TRAVEL INSIDER

Venezuelan-born Andres Faustinelli, master blender for the Bearface Whisky brand launched by B.c.-based Mark Anthony Group in 2018, finds inspiration around the globe. For the recent Bearface One Eleven Series Oaxaca Release, he spent time in Mexico experiencing the faces and places behind the smoky spirit that gives his whisky a distinctive finish. “I arrived at 5 p.m., and five hours later I was tasting through 20 different varieties of mezcal with maestros mezcaleros,” he recalls. “[Oaxaca Release] captures that moment, and it tells a story about a real place, and most importantly, real people.”

This master blender can't travel too lightly, as he always checks at least one bag,

“filled with samples of the amazing spirits I have tasted in some of the most remote, and remarkable, distilleries on the planet.” Fitness gear takes up packing space, too, says the morning runner, who uses early exercise sessions to hone his sharp professional palate for tastings, which typically happen before lunch. “It is also very important for me to fast ahead of a tasting or a blending session,” he explains. “You need to be hungry to pick out the essences in the whisky!”

Faustinelli has his own travel motto: Hay que perderse para encontrarse (“You have to get lost to find yourself”). Accordingly, he loves “those `lost' or `missing in action' moments” that travel can bring, like a no-wifi or no-cell zone that can leave you “travelling on a dirt road listening to music, and with no clear perception of time and place.” We like the flavour of that. •