Spirit Communicator of the Year nominee: Davin de Kergommeaux

Named one of the most influential Canadians in food and drink, Canadian Whisky Awards founder Davin de Kergommeaux has been writing and teaching about whisky for two decades. 

His writing and tasting notes appear regularly in Whisky Advocate magazine, Whisky Magazine – of which he is the former Canadian contributing editor – and many online spirits and lifestyle publications including canadianwhisky.org and scotchwhisky.com. 

His influence is shown by his contributions to publications in the industry; he is credited as a co-author of Roskrow’s ‘The Whisky Opus’,  and also contributed 45 pages of Canadian content to Roskrow’s ‘1001 Whiskies You Must Taste Before You Die’.

De Kergommeaux also teaches masterclasses, seminars, and tutored tastings across Canada and the United States. He is on the faculty of The Alcohol School and has been a judge for many prestigious international whiskey competitions since 2003. 

De Kergommeaux’s passion is “to help people learn that quality Canadian whisky is every bit as desirable as top whiskies from Scotland, America and so on.” He aims to “help bring global attention to the truly creative and excellent spirits produced in Canada” and to “inspire others to take up the torch”, he said.

Judges commented that the “expertise of Mr. Kergommeaux is outstanding. He is recognised as one of the main protagonists of the Canadian Whisky renaissance, and a well-respected global whisky personality.”

The IWSC Spirit Communicator of the Year 2018 will be announced at the IWSC Awards Banquet on 14 November.