S P OT L I G H T
Welcome to Scotchdale Entrepreneurs quench their thirst with spirit By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski
J
ohn McDonnell and Travis Ranville were watching football and drinking scotch when Ranville asked, “Why isn’t there a brand named Scotchdale? I want to live in Scotchdale.” Immediately, McDonnell trademarked the name online. The former Michigander’s subtle joke led to their latest Scottsdale Airpark-based business venture, which launched a year ago. “It grew from that idea,” Ranville says. “We wanted to get bourbon from Kentucky and barrel age it here. We ran into an issue, though, with the Scotch Whisky Association. Anything with the name ‘scotch’ in it has to originate in Scotland.” They contacted several Scottish distilleries, who sent them samples of three-year, eightyear and 12-year blends. McDonnell and Ranville settled on Angus Dundee as its distillery and an eight-year blended pure malt scotch whisky from the Highland and Speyside regions of Scotland. The spirit was matured in charred American oak bourbon barrels and the result has hints of honey, chocolate, cara-
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mel, oak and coffee. “It’s very unique,” Ranville says. “It’s different from almost every whisky out there.” McDonnell adds, “If Macallan 12 and Nikka Japanese whisky had a baby and they had it in the desert, that would be Scotchdale.”
Outside the box
Neither McDonnell nor Ranville have extensive food and beverage backgrounds, although McDonnell bartended at Hotel Indigo. Ranville is in finance. “Getting into the booze business, I love going to bars and talking to people about whisky and maybe just having a drink,” says Ranville, who has degrees from Western Michigan University and University of Phoenix. A New Hampshire native, McDonnell visited Arizona in March 2004 for vacation and decided to move here. He worked in commercial real estate, renewable energy and now alcohol. “We’ve had every scotch and whisky, other than the ridiculously priced, 60-year-old stuff,” McDonnell says. “Thirty-year-old scotch is like getting into a time machine for us. “Growing up, my mom said, ‘Do what you love.’ When Travis said, ‘Why isn’t there a
brand called Scotchdale?’ I thought, ‘Do what we love.’ We love scotch.” As of printing, Scotchdale has taken preorders for 40-plus bars and the men were in the process of getting into Total Wine and BevMo! They are licensed as wholesalers so they can self-distribute. “We have a sales guy coming on board. All he does is liquor sales locally. He has a ton of bars that he has great relationships with,” McDonnell says.
Whiskey vs. whisky
McDonnell says the differences between whiskey and whisky are simple. Whisky that originates from Scotland, Canada and Japan do not have an E. Whiskeys are from Ireland and the United States. “I have family who live in Ireland—my sister and three nephews,” Ranville adds. “They learned Gaelic in school. I’ll have to quiz them on E vs. no E.” There are three types: whisky, which is geographically trademarked; bourbon; and Tennessee whiskey, like Jack Daniel’s, which has to be filtered using the Lincoln County process or through sugar maple charcoal.
