Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Tim
Speaker 1: Stenebek on Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2: Well you might remember that last week on the show,
Speaker 2: we were joined by Anne Muccharie Mukerjee excuse me, CEO
Speaker 2: of Preno Ricard North America. It's the huge liqueur company
Speaker 2: that owns beefeed Or Jamison, Malibu and Moore. They also
Speaker 2: recently acquired Screwball Whiskey. It's a company that makes peanut
Speaker 2: butter whiskey. And you might be scratching your head saying
Speaker 2: who wants to drink peanut butter whiskey, Well, it turns
Speaker 2: out a lot of people do. Mukerjee told us that
Speaker 2: the US consumer absolutely loves flavored whiskey, and flavored whiskey
Speaker 2: is our next guest Specialty. Amani McCauley is the co
Speaker 2: founder of Duke and Dame. It's a spirits company that
Speaker 2: makes salted caramel flavored whiskey. Amani, good to have you
Speaker 2: back with us.
Speaker 3: Good evening, Thank you so much, happy to be here.
Speaker 2: I should know you came bearing gifts, which we'll get
Speaker 2: to in just a minute, but before we do, and
Speaker 2: we got plenty of time with you so we're really lucky.
Speaker 2: Give us an idea of your journey because we were
Speaker 2: talking a little earlier. Uh, you survived the financial crisis,
Speaker 2: worked on Wall Street, found yourself in Australia. Now you're
Speaker 2: distilling salted carmel whiskey in Florida. How did you get there?
Speaker 3: You know, I was in finance here in New York,
Speaker 3: and you get to a certain point where you just,
Speaker 3: you know, you have to really think about what that
Speaker 3: next adventure is going to be, you know. And yeah,
Speaker 3: I knew finance had kind of run its course and
Speaker 3: I just needed to work different parts of my brain
Speaker 3: needed a different challenge. I wanted to go to go
Speaker 3: build something, and so you know, I left. I had
Speaker 3: no plans. When I left, I took some time off
Speaker 3: just to kind of.
Speaker 2: How many years were you on Wall Street?
Speaker 3: Eleven years?
Speaker 2: Okay, eleven years? So you know, I did my time, Okay,
Speaker 2: so sorry, I interrupted, no plans.
Speaker 3: No plans some times just to kind of decomps. Traveled
Speaker 3: a little bit, and I ended up in Miami hanging
Speaker 3: out with a buddy of mine, Chima Bury, who fast
Speaker 3: forward became my business partner and co fed of Duke
Speaker 3: and Dame but you know, we having one of those
Speaker 3: conversations at a bar, like, hey, man, what are you
Speaker 3: gonna do next. I'm like, you know, I'm not sure.
Speaker 3: I'm want to take my time and figure it out.
Speaker 3: And he says, hey, you know, I had this crazy
Speaker 3: idea a few years ago about making a whiskey that
Speaker 3: kind of tastes like sugar Daddy or like where there's
Speaker 3: original And I go, huh, that's interesting. Not thinking anything
Speaker 3: of it, right, you know, you just it's just you know,
Speaker 3: drink buddy talk, right, And but you know, I had time,
Speaker 3: I didn't have a job, and started looking into it.
Speaker 3: And I think maybe a week or two later, we
Speaker 3: went to a distillery. We spent four hours at this
Speaker 3: distillery just asking every question under the sun, learning about
Speaker 3: the process of whiskey making, et cetera. And and we
Speaker 3: walked out of that building that day looked at each
Speaker 3: other like, huh, maybe this isn't as impossible as we
Speaker 3: might have thought a week or two ago. And from
Speaker 3: there we just kind of jumped into it, started doing
Speaker 3: more research. You know, we we're drinking, buddy, so we
Speaker 3: we we drank a lot, right, and we we kind
Speaker 3: of knew what we like. But we also one thing
Speaker 3: we noticed about the flavored whiskey space was that a
Speaker 3: lot of the offerings, and it was really starting to
Speaker 3: become a category back then too, a lot of the offerings,
Speaker 3: you know, a lot of consumers thought they were overly
Speaker 3: sweet syrapy, some had an artificial aftertaste to them, you know,
Speaker 3: they weren't really you know, you don't come home after
Speaker 3: long day at work and want to curl up by
Speaker 3: the fireplace with a you know, right, And so we thought, well,
Speaker 3: wait a bitte, Why why do you have to give
Speaker 3: up quality just because you want to want a little
Speaker 3: flavor in your whiskey? Right?
Speaker 1: Like?
Speaker 3: Why can't you have a whiskey that gives you the
Speaker 3: same complexity and balance you would find in a higher
Speaker 3: end bourbon or sky? And why can't you have a
Speaker 3: whiskey that actually makes you smile when you drink it?
Speaker 3: You know, most of the time you take a shot
Speaker 3: of any spirit, you kind of do that little whiskey
Speaker 3: face or cringe. But that was really the questions. Those
Speaker 3: were really the questions we asked ourselves, and we set
Speaker 3: out to create Duke and Dame to answer those questions.
