Good Afternoon! Hope you are all well. I am doing alright, I apologize once again for being able to be super consistent with these newsletters. Missed another one last week but back again this week! And boy do we have some juicy bits to talk about this week.

Also coming in the next few weeks I do have some more long form content coming out:

• A video detailing the long running saga with Tequila Matchmaker & the CRT

• I drank 30 EVEN MORE Tequilas and Ranked them.

Both of those should be out in the following few weeks.

Im going to keep publicly stating this as a means and method for keeping myself liable.

I still have 4 long form videos to edit from my travels this year

• I went to Rio to visit Amazzoni’s Distillery

• I Was Invited to the Press Trip for the Fortaleza Winter Blend 2024

• I Went to Patron’s Distillery

• I Went to Volcan de Mi Tierra’s Distillery.

I will definitely get those out by the end of the year. Hopefully 😂😂

Anyway, on to this weeks doozy of a newsletter.

Uncle Nearest’s, Ultra Popular new whiskey brand, Founder Fawn Weaver makes series of videos criticizing tequila while promoting her Whiskey

Fawn Weaver, the popular founder of a Whiskey Brand, Uncle Nearest, which has exploded in popularity over the last few years made a series of posts (Post 1) (Post 2) appearing to critique and criticize Tequila as a whole, in an effort to promote Uncle Nearest.

Fawn Weaver is an extremely popular figure, given that she has amassed over 170,000 followers on Instagram. And Uncle Nearest is one of the quickest growing spirit brands on the planet.

She basically took shots at Tequila Matchmaker, punching them while their down due to the CRT cracking down on the Tequila industry as a whole. She also starts her message with”Whats this about? MARKET SHARE!” and talks about how Americans should “Drink American” there was tons of stuff wrong with her video in my opinion.

My buddy Doug, The Agave Social Club, Posted this great video response to her video. The comments from this video really stood out to me and created a very fascinating discussion in his comments section.

It wasn’t just his video that got a response, lots of people have been trying to point out to her the amount of misinformation she spewed in her videos. Including my friend, Chris, who kindly wrote this:

There was also some other incredible comments such as this one below:

My Take: Fawn feels the need to not only criticize tequila for having additives, insinuating that American made whiskey doesn’t, even though we know that American whiskey certainly isn’t the cleanest operation all the time. But at the same time that shes criticizing Tequila for having additives, shes also taking it out on the one group of people, Tequila Matchmaker, that are trying to do something about it. So its a lose lose for everyone in that scenario if you follow her logic.

I think Doug, did an incredible job in his response video pointing out most of the things I also have an issue with in regards to her video. But the one part of her videos that really made my skin crawl and made me nauseaus was her Nativist, patriotic bullshit take that “We should be drinking our own spirits”. And her video ends with 3 lines

“Drink Better. Drink Pure. Drink American.”

To me that’s just screaming “Go back to your country” Racist bullsh*t.

Does Fawn Weaver know how many Mexican Americans there are? Does she understand the relationship that America has had with Tequila and the Mexican people for centuries? Its just tone deaf, lightly veiled racism, in the form of a long winded performative ad for her Whiskey company. Unless that was the goal. Maybe shes trying to hitch her pony to the racists in this country lol.

By equating, that you can only drink “Pure & Better” if your drinking “American”, its just insane. There are amazing tequila brands that she just casually ignored to make her point.

Thats a bold strategy cotton, lets see if it pans out….

World’s 50 Bars Announced for 2024! And there is a new #1.

Handshake Speakeasy in Mexico City is 2024’s Worlds Best Bar! Unseating last years #1, Sips, which this year has fallen to 3rd (which is nothing to scoff at btw, no shade being thrown). Which is funny because last year Handshake was #3 and sips #1. So them swapping is pretty cool!

I have heard so many amazing things about Handshake and need to make it there. How many of these have you been to?

Couple of notable changes:

• El Gallo in Guadalajara, Fell from 14th to 48th.

• Salmon guru remains on the list at #23 (one of my favorite bar experiences ever was here when my wife and i stumbled upon it by accident in Madrid)

• #33 Drink Kong in Rome is an absolutely amazing spot as well.

I guess this just turned in to me bragging about which of these spots I’ve been to hahaha. Well, you guys signed up for this.

Best Video We Saw This Week

My Newsletter wont let me embed the video right here like it normally does for some reason but its this video by @CocktailsByHawk

www.instagram.com/reel/DBg4-0CSfZe/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Hawk made an insane, Apple Spiced Old Fashioned with tequila and it was genuinely one of the coolest cocktails I’ve seen in quite some time. Also Hawk is just the man. Such a pleasure to be around and a wealth of knowledge.

So if hes making something, you know it’ll be good.