New Orleans-based Big Easy Whiskey has appointed Carlos Quinonez as National Brand Ambassador and Market Manager, positioning the flavored whiskey brand for a Q4 expansion into Tennessee backed by two new distribution agreements.
Quinonez brings more than 15 years of hospitality and beverage experience rooted in New Orleans, with stints at the Adolfo Garcia Restaurant Group, Coquette, the Columns Hotel, and Fives. Most recently he served as Beverage Director for the Turkey and the Wolf Group and helped develop a New Orleans-inspired bar concept in Guadalajara called Infhame. His career spans beverage program development, hospitality consulting, and international spirits partnerships — a profile well-suited to a brand that is simultaneously building its home-market presence and breaking into new territories.
The Tennessee Play
The immediate priority is Tennessee, where Big Easy Whiskey has signed distribution deals with DET Beverage in Nashville and Athens Distributing Company covering Knoxville and Chattanooga. Quinonez will serve as the front-line connection between the brand and the bartenders, restaurant buyers, and retail accounts in those markets — a boots-on-the-ground role that craft spirits brands routinely rely on when entering competitive metro markets without the shelf recognition of established labels.
"Big Easy Whiskey has created something that feels true to New Orleans while bringing a different perspective to the flavored whiskey category," Quinonez said. "I'm looking forward to introducing more people at home and beyond to what we're doing and show them why flavored whiskey should really taste like whiskey."
Kieran Walsh, COO and Blender of Big Easy Whiskey, framed the hire as central to how the brand intends to grow beyond Louisiana. "He has spent his career creating true New Orleans moments that are now woven into the fabric of this city's experience," Walsh said. "As we take Big Easy Whiskey into new markets, having Carlos out there telling our story, building relationships and representing where we come from will be incredibly important to how we grow."
Why Operators Should Pay Attention
For bar and restaurant operators in Tennessee — and those watching the broader flavored whiskey segment — the expansion signals that Big Easy Whiskey is moving from regional novelty to a brand with serious on-premise ambitions. The product is a 5-year-aged American whiskey built on a traditional bourbon mash and infused with herbs, spices, botanicals, and fruit. The brand positions it explicitly as a reaction to overly sweet flavored whiskeys, which could resonate with beverage directors looking for cocktail-friendly alternatives that don't require back-bar apology.
The on-premise strategy Quinonez will execute — direct engagement with bartenders and restaurant teams before moving through retail — mirrors the relationship-first playbook that has helped other craft spirits earn durable placement in competitive markets. Operators evaluating new whiskey additions for fall menus would do well to track the brand's Tennessee rollout as a case study in regional craft expansion.
Big Easy Whiskey currently pours at hundreds of bars, restaurants, and retailers across Louisiana. Coverage of the broader craft spirits and beverage program trends shaping on-premise menus is available through Food & Beverage Magazine and across our restaurant beverage coverage.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
