Kurt Maitland started his whiskey journey with drams of Jameson’s in college. He has been exploring the wider world of spirits in general, and whisk(e)y in particular, ever since. He currently is Deputy Editor of the popular Whiskey Reviewer website and the curator of the Manhattan Whiskey Club. Clay Risen, the deputy op-ed editor at The New York Times, is the author of Single Malt: A Guide to the Whiskies of Scotland (October, 2018) and the spirits bestseller American Whiskey, Bourbon & Rye: A Guide to the Nation’s Favorite Spirit. Now in its sixth printing with more than 100,000 copies sold, his groundbreaking guide has quickly become the bible on American whiskey and placed Risen at the top of authorities on the history, business, and diversity of U.S. spirits. Risen has given numerous talks, appeared on television, and served as a judge on multiple spirit award committees. Risen has written widely about spirits for newspapers and magazines including The New York Times, Forbes, The Atlantic, and the Washington Post. He is the author of several popular American histories, including A Nation on Fire: America in the Wake of the King Assassination, The Bill of the Century: The Epic Battle for the Civil Rights Act, and the forthcoming The Crowded Hour: Teddy Roosevelt, the Rough Riders and the Dawn of the American Century. He grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, and now lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and two young children.
