FOOD
k & drin
THE WHISKEY
WHISPERER Meet Che Ramos, bourbon connoisseur and history buff P H OTO G RA P H Y B Y JO HN MICHAE L SIMP SO N
T
he Brooklyn, New York, native began his career within the restaurant industry in 2006. His latest venture is a hospitality consulting business that offers educational classes, workshops and tasting events for wine, beer and spirits. As its name, The Black Bourbon Guy, suggests, Che’s true passion is bourbon. He savors every chance to share his knowledge of and experiences with whiskey, especially when leading his Whiskey 101 classes on how to sample and discern myriad bourbon varieties while also providing an unvarnished history of bourbon distillation and its makers. You can sign up for his next class or visit him at Alley Twenty Six on the last Wednesday of each month to learn about Black history in the bourbon world and to sample a pour of whiskey.
Why did you choose to come to Durham from Brooklyn? Thanks to guys like Kenny Smith and Ed Cota, I grew up a Tar Heel [fan]. I moved from Brooklyn to North Carolina to attend UNC-Chapel Hill in 2001. One of my best friends is from Durham, and I always had a great time whenever we had the chance to kick it around town. While Brooklyn and Durham are extremely different, they also have many cultural elements in common. I’ve always felt at home here. Oh, and the weather ain’t bad either. When you formed your LLC in the midst of the pandemic in November 2020, what convinced you that this business would be successful? Honestly, I wasn’t really convinced that it would be successful at all. In 2018, my wife and I were visiting some friends in Brooklyn, and someone brought out a delicious bottle of Scotch. At one point during 72
|
durhammag.com
|
au g u s t/ s e p t e m b e r 2 0 2 3
the evening, I ended up launching into a mini lecture on the differences between Scotch and bourbon. Fortunately my friends are as nerdy as I am, and one of them told me that they really enjoyed learning the history behind the sauce. They also asked if I’d ever thought about doing something like that professionally. That conversation lingered in my head for more than a year before the pandemic hit. My restaurant went to takeout only, which saw me only working 40 hours a week, instead of the industry standard 60. I had to do something with the extra time. With the idea still lingering in my head, I woke up one morning and started making things happen. I started the business doing virtual events, which was a great way to help people connect during the pandemic. It also provided a fairly unique experience for people during a time in which everyone was stuck in their homes. People seemed to really respond well to the concept, and once things started to open back up, I started to receive lots of interest in doing in-person events. That positive feedback and support has continued, especially within the Durham community. I’m not sure that the business is successful just yet, but I’m hopeful that I’ll get there. How did your passion for whiskey evolve? I’ve had a nerdy passion for beverages since my mid-20s. I was a young manager at a restaurant and had the opportunity to try some Ornellaia, a Super Tuscan wine, which at the time was one of the best in the world. It was a life-changing experience for someone who’d spent his undergrad years drinking Incredible Hulks and Jäger Bombs. It was the first time that a beverage really spoke to me, and I wanted to learn all about it. I spent the next decade going down the rabbit hole, so to speak.