A native of the San Francisco Bay Area. Eric Zandona is Director of Spirits Information at the American Distilling Institute, a staff writer for Distiller magazine, and he also runs the website ezdrinking.com. In addition, Eric has authored, edited, and contributed to six books on distilled spirits, including The Bourbon Bible, and The Tequila Dictionary. Eric serves as a "Tequila Jockey" for Tequila Aficionado's web-series Sipping off the Cuff, and regularly speaks about spirits before consumers, producers, and regulators, both in the US and Internationally. In 2017, Eric began an year long residency in Oaxaca drinking, and learning about Mexican gin, rum, whiskey, and agave spirits. Today, he and his family live in Vancouver, Washington.

Smith is a U.K.-based writer and gin specialist. A keen supporter of craft distilling worldwide, David co-authored The Craft of Gin, and is the author of How to Make Gin and Forgotten Spirits & Long Lost Liqueurs. He is a judge, predominantly of gin and vodka, on various international spirits competition panels. Author: The Craft of Gin Forgotten Spirits, Long Lost Liqueurs