Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/271567
march 2014 / the tasting panel / 1 15 They all come from the Old Country —Herlihy from a tiny village called Termonficken in the northeast. "You can guess how people like to have fun with that name," he laughs. "Even the Irish make fun of where I come from." Maher is from the village of Goresbridge in County Kilkenny, only 50 miles from Tullamore's birthplace in the center of Ireland, and Cole comes from big-city Belfast in the north. What the three share is passion for the product and a genuine, infectious love of the business. "It's not really a job," Herlihy says; "it's a lifestyle." And what a lifestyle it is: The Tullamore Brand Ambassadors are the folks that the bartenders and the trade love to see. And it's easy to see why. First, they are there only to preach the gospel of the brand, not write orders. "We're not selling, we're telling," Herlihy says. "You're an educator and an entertainer. An edutainer, I guess," he says with another laugh. (There's a lot of laughter when you spend time with Herlihy and his cohorts.) And second, they are true believers. "You can't fake this job," Herlihy says. "You can't half- believe in the liquid. You're introducing and re-introducing people to it. It's an extension of your life." And it would seem that a special kind of personal- ity is drawn to the work, and to Tullamore. The three Ambassadors are articulate and genuine, and they humbly acknowledge their good fortune to be doing work they love for a product they respect. But you shouldn't get the idea that they are slinging malarkey or have kissed the Blarney Stone. Their sincerity comes through. And they are clearly having fun. "It's a dream job," Maher says. "It's the people I get to meet. The characters." February and March are the months that Herlihy and his crew get to meet the most characters, because everyone in the trade wants to partner with an Irish whiskey around St. Patrick's Day. "I feel like I'm the most popular man in the country," Herlihy says, "and then March 18 comes 'round, and no one calls me." But in the meantime, there's lots to do. Year round, the Ambassadors hold tastings and educa- tional events, but always with an eye towards fun. In the last year or so, the Tullamore highlight reel included a comedy tour and a graffiti exhibit (artists were invited to deface Tullamore bottles in their own rebellious way, echoing Ireland's rebellious past), and this month will see a mock Irish wedding in San Francisco's Washington Square Park. Even though the results of their efforts are hard to quantify, "You can tell when you're doing well," Herlihy PHOTO: BRIAN FRIEDMAN PHOTO: JOHN CURLEY Tim Herlihy and Jane Mahler bring Tullamore D.E.W. to life in San Francisco.