FIOR Scotch - Breaking the Scotch Rulebook

Ramon Vela (00:02.17)
Welcome back everyone. This is Ramon Vela. And like I said, I have an amazing guest. So let me introduce you to Eric Peter Domini-Ianni, who is founder and CEO of Fior Scotch. Welcome to the show.

Eric Dominijanni (00:33.431)
thank you. Grateful to be here.

Ramon Vela (00:35.684)
Well, I appreciate you making time. I know you're busy. You've got a business that you're building and running and you've got family and kids. So I appreciate you making a little bit of time. I always like to introduce new brands to our listeners. They love hearing the stories, the, you know, the founder stories, and they also love being introduced to new products. So I appreciate it getting your time. So I like to start off Eric with,

Question of gratitude and I asked this for a couple of reasons really because one is I'm just a big believer in gratitude I appreciate you know, there are moments in your life where you know gratitude can be very helpful for you and a lot of people are stressed out right now so it's a it's good tool to have in your tool belt, but really the other thing that I asked this for is that People it's easy for consumers to see products on the market or on the retail shelf or online

and just think like, you know, it's some large corporation and they don't really think about it. But I always want people to know that there's real, there's real people behind these brands that we feature here on the show. They're small businesses, they're not huge conglomerates, conglomerates, and they are people who bleed sweat and tear over bringing a product to market. And so I just like to humanize this whole process and really a great way to get to know someone is understanding what they're grateful for. So if you don't mind,

Can you share a moment or a memory when someone did something for you that just made you feel grateful because it meant that they believed in you, your vision, or your potential?

Eric Dominijanni (02:08.814)
Yeah, honestly the first one that comes to mind is probably the first time I believe anyone like truly truly like believed in anything I did or I wanted to do. When I was in the Marine Corps I was a lieutenant and I was in Okinawa Japan and I had a let's just say a less than stellar individual working for me who was supposed to take care of a bunch of stuff and he failed as expected.

But I found out a little bit too late and I had to head down to range control, which is like on the other side of the island at night. It was like midnight. And if my boss found out, it would have been horrible. I would have dropped the ball and I got blamed for everything. It wasn't a great situation for me. And then I had one of my corporals overheard. He's like, sir, I'll take you down. Because he was also my driver and his name was Corporal White, right, right, not white, Corporal Wright.

Ramon Vela (02:52.634)
Mm-mm.

Eric Dominijanni (03:07.086)
And I was like, excuse me. He's like, yeah, come on, sir. No problem. I'm like, hey, it's midnight. And it's like, sir, and I'll never forget it. goes, he just looked at me like, it's nighttime. Do you have something to do? And he's like, loyalty, Loyalty. And I was crushed. That was like my first time that I ever felt like I was just more than the boss. I was a member of the team.

Ramon Vela (03:24.976)
you

Ramon Vela (03:31.674)
Mm-hmm.

Eric Dominijanni (03:32.058)
And a major reason is because at my rank, I really didn't come from the same socio-economic background. I'll be honest, even racial socio-economic background as most of my peers. Yet I came from the same demographics of my enlisted Marines. So if you're not in the military, I was like the manager and these are my worker bees. But I came from the same background as my worker bees and it's had nothing in common with the managers.

Ramon Vela (03:43.044)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (03:55.941)
Yeah.

Eric Dominijanni (04:00.81)
So they looked at me as one of their own as opposed to their boss, you know, and I was like, just it was, I'll never forget loyalty, sir. You know, it's just an absolutely phenomenal feeling for me. And, you know, after that, you know, there were, there were a couple of other ones, but all along the same length where I've very, you know, didn't get along with a lot of my bosses. I just never learned how to make Kool-Aid, drink Kool-Aid or serve Kool-Aid.

Ramon Vela (04:10.553)
You

Ramon Vela (04:26.862)
Hehehe.

Eric Dominijanni (04:27.214)
And I've had a slew, in fact, I was talking about this this weekend with one of my old Marines and we were just like, this boss had it out for me and this other boss had it out for me. what they all had, I mean, from the day I would check in and I'll never forget that they had told me like the boss has it out for you. I'm like, I'm used to it, don't worry about it. And each of these guys would come up to my Marines and like, give me some dirt on Dom, give me some dirt on him so I can crush him. I know he's messing up and they're like, no, you didn't do anything wrong.

