A drink with… Andrew Weir, Martingale Cognac
After a career in Scotch whisky, Andrew Weir co-founded Martingale Cognac in 2023. Here, he compares the spirits, and charts his path from actor to owner.
What has been your path through spirits thus far?
I moved to the US in 2005 and worked for the UK tourism office. I did a lot of public speaking because of my background as an actor, and was approached by William Grant & Sons to be a brand ambassador. Best job in the world – I probably did tastings for tens of thousands of people. The company asked if I’d like to switch to management, and I finally acquiesced. Then I was approached by Pernod Ricard to run Aberlour. That role was different. It was a bit like an entrepreneur, so I was running the brand as though I founded it. I left there, went to Casa Lumbre, and then I was approached by Guillaume Thomas, who was the CFO at Pernod Ricard when I was there, who asked me if I’d like to be the co-founder of Martingale, the brand that he was going to launch with his family.
Did your time at Aberlour help prepare you for ownership?
Undoubtedly. In that role, I got more exposure to the commercial side of the business. Everything I’ve ever done prepared me for this opportunity. My mantra is that we have something to learn from everyone we meet. We should go into every conversation with that mindset – be a sponge, be curious.
How fond of Cognac were you before Martingale?
Fewer than 10 times had I sat down and poured myself a glass or ordered one. It was never in my repertoire. I had been aware of Cognac and, like so many, I didn’t think it was for me because it’s never been sold to me. Everyone wants to go after the same consumer, the same occasions. Whisky drinkers are typically intrepid and interested in trying new things. It’s not unlikely for a whisky drinker to have brandies and Armagnacs, and so we’ve produced a product that will be familiar to them, but that will open their eyes and minds.
How do you approach category competition?
We see the occasion as broader than many brands. We have more versatility in our product, so I can see us taking share from mezcal, Scotch and Japanese whisky, as much as from any of the name-brand Cognacs. We’re thinking about the consumer and the extension of their repertoire. I saw this with Balvenie Doublewood – if you’re the brand that makes someone fall in love, that moment plants the seeds, it doesn’t leave people. I was around for the early days of Hendrick’s gin, and Martingale has that potential, that quality. It’s disruptive, it’s different. It gives people a moment of reappraisal of a whole category.
What similarities does Cognac share with whisky?
I’ve been lucky to spend time in Cognac over the past year and a half. The similarities are with everything we love about Scotch; it always comes down to people and place. When you go there, you see the people whose lifeblood this is, and how important that is to the place. There are also major differences. Scotland is not a big place, but it’s bigger than Cognac. And in Scotland, your barley can come from anywhere, whereas in Cognac, everything’s there, everything’s from that place. That gives me an even greater appreciation because I’ve worked in what seemed to be the very tight confines of the regulations around Scotch, and now I realise Cognac is much tighter.
What does the future hold?
We’re going to launch a 375ml bottle later in the year. We want to make it more accessible in terms of size and price. Then you’ll start to find us in international markets over the next eight to 15 months. We’re looking at Asia, Africa, more markets in Europe, and across the US.
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