Name: Gunars Kulans

Hometown: Evanston, Illinois (via the South)

Started at Dobby’s: 1997

Claim to Fame: A 33-year veteran of the industry, he knows his spirits – and we’re not talking about ghosts!

With a background in both the wholesale and retail side of the industry, Gunars Kulans has always been fascinated by changing trends.

“People tend to drink according to their age group,” he explains. “What you’re seeing today is that young people aren’t drinking the Canadian whisky products that the World War II veterans did.”

Instead, today’s drinkers are choosing vodkas, tequilas and bourbons to drink and making their own cocktails.

Kulans’ own preference is not to mix things at all. “I drink everything neat,” he says. “Once, on a visit to Maker‘s Mark (where they make 6-year-old bourbon in small batches), they poured bourbon into chilled martini glasses, garnishing it only with a cherry.

“They said, ‘this, gentlemen, is what bourbon should taste like.’ And I’d have a hard time arguing with them.”