Nicole Austin

Many people look back at their life and are hit with the reality that what they are doing was never what they had intended to do at all. When Nicole Austin was growing up in Syracuse, New York, however, her mind never took her to Cascade Hollow and the award-winning George Dickel whiskeys. Quite the contrary, Nicole has always wished to be an artist or musician. The only problem was, her talents didn’t lie in these fields, so a different path found her!

She had an inauspicious beginning in the industry that would bring her into our homes, restaurants, and bars. She began her quest towards whiskey by graduating from Manhattan College in 2006 with a Chemical Engineering Degree. So, naturally, her intelligence led her to our industry and her success within it, but first, her journey took her in a slightly different direction.

First, Nichole went down into the New York City sewer system…literally! She worked as an environmental engineer, ensuring that the tap water was cleaned appropriately. Her “aha” moment happened when a date took her to a bourbon bar, where she spent her entire evening talking to…the bartender.

From that moment, a whiskey lover was born. In 2010, Nicole began work at Kings County Distillery in Brooklyn, New York, working as a Master Blender. She spent 6 years there learning the industry and getting recognized for her abilities. While there, she served as President of the New York State Distillers Guild and held several positions with the American Craft Spirits Association of America. 

These experiences were invaluable in her career, as they led her to a position in 2012 at Oak View Spirits consulting. There, she was hired by Dave Pickerell. She later stated of Dave’s leadership, “He taught me a lot.” She managed to retain her job at both King’s County and Oak View while also serving as a Project Engineer for 3 years.

Then, in late 2016, an overseas opportunity arose, and Nicole took a position with Tullamore Dew in Ireland. She stayed there for nearly 2 years before returning to the States and coming aboard her current position with Diageo’s George Dickel at Cascade Hollow in tiny Normandy, Tennessee.