And it's like, sir, because I was part of the team. I was the boss, the head, you know, I was the chief and it was just like, and my boss would try to like get them to find something on me. And they were like, seals clean, sir. Boss is good. And it was just, it was the camaraderie. was us against the world. And, you know, years of 20 years of that. And I love it. I wouldn't take it back for anything.

Ramon Vela (05:18.115)
Yeah.

Ramon Vela (05:23.94)
Wow. And you know, the funny thing is as you're describing that situation and you're describing what you went through and then the gratitude you feel towards your men who were loyal to you, in a lot of ways...

you're describing like, like you're describing the entrepreneurial journey. what I mean? Like, uh, entrepreneurs, many times that I mean, the ones that I've run into and I've run into a lot now is there's always a part of them that is going against the system that, you know, I joke around with people as a matter of fact, too.

Like I always tell people like I'm unemployable. I just like, I, you know, I have worked at places and I've done great jobs, but there's something about working in a system sometimes that I just, you know, it's hard for me to conform and it's hard for me to, you know, you know, I, I've had people who I fall, who have, who I have followed, who I would fall to the valley of death and they've been fantastic.

But I always tell people, it's like, if the person I'm following isn't worthy of being followed, I have problems with it, right? Like I have to speak up. And so the way you're describing it is a lot of times you're kind of describing entrepreneurship in a way.

Eric Dominijanni (06:42.668)
Yeah, you know, and that actually leads to what I'm doing now. You know, we had investors and you know, my big, my business partner has been doing this for quite a few years and he's used to dealing with guys that are like, know, they're gonna throw in a couple of hundred thousand dollars at the company. mean, that's pocket change for some of these guys. And I'm very, very thankful for them.

But I'll never forget, just some of my Marines were like, sir, you were there for me, I wanna invest in your company, I wanna invest. So I came up with micro investments, because the average Marine, the average person doesn't have $100,000 they can throw into my company. But I wasn't even asking for investments. They wanted to invest in my company.

So I created this just for them. Like how could I be a black owned or minority owned or veteran owned company if I didn't have black minority veteran Latino, you know, investors. And so we came up with these little like small pockets of micro investment and we, in one hour I got a hundred thousand dollars. That was on a Friday. By Wednesday, I think I was promised $345,000. And the thing is I'll never forget.

Ramon Vela (07:44.592)
Mm-hmm.

Eric Dominijanni (07:50.862)
Gunnery Sergeant Jenkins. He just says like, sir, I've been wanting to this for now. How do I get it? And you know, I believe that because we've been in combat together, we've had bad bosses together, we defended each other, we attack, you know, we just did everything together. And when I look at my slew of investors, I'm like, man, what a feeling to know that people, it's not that they have your back, but they believe in you. Amazing feeling. Just an amazing.

Ramon Vela (08:15.594)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yeah, I always, you know, I had someone talk to me about describe that and they refer to it as a transfer of belief. Like they believe in you and they're transferring this belief onto you. And it's like an energy that just pumps you up. It's a little bit, it's also pressure because you're thinking, man, I don't want to these people down. So I'm going to like work, work my butt off to make it happen. Hey, let me, let me describe to the audience. Cause you sent this over as part of your bio. And I just thought it was so impressive because I have had

people on the show before but I just think you you have you've done amazing you've done an amazing service to this country so thank you for your service you this is you are the obviously the CEO and owner of Fiora Scotch when I remenntion that this is the first perhaps only black veteran owned Scotch

You were a major in the United States Marine Corps. You're retired. You were part of the assaults amphibian officer. I think that's mounted, mechanized and motorized and dismounted infantry. Three times in Iraq, two times in Okinawa, years working in the Caribbean and Latin American theater. You're also a chef and you also have a PhD. And that is impressive.

Eric Dominijanni (09:39.918)
There's actually a little bit more. You wrote out a space actor for awhile.

Ramon Vela (09:41.232)
Yeah, that's like, yeah, and it's just funny because that's like a lifetime already and you're a young man, right? And so, I mean, you've already lived probably a couple of lives right there, know, compared to most people. I mean, that's a lot of stuff.

Eric Dominijanni (10:02.126)
I've always been an overachiever. I remember my bosses, they were just like, you're all over the place. You're running a marathon today and then you're gonna be on the chess club tomorrow and then you do, yeah, tomorrow's promise to no man. I would look at some of my peers who play video games all day long. I'm like, we're in the Marine Corps. I'm studying my EWS or Expeditionary Warfighting School and trying to get ahead and I'm like, they're playing video games.