Speaker 4: One thing that is so interesting to me about your
Speaker 4: journey is the point that you make that you had
Speaker 4: the headspace to think about it. I mean, not a
Speaker 4: lot of people have the luxury of that view, and
Speaker 4: it's great that you recognize that that's part of the process,
Speaker 4: but one for yourself. But the thing I'm really interested
Speaker 4: in is what was the thing that made you think.
Speaker 1: This is it?
Speaker 4: Because a lot of people have a lot of drinking
Speaker 4: buddies that have a lot of conversations in bark and
Speaker 4: those ideas are better left in a bar.
Speaker 3: You know, that's a great question. I mean that that
Speaker 3: point came probably two and a half months later. So
Speaker 3: I left Miami and came back to New York. And
Speaker 3: at that point it was still this crazy idea my
Speaker 3: good buddy had and I was exploring other opportunities. But
Speaker 3: at the same time we were prototyping. So we had
Speaker 3: our kitchens, you know, Chima and Miami, Me and New
Speaker 3: York kind of set up like chemistry labs. We're experimenting
Speaker 3: with different types of whiskeys, different types of flavors. We're
Speaker 3: calling each other every other day going through notes like
Speaker 3: try one mile of this, try one mill of that,
Speaker 3: you know, let's try more vanilla. Let's try more, you know,
Speaker 3: just just you know, trying different different mixes and formulas,
Speaker 3: and finally we hit one where we both were like,
Speaker 3: oh wow, this is it?
Speaker 2: Is it a secret?
Speaker 3: Is what a secret?
Speaker 2: The formula?
Speaker 3: Of course, it's a secret us.
Speaker 2: Just like a few of the ingredients in it.
Speaker 3: Well, I mean it's it's I can tell you the
Speaker 3: ingredients in it. It's one hundred percent corn whiskey base.
Speaker 3: It includes a two year age bourbon, and it's one
Speaker 3: hundred percent natural caramel flavor and aroma. And then you know,
Speaker 3: we had a dash.
Speaker 2: Of salt and that's it.
Speaker 3: That's it. It's very simple, one hundred percent natural, nothing
Speaker 3: artificial at all.
Speaker 2: Do you do the distilling too, No.
Speaker 3: So we don't own the distillery. We work with a
Speaker 3: distillery partner, Jacksonville Floyd, and they know, you know, they
Speaker 3: make they know how to make our formula, know how
Speaker 3: to make our whiskey, and it's a it's a great product.
Speaker 3: But just getting back to that story, so we have
Speaker 3: this prototype, I think we called it at the time
Speaker 3: code named Sugar Daddy because of the you know, the
Speaker 3: sugar Daddy candies, right, the caramel candies and so uh,
Speaker 3: you know. We took old whiskey bottles, scraped off the labels,
Speaker 3: made batches and took them around to our friends and family,
Speaker 3: and I think at that point we were still kind
Speaker 3: of playing around, but the responses we received were just amazing.
Speaker 3: And we get in the same response in Florida and
Speaker 3: Miami and it blew us away. It's like, Wow, you
Speaker 3: made that. This is awesome. Dude, dude, you have to
Speaker 3: make this. You have to you have to sell this.
Speaker 3: And we get on the phone like, dude, are you
Speaker 3: hearing what I'm here. He's like, man, it's it's incredible.
Speaker 3: What do you what do you think we should do?
Speaker 3: What do you want to do? We were like in
Speaker 3: a little pause and we say, you know what, screw it,
Speaker 3: let's do it.
Speaker 2: I love it. I love it.
Speaker 3: He later I moved to Miami and we started the business.
Speaker 2: So that's the the voice of Amanie. McCauley's the co
Speaker 2: founder of Duke and Dame. He's with us right now
Speaker 2: in the Bloomberg Interactive Broker's studio. Don't go anywhere, because
Speaker 2: when we come back, we're going to continue our chat
Speaker 2: with Amani and have a sample not just of the whiskey,
Speaker 2: but also of a cocktail sangria that he brought. You're
Speaker 2: listening to Bloomberg Business Week, and this is Bloomberg.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and
Speaker 1: Tim Stenevek on Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2: It is Bloomberg Business Week, Tim Stenevek and Jennifer Ryan
Speaker 2: in for Carol Masser this afternoon. Very pleased to have
Speaker 2: back with us. Before we were before we heard from Charlie,
Speaker 2: we were speaking to him, and we're gonna get you
Speaker 2: our conversation now. Immani McCauley is co founder of Duke
Speaker 2: and Dame. He's with us in the Bloomberg Interactive Broker's studio.
Speaker 2: They make a salted caramel flavored whiskey and we got
Speaker 2: some in our hands right now, So tell us a
Speaker 2: little bit about what we're gonna be sampling right now.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we we'd love to have you try it. So,
Speaker 3: you know, we we created Duke and dang really to
Speaker 3: kind of bridge that gap between your hardcore whiskey enthusiast
Speaker 3: on one end of the spectrum and you know, maybe
Speaker 3: your whiskey haters or whiskey new comers on the other end,
Speaker 3: we wanted a whiskey that could, right. We wanted a
Speaker 3: whiskey that could be attractive and appealing to both. So
Speaker 3: what you're going to notice in your first sip you're
Speaker 3: get in that beautiful aroma, right.
