I Do What I Want & I Love What I Do
INDEPENDENT SPIRITS REVIEWS
My pride and joy, my day to day and my bread and butter.
I’ve written spirits reviews since 2015 and pen several each week. Reviews #1-#2579 can be found at BottlerRaiders.com. Reviews #2580 and onwards can be found here on this website.
Abrams-Media acquired my website of reviews in 2020 and I co-founded and penned reviews for the outlet from 2020-2025 (more below).
I cover Whiskey, Cognac, Rum, Armagnac, Gin, Agave Spirits & Tequila and much more. To request coverage of your spirit or brand, don’t be afraid to contact me at t8ke@t8ke.com
THE REVERIES
Jay is the principal whiskeymaker and overseer of The Reveries, a non-distilling producer and independent bottler of exceptional spirits including bourbon, rye and more.
The Reveries is comprised of spirits Jay has stashed away over his years traveling and selecting whiskey worldwide. These casks are special, hand selected, and never diluted or filtered.
The Reveries first launched in Q1 of 2025, with selections available to select groups in Spring 2025.
BOURBON CONCIERGE / SHAREDPOUR
Jay oversees Private Barrels and Distillery Exclusives for the Washington D.C. based brick & mortar + e-commerce retailer.
CTO
Jay serves as fractional CTO for WellSpun Consulting and a resource for those implementing direct to consumer strategies. WellSpun Consulting is a creative, full-service consultancy that focuses on building strategy and meaningful relationships between brands and their most passionate customers: present, and future.
INDEPENDENT WORK
Jay has the industry experience and creativity to empower brands and distilleries as they plan new releases, undergo engaging campaigns, expand retail efficiency and select rockstar single barrels. If you’re a producer, retailer, marketing or PR firm or brand looking to speak, Contact Me for more information.
SINGLE BARREL PROGRAM MANAGER
Jay manages and orchestrates Reddit’s Single Barrel Programs – a free program serving the spirits community’s nearly 350,000 members and selecting more than 200 single barrels per year from distilleries in the United States and beyond. Have a barrel program and want to get in touch? Contact Me
AFICIONADOS GROUP
Jay is the founder of Aficionados Group – a crossroads of spirits experts and members of the Aficionados Discord server – picking small batches and eclectic runs of spirits for purchase by enthusiasts across the internet.
SELECTION ADVISOR
Jay has helped numerous groups, societies and businesses select barrels for charities, group selections and general events through his expertise in spirits sourcing. If you’re looking for help with a single barrel program, selecting a particular spirit or batch, drop by and Contact.
Past Engagements
RAIDERS
Jay co-founded and served as the Chief Spirits Critic for BottleRaiders – a novel new spirits website that brought a wealth of ratings information to drinkers in one easy to understand Raided Score via aggregation to audiences worldwide.
BottleRaiders quickly grew to become one of the internet’s largest whiskey resources since its founding in 2020, serving millions of readers per year.
Jay departed in 2025 to return to Independent Review coverage & other personal projects.
WEEKLY WHISKEY HOST
Weekly Whiskey with John & Jay was a casual, weekly live stream with supporting video content comprised of the pair’s humor, antics and expertise in the whiskey world. Weekly Whiskey streams every Tuesday at 9pm Central with After Hours segments dropping every Thursday.
SPIRITS JUDGE
Jay was a member of the ASCOT Awards Council of Tasters – a new, comprehensive spirits competition for brands and producers that takes advantage of a wide panel of spirits experts the world across from 2022-2023
T8KE.REVIEW
Founder.
I founded the review website t8ke.review in 2015 and it was acquired by Abrams Media in 2020. This became the foundation for WhiskeyRaiders and later BottleRaiders.