As told to Anna-Rhesa Versola | Photo by John Michael Simpson
Che Ramos shares his knowledge of all things bourbon, elevates the history of the whiskey community and champions for more diversity and inclusion in the whiskey industry of North Carolina and beyond as The Black Bourbon Guy.
The Brooklyn, New York, native began his career within the restaurant industry in 2006. His latest venture is a hospitality consulting business that offers educational classes, workshops and tasting events for wine, beer and spirits. As its name, The Black Bourbon Guy, suggests, Che’s true passion is bourbon. He savors every chance to share his knowledge of and experiences with whiskey, especially when leading his Whiskey 101 classes on how to sample and discern myriad bourbon varieties while also providing an unvarnished history of bourbon distillation and its makers. You can sign up for his next class or visit him at Alley Twenty Six on the last Wednesday of each month to learn about Black history in the bourbon world and to sample a pour of whiskey.
Why did you choose to come to Durham from Brooklyn?
Thanks to guys like Kenny Smith and Ed Cota, I grew up a Tar Heel [fan]. I moved from Brooklyn to North Carolina to attend UNC-Chapel Hill in 2001. One of my best friends is from Durham, and I always had a great time whenever we had the chance to kick it around town. While Brooklyn and Durham are extremely different, they also have many cultural elements in common. I’ve always felt at home here. Oh, and the weather ain’t bad either.
When you formed your LLC in the midst of the pandemic in November 2020, what convinced you that this business would be successful?
Honestly, I wasn’t really convinced that it would be successful at all. In 2018, my wife and I were visiting some friends in Brooklyn, and someone brought out a delicious bottle of Scotch. At one point during the evening, I ended up launching into a mini lecture on the differences between Scotch and bourbon. Fortunately my friends are as nerdy as I am, and one of them told me that they really enjoyed learning the history behind the sauce. They also asked if I’d ever thought about doing something like that professionally. That conversation lingered in my head for more than a year before the pandemic hit. My restaurant went to takeout only, which saw me only working 40 hours a week, instead of the industry standard 60. I had to do something with the extra time. With the idea still lingering in my head, I woke up one morning and started making things happen.
I started the business doing virtual events, which was a great way to help people connect during the pandemic. It also provided a fairly unique experience for people during a time in which everyone was stuck in their homes. People seemed to really respond well to the concept, and once things started to open back up, I started to receive lots of interest in doing in-person events. That positive feedback and support has continued, especially within the Durham community. I’m not sure that the business is successful just yet, but I’m hopeful that I’ll get there.
How did your passion for whiskey evolve?
I’ve had a nerdy passion for beverages since my mid-20s. I was a young manager at a restaurant and had the opportunity to try some Ornellaia, a Super Tuscan wine, which at the time was one of the best in the world. It was a life-changing experience for someone who’d spent his undergrad years drinking Incredible Hulks and Jäger Bombs. It was the first time that a beverage really spoke to me, and I wanted to learn all about it. I spent the next decade going down the rabbit hole, so to speak. While I’m still a huge wine fan, I studied and sampled all the fermented and distilled products I could get my hands on.
I settled on bourbon as a favorite because it’s delicious. Also, the stories behind the bottles are often as amazing as the product itself. Few products mirror the history of this country like straight bourbon whiskey. When [The New York] Times posted their now-famous article about Uncle Nearest, and I began to explore the role of Black people in the whiskey world, I was hooked.
Why was it important to you to call attention to being Black in the world of whiskey drinkers?
I’ve spent 20 years working in restaurants. At every stop in my career, I noticed that the industry is woefully short on genuine diversity, equity and inclusion. This is especially true of the whiskey world. Representation matters because it shapes how we perceive ourselves, others and the world around us. When people don’t see themselves represented, they often don’t feel comfortable patronizing businesses and brands that they might actually come to enjoy. There are tons of BIPOC whiskey drinkers and whiskey-curious people out there. I want to do my part to help as many of us feel comfortable within that space as I can.
What do you hope to achieve through your business model?
I believe that the pleasure of drinking whiskey (and all beverages) should be accessible to everyone. I invest time in studying the history and process behind bottles and brands in the hopes of sharing that knowledge with an increasingly diverse group of people. I recently began a line of cocktail syrups that feature recipes originating from various parts of the [Black] diaspora. I seek to increase awareness of the many contributions that the BIPOC community has brought, and continues to bring, into the beverage industry. My hope is that I can help more people feel comfortable navigating the beverage world.
What’s your ideal whiskey in all the world, regardless of cost? What would you recommend as a good quality whiskey that’s affordable to the average consumer?
My favorite bourbon so far is Old Forester Birthday Bourbon. It’s a highly prized annual release from the distillery and, sadly, I’ve never been lucky enough to score my own bottle. I have, however, spent lots of money buying pours of it whenever I see it at a bar or restaurant.
The quality and affordable bottle is a tougher answer. My favorite part about whiskey is that, if you can get bottles at MSRP, it is one of the more affordable products on the market. Buffalo Trace is the most awarded bourbon producer on earth, and many of their high-end bottles retail for less than $40 – if you can find them. The recent boom and secondary sale market have been challenging, but fortunately there is still plenty of good stuff out there like Evan Williams Single Barrel ($35).
In your opinion, what’s the best whiskey in North Carolina?
While I’ve had my fair share, there are so many new brands produced in North Carolina over the past few years that I have not yet had a chance to try them all. One of the brands I’ve really been enjoying lately is Old Hillside. The company is Black-owned and was started by four men who are graduates of Hillside High School.
A few years ago, they started a whiskey brand specializing in single-barrel bourbons and ryes. Their brand and bottles pay homage to the lesser-told stories of Black jockeys in the history of horse racing.
What story do you most often share about North Carolina’s bourbon history?
North Carolina’s history with distillation has been one of the most restrictive in the country. While Prohibition was ratified via the Volstead Act, which became effective in 1920, North Carolina began its own self-imposed prohibition in 1909. Federal Prohibition ended in 1932, at which point the state allowed breweries and wineries to operate within a limited scope, but continued the ban on distilleries. It wasn’t until 1978 that the sale of liquor by the drink became legal, and distillers’ permits were legalized a year later. The first distillery that opened after Prohibition in North Carolina was in 2005 – Piedmont Distillers.
When you consider that other states had distilleries that operated both before, during and after Prohibition, distillation in North Carolina as a whole is still in its relative infancy. It took quite a while for some of the largest national bourbon makers to really hit their stride. We’ve only been at it for 44 years, and I look forward to the future of North Carolina bourbon production.
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