Nadine Gengras, Senior Trade Development Manager, CDI hosted a discussion with country music singer and creator of Redneck Riviera Whiskey John Rich on April 22.

John Rich, Creator, Redneck Riviera Whiskey.

Connecticut Distributors, Inc. (CDI), and its social media moniker Cheers CT hosted a discussion with Tennessee-based spirits maker and musician John Rich, the founder of Redneck Riviera Whiskey, on April 22. Hosted by Nadine Gengras, Senior Trade Development Manager, CDI, Rich told the story of the Redneck Riviera brand and performed several country music songs. Rich created Redneck Riviera whiskey to celebrate “America’s Gulf Coast and hardworking blue-collar Americans,” with the goal of producing an American blended whiskey to rival Canadian blended whiskies in taste and quality while keeping an affordable price point. When he began, Rich said he noticed “nobody’s ever built the American answer to Canadian blended whisky.” He took what he “liked and didn’t like” about whiskeys, and working with Master Distiller and Blender Mel Heim, created a small-batch whiskey with notes of vanilla, butterscotch, caramel and honey on the nose and a complex palate with flavors of smooth vanilla with a touch of oak. The winner of the Gold Medal from the Los Angeles International Spirits Competition, Redneck Riviera Whiskey is fermented, distilled and aged in the U.S.