Speaker 2: I'm smelling. I mean it smells like a sugar daddy.
Speaker 3: Yes, or where there's original, right, And so that really
Speaker 3: brings in folks who may not like whiskey, maybe turned
Speaker 3: off by whiskey. And you take that first sip, you
Speaker 3: get in the caramel notes, maybe some vanilla mm hmm,
Speaker 3: maybe some butterscotch mm hm. And what you notice it's
Speaker 3: very smooth and what's missing that harsh whiskey.
Speaker 4: Burd Yeah, it's very very smooth. So with a lot
Speaker 4: of whiskey, if you're not used to it and you
Speaker 4: don't like it, all you feel is the burn and
Speaker 4: then all you say is no.
Speaker 2: But you know what's nice. It's not sweet like I
Speaker 2: here about.
Speaker 4: It's not cloying exactly.
Speaker 2: I imagine it's going to be like, you know, sweet
Speaker 2: like a Starbucks striker.
Speaker 3: Skin Dame only has one gram of sugar per serving, so.
Speaker 2: It does have sugar, but it's flavored, yes for sure.
Speaker 3: But it's one grammar sugar preserve and it's one hundred
Speaker 3: percent natural. Now in your second sip, that's where the
Speaker 3: magic happens. Now the bourbon notes become more pronounced, so
Speaker 3: you should start getting more hints of oak, maybe some
Speaker 3: spice on the back end, so you get this nice
Speaker 3: layered taste profile that's pretty unique.
Speaker 2: It is good.
Speaker 4: It's it's really nice to just sip it. Oh yeah,
Speaker 4: because you think caramel whiskets something like it's like an
Speaker 4: alcohol pop or something and just knock it back, and
Speaker 4: it's like, that's not the experience that you want to
Speaker 4: be having.
Speaker 3: This is definitely an elevated flavored whiskey making experience. So
Speaker 3: you can sip it neat as you are now and
Speaker 3: magic sipping it on the rock. So you know, people
Speaker 3: love it just like that. But what I love about
Speaker 3: Duke and Dame is how versatilid it. It blends well
Speaker 3: with everything, all your traditional whiskey cottails, your old fashioned
Speaker 3: and whiskey sours, and then things you might not even
Speaker 3: think about, like a Duke and Day mohito for example,
Speaker 3: or we make a French seventy five run. Well, no,
Speaker 3: we replaced the run with duke and day blends well
Speaker 3: with everything interesting. So what we have here is a
Speaker 3: caramel apple sangria. Like, who would put a caramel whiskey
Speaker 3: and sangria, Well we do.
Speaker 4: You've probably had your sheriff c incria, right Spanish husband.
Speaker 3: So this is two parts duke in Dame, three parts
Speaker 3: pino grigio, and five parts apple cider. Garnish it with
Speaker 3: some chopped apple slices.
Speaker 2: It tastes dangerous, yes, meaning you could drink an entire
Speaker 2: class of this drinking.
Speaker 3: It's the holiday season.
Speaker 4: That is something else.
Speaker 3: You're going to be having friends and family over.
Speaker 2: You're not going to be on the subway after drinking this.
Speaker 3: You mixed up a quick batch of caramel apple sangria,
Speaker 3: easy to make, and people love it.
Speaker 2: That is good.
Speaker 4: So I said earlier on the show, I am not
Speaker 4: doing any cooking for Thanksgiving. I think I will be made.
Speaker 2: So before we let you go, we got about a
Speaker 2: minute left. Is this salted caramel whiskey the only product
Speaker 2: you have out rest right now?
Speaker 3: That's the only skew.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 3: We really wanted to build the brand first, get people
Speaker 3: you know, accustomed to do Condeme the brand, do Condame
Speaker 3: the whiskey, loving it and then well you know we're
Speaker 3: in the lab. Okay, you know we don't plan on
Speaker 3: introducing twenty different flavors, right, We really want to be
Speaker 3: thoughtful around In the same way that the caramel kind
Speaker 3: of gives you that nostalgic feeling, it takes you back
Speaker 3: to the Wather's original in your grandma's purse, right, we
Speaker 3: want to make sure that everything we create kind of
Speaker 3: gives you that, you know, brings you back the home feeling. Right,
Speaker 3: So we're working on that. And you know, right now
Speaker 3: all the rage are the ready to drink cocktails arts
Speaker 3: and as you can see, Duke and Day make some
Speaker 3: amazing cocktails, so you know we might develop one or
Speaker 3: two of those.
Speaker 2: Well, when you do, and even before that, come back
Speaker 2: in business one more time. We love it when Amani
Speaker 2: McCauley is the co founder of Duke and Dame with
Speaker 2: us in the Bloomberg Interactive Brokeers Studio. Also a huge
Speaker 2: thank you too, Jennifer Ryan on the Equality team for
Speaker 2: stepping into Carol's shoes this afternoon. Thank you so much
Speaker 2: for joining us.
Speaker 4: Thank you very much for letting me on