Ramon Vela (10:17.178)
Mm-hmm.

Eric Dominijanni (10:31.146)
Go to the gym. didn't make sense. Study. I was learning how to speak Italian when I was in Okinawa, Japan, actually. You know, so I just don't like, you know, an object in motion can sustain motion. An object at rest and sustain rest. And I'd rather be moving like the song. I like to move it. I don't know.

Ramon Vela (10:32.527)
.

Ramon Vela (10:37.86)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (10:50.576)
Well, like I said, it's really impressive. And again, thank you for your service. So let's transition over to like right before you started, you came up with the idea or you joined the company or however that was. Cause I know you have other people you're working with. So where did it all begin? Where were you and what motivated you to start the company?

Eric Dominijanni (11:14.606)
Wow. So that all goes back to how I created the Scotch, which goes back to how I discovered Scotch. So I was in between deployments and I'm a New York City guy and I'm used to great food, a great nightlife, and I'm used to doing all this stuff. And the military and my bosses love to punish me by staging me in the middle of nowhere, places that they might enjoy and appreciate, but I just can't, it's not me.

Ramon Vela (11:23.632)
You

Ramon Vela (11:41.828)
Mm-hmm.

Eric Dominijanni (11:44.714)
So once you're on a military base, once you leave that area, the service industry isn't great, because all they have to do is be slightly better than what's on base. In other words, you they just said your haircut is gonna be on base. It's gonna be like the bottom of the barrel haircut you could possibly get.

Ramon Vela (12:02.842)
Mm-hmm.

Eric Dominijanni (12:03.918)
So at least if they make it slightly crooked or slightly less crooked, then what's on base, they consider it a good deal. And I can't deal with that. If I pay for a product, I want what I paid for. then I was, like I said, in between deployments and I was in 29 Palms, California, which is the middle of nowhere, it's a desert. The life, you have coyotes and ravens and crows there, that's about it. You have the occasional road runner.

Ramon Vela (12:33.124)
Mm-hmm.

Eric Dominijanni (12:33.856)
And sand, lots of sand. So I used to go out to the West Coast. had my brother was living in the West Coast. My best friend from the Marine Corps who got out was living there. My oldest friend was living there. My best friend from college was living there. Like just everyone lived near each other. So on the weekends to get away from the 120 degree heat, I would head out West, you know, to San Diego. Plus, you know, just just a beautiful place. Or in L.A. Those guys were in L.A. So we went out one night and we went to a place called Bordeners and it was a dive bar.

Ramon Vela (12:55.322)
Mm-hmm.

Eric Dominijanni (13:04.046)
And we were going bar hopping and I'm using the designated driver. I didn't really drink much back then. And we get there and some guy offered to buy me a drink. He said, you guys military? And I'm like, oh no, he is, he's still active. I was like, yeah, I'll be fine. He's like, thank you for your service. I'm like, absolutely. And he gave me the shot of the worst thing I ever drank in my life. And it killed me. I know it was a joke.

Ramon Vela (13:22.298)
Hm.

Eric Dominijanni (13:27.278)
But it's like, I'm about to go back to Afghanistan. I'm about to go to Afghanistan. All I want is something good. I'm not going to get good food for a long time. not going to get it. I live in the middle of a desert. can't get a cheeseburger. I ask for a cheeseburger to get me a hot dog. I shaved my head bald because it's the only way can get a good haircut. know, I just like, can't I just get one thing? So now I got this literal bad taste in my mouth. And I head out to, we're driving around and my friends are like, dude, it's on us. We're going to drive now.

Ramon Vela (13:43.344)
you

Eric Dominijanni (13:55.662)
They bring me to this bar in Huntington Beach. I think it was Huntington Beach. this guy, was just like, I just kept working in the Caribbean on and off. So I know Rum like the back of my hand and I'm like, you know, what do you got for Rum, man? And he's like, you know, generic Rum, you know, 101. And I'm like, is that what, is that all you have? And he's like, dude, it's a scotch bar. And he points up and there's like just tons of scotches all over the bar. And I was like, wow, like I've never seen a setup like that before.

So I was like, teach me. what is it? I threw out my Navy Fed card. I was like my credit card. And I said, teach me. I was like, are you serious? I'm like, look, I don't know anything about Scotch. I'm a Scotch, I'm an aspiring chef. I know wine, I know beer. I make my own meat, I make my own sausage. I know nothing about Scotch. This is something new for me. He's like, you really want to learn? And I was like, yeah. So he starts pouring me all these little micro shots and tasters and like an omokase on Scotch. And if you think that I had a great time, he was just so happy.

