Meet the Guy That Picks Hundreds of Single Barrels for One U.S. State
“Here, try this.”
Mark Roy hands me a Túath glass, filled with about an ounce of spirit pulled straight from a nearby barrel. It’s a 17 year-old single grain Irish whiskey, perhaps one of two dozen casks we’ve sampled so far that day. And there are plenty more to come.
We’re at one of Clonakilty Distillery’s warehouses, nestled about a quarter miles from the Atlantic Ocean on Ireland’s southern coast. It’s the second-to-last day of a weeklong trip, the latest step in a partnership between the New Hampshire Liquor Commission and the Irish government’s Bord Bia. Thus far, we’ve met with or visited the distilleries of nearly a dozen brands, including Boann and Teeling, all hoping to get their products into NHLC outlets. While we’ve sampled a range of spirits including Irish gin and poitín, everyone knows the aged stuff is really what’s going to move the dial.
As far as atmosphere, it’s tough to beat Clonakilty, where we started the day sampling whiskey overlooking stone bluffs and one of Europe’s most picturesque lighthouses. But it’s one thing to observe the splendor of the nearby Atlantic; it’s another to taste whiskey. And above all, Mark Roy is here to pick barrels for New Hampshire — potentially dozens of them.
New Hampshire is a small state, ranking 46th in area and 42nd in population. But its impact on liquor is undoubtedly outsized. It’s one of 17 “control” states where liquor sales are at least partially state-run. There are 65 NHLC outlets, which serve 12 million annual customers; half come from out of state. Their total annual revenue is approaching $800 million. And while Irish whiskey sales make up a relatively small portion of that — $18.3 million in 2023 — sales are growing at a pace of around 16 percent a year.
For emerging brands, placement within NHLC outlets can be a game changer. And as NHLC’s Director of Marketing, Merchandising, and Warehousing, Royis the most direct path and the primary decider for single barrel selections.
NHLC is one of America’s largest single barrel buyers. On a post-pandemic trip to Kentucky and Tennessee, Roy selected 126 barrels for NHLC, with an estimated retail value of over $1.2 million. On this trip to Ireland, the goal is closer to 15 barrels, though it’s clear Roy has the latitude to go bigger if he sees an opportunity. His sole focus here is to select barrels he thinks will sell well; pricing and delivery is negotiated after the trip.
I have my own thoughts and biases regarding state liquor control, and by extension America’s three-tier system. I’ve even been a vocal critic of those systems on social media. But as far as control states, New Hampshire has long been seen as a somewhat progressive outlier. The NHLC moves fast when it comes to growing categories, often rolling out releases with tongue-in-cheek marketing campaigns with hundreds of monthly in-store events to get new products in front of customers. Entering their annual raffles for allocated whiskey — open to both in- and out-of-state buyers — has become something of a tradition for bourbon nerds throughout the Northeast.
Joining Roy and I on the trip is Tara Camire, an Events Coordinator for NHLC, and E.J. Powers, who leads external PR for the commission. Eric Ott is a videographer and editor tasked with recording the whole excursion for future content. Daragh Flanagan of Bord Bia is our main guide and liaison with local producers. (For reference, Bord Bia also covered my trip, though neither they nor NHLC asked for any editorial input on this or other articles.)
Roy knows these folks well, and he also seems to know their palates. Camire will be crucial in planning NHLC events around Irish spirits leading up to the crucial holiday sales period. As a self-described “Irish Drinks Hype Man” for Bord Bia, Flanagan’s goal is to help Irish beverage producers succeed in the North American market.
But I’m a new entity, and Roy seems most curious about my tastes, often asking my thoughts on specific tasting notes or a sample’s potential appeal to bourbon drinkers. He’s interested in novel picks, the one or few-of-a-kind selections most American consumers haven’t seen before. And he’s especially excited about expressions New Hampshire can bring to market first. With brands that don’t offer up picks or even have single cask programs, he’ll ask — with a practiced, friendly New England smirk — whether the NHLC can be their first selection partner. More than once, he semi-jokingly asks if Ohio has picked similar barrels. (The Ohio Liquor Control Commission is another Bord Bia partner.)
Roy is constantly observing, always friendly but often marking and prodding things some brands haven’t called attention to. He’s quick to ask if an expression contains caramel coloring. He wants in-depth info on cask types, going so far as to check barrel hoop stamps for their origins. One tasty single grain at Clonakilty was pulled from an old Jack Daniel’s barrel, and Roy sidebarred with Camire about getting that factoid incorporated into future in-store tastings.
Above all, Roy gives the impression of someone who wants to move bottles, though he’d rather do it via taste and, where possible, a transparent narrative. To Roy, revenue is king, but information is also paramount, another tool he can use to keep NHLC cash registers churning. The worst thing that can happen, Roy opines, is for a single barrel selection to sit on shelves and collect dust. So the more a brand is willing to share, the more options Roy and his team have for marketing their products.
Many emerging Irish producers still source and blend liquid from a handful of legacy distilleries, so keeping everything straight is a tall task, particularly when sampling upwards of two dozen spirits per day. But Roy keeps asking anyway, chatting to Camire or scribbling down notes to better craft a story around each cask. He’s especially impressed by the cask selection at Boann Distillery, which is experimenting with everything from novel single pot still mash bills to aging in pine casks. More than once, Roy double checks to see if Ott got a particular tasting reaction on camera; delighted surprise, after all, is tough to reproduce.
After almost two hours in Clonakilty’s warehouse, Roy confers with his team and makes his final selections. I get the sense he could spend hours more here, combing through each and every barrel to find hidden gems. But we’re on the clock, and there’s an early wake up before we visit Waterford Distillery tomorrow morning.
The day after that, Roy heads to Scotland for his next round of picks. On our way back to the bus, I ask Roy how many barrels he’s planning on selecting during that portion of the trip.
His response: “As many as we need.”
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