Master Distiller and F.E.W. impressario Paul Hletko is not only a driving force behind the spirits scene in the United States but also – and most importantly – a very good friend and great person to spend time with.
I met up with Paul to paint a picture of this headstrong man who traded in his lawyer’s hat to set up his own distillery.It’s a fact that virtually no other developed country has a more prudish reputation than the USA. It’s also a fact that nowhere else will you find a more pronounced culture of body obsession and pornography. This dichotomy in the American psyche is nowhere better expressed than in the fact that the nation’s largest brand of whiskey is distilled in Moore County, Tennessee, a “dry county”. So, one couldn’t be faulted for thinking that Americans have a somewhat “complicated” relationship with their vices. After all, is it just a coincidence that alcohol, tobacco and firearms are regulated by the same federal agency?
Read the full article and interview with Paul HERE at mixology.eu