Ramon Vela (14:39.46)
Thank

Ramon Vela (14:46.352)
Mm-hm.

Eric Dominijanni (14:52.014)
to find someone who wanted to learn. And that gave me the bug later on, because I started my scotch collection and I started sampling, getting from different regions, was drinking, know, I at my buddies. Now I'm in Miami. Let's fast forward. I'm at my Marines there in one sailor. They come over regularly, we barbecue and I wanted to create, like I said, I make my own scotch, I make my own wine and all that other stuff. you know, I read about this thing called an infinity bottle, a legacy bottle.

Ramon Vela (14:54.544)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (15:21.956)
Mm-hmm.

Eric Dominijanni (15:21.966)
It's like your household blend. And I got my, and I was like, okay, well, you know, I started in the first two words, like too intense, too smoky. Like who really needs a really smoky scotch after they've had a cigar and smoked, you know, pork or smoked, you know, smoked brisket, too much smoke. So my third one was the one I was like, man, this is really, really good. You know, I would, would, you and the way you make it is like you like,

You know what, this is a good bass. It may not be that great, but it's going to be a good mutual bass. Three fingers of this.

And then you're like, wow, this is too smoky. but imagine if I put a little bit of that in here, that might be good. So we'll put one finger of that. But I wish it was sweeter. And like a month later, man, this is a good scotch, but maybe a little too sweet. wow. So let's take the dregs and create something amazing out of it. Kind of like a lotus. I never thought about it until just now. Because it's the ones I really, really didn't like maybe separately that I think were the ones that really went in here. So afterwards I get this jar, and we're

Ramon Vela (16:00.976)
Hmm.

Ramon Vela (16:13.882)
Mm-hmm.

Eric Dominijanni (16:24.808)
I'm like this it's time to crack this bad boy open. It's it's not gonna get any better. So my boys are over every like I said every weekend. Let's go. And this is Miami so everyone's hey bro, let's do this bro, bro, bro. Everyone is bro in Miami. So I got my cretin friends over and we're sipping on and they loved it. It was really good and I was just was just happy. But then the next week, the jar goes like this and goes like this and goes like this and I'm like, it's not getting any.

bigger and I really really like to duplicate this but even if you kind of have the formula but it's not exact and I would have to go through it and make like okay three parts this two parts that and that's a pain so I was thinking to myself well my my old boss he was a colonel Bolaño he makes his own cigars he calls up the cigar place and I want a Connecticut rapper with this fill in that fill in blah blah blah this shape this width this diameter this you know a torpedo whatever

Ramon Vela (17:00.73)
Hmm.

Eric Dominijanni (17:20.43)
And my Uncle Luciano who lives here in Miami, gets his own wine made. He calls up California, I want a 22 % of this and a 45 % of Cabrera y Sauvignon and he gets a couple of cases a year, however that works. So I'm like, there's gotta be a way to do that with this scotch.

Ramon Vela (17:29.264)
Hmm.

Eric Dominijanni (17:36.43)
And one of my very, very close friends from college, he is Jim Landis. We did martial arts together. We were in fraternities together. you know, fought, we studied organic chemistry, physics, you know, we just did, you know, we just were always in the same class. We, you know, still good friends to this day, obviously.

Ramon Vela (17:45.68)
Thank you.

Eric Dominijanni (17:52.398)
So I call him up and I was like, hey Jim, you know, I see, we were always hanging out. He'd come down here like every quarter and I'd be up in New York. I'd see him. I was like, hey Jim. And he's like, yeah, what's going on, man? I'm like, are you still in the spirits industry? Because his family has been in the spirits for about four generations. He owned hypnotic or hypnotic, you know, and quite a few other ones his father did, you know, et cetera, et cetera. And I'm like, are you in the spirits industry? He's like, I don't know. Do you still like to cook? And I'm like, yeah. And I'm like, hey, I got this problem. I have this scotch.

Ramon Vela (18:10.554)
Hmm.

