magazine, receiving prestigious awards such as the Icons of Whisky Communicator of the Year (2022) and lan Lodge Young International Drinks Writer of the Year (2021) for his work. Felipe is also a fantastic blues musician and singer, combining his two passions in The Rhythm and Booze Project: bringing together live music, whisky tastings and independent bottlings (as well as working with the pranksters at Master of Malt to actually release a tonic wine cask finish whisky on 1 April 2021).
Henry Jeffreys
Henry Jeffreys worked in the wine trade and publishing before becoming a writer. He’s features editor for the Master of Malt blog as well as contributing to various publications and has appeared on BBC radio and TV. He won Fortnum & Mason Drink Writer of the Year 2022/23 and is the author of four books: Empire of Booze, The Home Bar, The Cocktail Dictionary, and Vines in a Cold Climate.
Ian Buxton
Ian Buxton worked in the drinks industry for more than 30 years as a writer, commentator, consultant, and was a former marketing director of one of Scotland’s favourite single malts. You’ll probably know him best for 101 Whiskies To Try Before You Die books. He’s a Keeper of the Quaich and has been inducted into the Worshipful Company of Distillers. Once, apparently without noticing, he bought a derelict distillery. Read his articles here.
Jake Mountain
With fifteen years' experience in the spirits industry, Jake is our resident 'doer of things'. He's worked across all areas of Master of Malt's retail, trade, editorial and marketing teams, and much more besides, managing various award-winning campaigns. He's an expert whose particular areas of passion include single pot still Irish whiskey, coastal spirits and boozy stirred-down cocktails, as well as funky agricole rhum and cachaça. He's passed the new, advanced WSET Level 3 in Spirits with a Distinction and his comments have appeared in publications such as The Guardian and Jeff Cioletti's Drinking Adventurously. You can also speak to him about second division German football and an eclectic array of music from Britpop to rare funk breaks.
Jess Williamson
Jess has been writing for Master of Malt since 2019 having studied at the University of Bristol, contributing features from food and whisky pairings to visiting distilleries, as well as formulating Master of Malt's data-driven industry trends reports. You'll also find her in front of the camera all over Master of Malt's Instagram, shaking up cocktails and tasting new whiskies (somebody's got to do it!).
Justin
Founder and managing director of Master of Malt and Atom Group, Justin Petszaft believes in investing in people and technology to deliver exceptional experiences for drinks fans. Trained as a theoretical physicist, Justin can also be found enjoying a single cask Braeval or bourbon, or running around a squash court.
Kristiane
Kristiane Westray is a freelance drinks writer, educator and presenter, with bylines in Whisky Magazine, The Malt Whisky Yearbook, Club Oenologique and more. Her career has seen her head up the content team here at Master of Malt, edit The Spirits Business magazine, and serve as head of brand at luxury wine platform FINE+RARE. Kristiane has chaired and judged at numerous tasting competitions, including the IWSC, the American Distilling Institute’s Judging of Craft Spirits, and the Global Spirits Masters. She’s also an accredited WSET Spirits Educator, and co-presents live tastings for whisky subscription service Pour & Sip. When she’s not immersed in the world of spirits, she can be found trail running across her local South Downs National Park.
Lauren Eads
Lauren Eads is a freelance writer and guest contributor to the Master of Malt blog. She has worked as managing editor of The Drinks Business and holds a Level 4 Diploma from the WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust).
Lucy Britner
Lucy Britner is a highly experienced and knowledgeable editor of titles such as Drinks Retailing, Just-Drinks, Drinks International and World’s 50 Best Bars, becoming a Keeper of the Quaich in 2019. She was also a very fine guest contributor to Master of Malt and you can read her articles here.
Lucy Shaw
Former editor of The Drinks Business magazine, Lucy is a freelance writer and editor specialising in wine, spirits, food and travel with 15 years of experience in the drinks industry. Having started out as editorial assistant at Decanter magazine, she has written for the likes of Newsweek, GQ, Club Oenologique and the Evening Standard, and has been shortlisted for the Louis Roederer Emerging Wine Writer of the Year award four times. A sucker for a well-made Old Fashioned, she recently swapped west London for the Herefordshire hills.
