Building Trust in Whiskey: Brindiamo Group's Transparent Approach

Published by American Whiskey Magazine 
Feb 13, 2024
By Joseph V Micallef, Contributor

When you ask Brindiamo Group founder Jeff Hopmayer to explain the philosophy behind his business – one of the largest bulk bourbon and whiskey suppliers in the world – he has a simple answer: “We just do good. We try to do the right thing. We try to be transparent. We try to be open and honest all the time. And it just works”.

When he says ‘it just works’, he’s putting it mildly. From starting in a room above Jeff’s garage, the business now employs more than 20 people and is a market leader in bulk-spirit supply. Beyond that, Brindiamo is also well on its way to operating as an essential arm of the global whiskey family, a position the team is keen to build upon as it celebrates the company’s first year as the headline sponsor of the World Whiskies Awards (WWA), the competition from the team behind American Whiskey. The title sponsorship included hosting the American phase of WWA judging at the Brindiamo Penthouse suite in the iconic Spalding Hall in Bardstown.

With sourcing liquid as the backbone of the business, an expansion into storage and insurance was a logical one, prompted by the costs of keeping a massive inventory on other people’s premises. As Jeff explains, “We were paying to store all these barrels that we were buying. We were paying distillers, so we said, ‘Well, maybe we should own some rickhouses’”. So they built some. With three sites in Kentucky up and running and plans for six more by the end of 2024, Brindiamo Group will soon be holding more than 400,000 barrels in the US alone.

The business has also made moves into Europe, with one eye on the rapid growth of a resurgent Irish whiskey category. “When I look at what we have created here… I don’t see anybody doing it in Europe like we do it,” says Hopmayer. From that start, Brindiamo Group has now accumulated an inventory of nearly 10,000 barrels of Irish whiskey, from new make to 20 years old, and has opened its own warehouse on the site of West Cork Distillers.

On both sides of the Atlantic, it is the same simple philosophy that governs the way the team chooses to conduct business. As James Hewlette, the group’s vice president of brand and distillery sales, explains, “It’s really a testament to what Jeff’s built. The relationship is first, not the sale. It’s about growing that relationship and ensuring that you are your clients' trusted advisor, so they know that you have their best interests at heart.”

It was this quest for trusted-advisor status that has led a business that sets itself out as ‘not really marketing or advertising’ to becoming the headline sponsor of the World Whiskies Awards, the world’s largest and most well-recognized global whiskey competition. From the moment the relationship was suggested, Jeff was clear on a couple of points: firstly, that he isn’t doing it to gain customers; secondly, that it had to be done “the way Brindiamo does things – in a big way”; and thirdly, that the Brindiamo team will enjoy themselves while they’re at it. “It’s going to be so much fun and so cool,” Hopmayer enthuses.

For Hopmayer, every interaction is a chance to make a new connection. As entrants from around the world come together to celebrate at the Whisky Magazine Awards in Louisville and London, it was only natural that a relationship-driven business like Brindiamo would want to be involved.

Brindiamo Group is the modern whiskey-sourcing solution for the 21st century. If you are in the market for sourced liquid, barrel management, storage, and insurance, or even a new distillery, Brindiamo may have just the offer for you.