Mark Reynier
Mark Reynier is a British whisky entrepreneur and former wine merchant best known for reviving Bruichladdich in 2000 and later founding Waterford Distillery in Ireland. A passionate advocate for transparency, terroir, and barley provenance, Reynier spent much of his career challenging whisky industry orthodoxy and arguing that flavour begins with agriculture, not just casks and ageing. His outspoken approach made him one of the drinks world’s most influential and divisive modern figures, helping push conversations around traceability, grain sourcing, and authenticity firmly into the mainstream.
Master of Malt
The Master of Malt blog is home to a wide range of writers, authors, commentators and industry experts. Some articles that have multiple authors are attributed to this author page for the sake of convenience.
Michael Orson
Michael Orson is a branding consultant and spirits enthusiast who has lived around the world and worked for brands like Samsung, Siemens, and Tabasco. He's written numerous articles for Master of Malt that you can read right here.
Millie Milliken
Millie Milliken is an award-winning spirits and cocktail journalist who has written about food, drink and the people behind the industry. Her work has been featured in numerous publications in the UK and US, across both consumer and trade audiences, such as Club Oenologique, Evening Standard, Global Drinks Intel, Courier Media, The Cocktail Lovers and more. Her first book, Tequila: A Tasting Course, was published in 2025, which was named the Winner of the Fortnum and Mason Debut Drink Book of the Year 2026. Milliken was the winner of the 2022 Alan Lodge Young International Drinks Writer award, and the International Wine and Spirits Council Spirits Communicator of the Year too. She is also head of content for the OurWhisky Foundation - a not-for-profit supporting women in (or looking to get into) the whisky industry.
Nate Brown
Nate Brown has owned and operated spirit specialist cocktail bars in London, is a regular speaker on industry panels, a judge for various spirit awards and has been known to harbour an opinion or two. He has also done creative work for Source Material, Ensemble, Lazy Ace Irish Whiskey, and written for the Master of Malt blog. Read his work here.
Nicholas Morgan
Nick Morgan spent thirty years in the Scotch whisky business, helping to establish an historical archive for United Distillers (now the largest archive of historical material relating to alcoholic beverages in the world). After which, he deftly side-stepped into marketing, managing the largest portfolio of single malts in the world, including brands such as Lagavulin, Talisker, Clynelish and Caol Ila. Following that he was appointed head of whisky outreach, affectionately known to some as ‘Diageo’s human shield.’ In 2017 he received the IWSC Outstanding Achievement award. He is a Master of the Quaich. Having left Diageo he has now returned to the relative sanity of the past, and published A Long Stride (2020), the official history of Johnnie Walker, and Everything You Need to Know About Whisky But Are Too Afraid to Ask (2021). He used to write for the Master of Malt blog and his work you can read here.
Richard Legg
Richard Legg spent almost a decade at Master of Malt conducting in-house drinks training and specialising in drinks compliance. Known as ‘The Oracle’, Legg is a trained WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) spirits educator and IWSC (International Wine and Spirits Competition) judge. As well as whisky, Richard has a passion for Asian spirits, completing the curriculum to become an Awamori Jinbner in 2020. Read his work on the Master of Malt blog here.
Sam Simmons
Sam Simmons is the Head of Whisky at Atom Brands, a position he has held since 2018. Before that, he was The Balvenie single malt’s global ambassador and he initially got his start as blogger Dr. Whisky, a name some still call him today. Sam is a Keeper of the Quaich and has also worked for the likes of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society and Douglas Laing over more than twenty years of love for all things whisky. As an educator and writer he’s had bylines in the likes of Whisky Magazine, Wine Enthusiast and The Wall Street Journal, and he’s also band leader of the musical whisky supergroup Barley, Stills, Mash & Tun.
Sam Smith
Sam Smith is a writer for the Master of Malt blog. He is not a famous singer. Sam is probably the most underrated drinks writer this industry ever did see. Mostly on account of the fact that nobody ever did see him. While he eschewed the life of events anything remotely public, he wrote more words for MoM than Shakespeare penned in his life. Some were on this blog. Read them here.
Whisky Santa
Master of Malt's multi-award-winning #WhiskySanta is back for 2025 with a £750,000 giveaway for all lovers of whisky, gin, rum and more!