Ramon Vela (18:17.838)
Mm-hmm

Eric Dominijanni (18:22.158)
my own blend and I want to know if there's a way to duplicate this. And he's like, oh yeah, too easy. Not a problem. They do that all the time. I'm like, really? And it's like, yeah, yeah, don't worry about it. And I'm like, I'm going up to Scotland in a couple of months, cork it, don't touch it. And I'll pick it up next time and I'll bring it up. It's going take a little bit of time and there we are. So it was all right. So a couple of months passed by and I give it to him and he goes and then a couple of months passed by and honestly,

I honestly thought he forgot about it. thought he drank it. He liked it. I never got my bottle back or jar, if you will. And I was like, okay, forget it. And next thing you know, I get these three samplers and the first one was good. The third one was okay. And the second one, I'm like, man, this is perfect. This is this. I love this. And he's like, well, this is the closest that they said that they can come up with a duplicate of what you gave me. So it's not 100%. So that let me, so I always have to tell, but this is not 100%.

Ramon Vela (18:49.006)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (19:05.39)
Mm-hmm.

Eric Dominijanni (19:16.608)
of what I created. the end of the day, I fell in love with the second batch, but they did say it was the closest one to what I made. And I said, OK, I want six cases of this. And that cost a pretty penny. then I said, then see him guys come over. We're celebrating. I pull it out and they loved it. Loved it. And they were like, hey, let me get a bottle. No, this is all I got. I'll buy a bottle off you. Come on.

Ramon Vela (19:23.6)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (19:44.25)
Mm-hmm.

Eric Dominijanni (19:45.23)
I'm like, I can't sell it to you. didn't charge you for dinner. How am I supposed to charge you for a bottle? So two of the guys, Laz and Pete, both Marines, and they're like, hey bro, bro, you need to get that out there. I you should sell this stuff, bro. Bro, like this is some good juice, bro. You know? And for 48 hours, those guys called me and they were like, you know, you really, really need to do this. I'm like, are you serious? really, you'd buy it? they don't even drink those guys really. They barely drink.

And they were like, hey, look, I know scotch. I don't drink really bad. That's some good stuff. So I was like, OK.

So I called up Jim again and I asked him like, you hey, what did you think of that? And he's like, I'm sipping on it right now. I'm like, glad to know I'm funding your drink, you know? And I go, would you, like if I wanted to market this, how would I do this? Like, well, you'd have to know someone, you you should partner with someone in the business and blah, blah, blah. Do you know anyone? He's like me. And here we are now. Six awards later, you know, I am here now.

Ramon Vela (20:27.502)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (20:38.81)
Thank

Eric Dominijanni (20:47.778)
Didn't expect it. It's all, I tell people it's a fluke. I just knew the right people at the right time. And then I have the right backing. It's a good product. If you have a good product, people are gonna buy it. If it's garbage, even if they love you, they're not gonna buy it. You know?

Ramon Vela (21:03.784)
Yeah, yeah, I mean, and that's what I always, you know, in terms of the brands on the show, we talk about, you know, products worth buying brands were supporting. But that products worth buying is the first half, right? That's the first half of the coin. And you have to have that because no matter how much people like your story or want to support you and, you know, like you as a person that purchases.

if they purchase is only going to be one time, right? It's never going to be a follow-up and continue and so forth. it's the product has to taste good, has to be good, has to say what it do, what it says it's going to do, et cetera. And so I really love the story and you know, the reality is that's how the universe works, right? Like things just happen, you know, they, different things happen at certain times and it just kind of falls in place. And so, you know, I think you, you,

Eric Dominijanni (21:31.682)
Right.

Ramon Vela (21:58.48)
you were in search for something, found it, you were able to figure out how to make it happen because you knew this friend, and then of course the product came back and people loved it. That's really a great story and it incorporates validation.

You're not wondering whether this is a great product because you've already started sharing it with people and people love it. Now it's about like, how can I get it out into the market? How can I make more people aware of it? Now you have to incorporate like the marketing strategy and brand awareness and promotion and all that good stuff. So let's walk it through there. So now you have this product. Let's fast forward a little bit.

How do you start getting it's onto the market and and tell us a little also a little bit about these awards right here because I think for a product like yours is important to understand what these awards are

Eric Dominijanni (22:58.764)
Right, first of all, how do I get it on the market? The number one thing is you have a good business partner. I created the Big Mac and my friend owned McDonald's. That's the only way I can describe it. So we started off with two tests, two test batches to see if people were gonna buy them. We sold out overnight. And...

Ramon Vela (23:11.376)
You

Eric Dominijanni (23:22.094)
this is something for the furlough, the marketing aspect of it is really big. It's hilarious. He's like, oh my God, I think this is the first US veteran on Scotch.

And I was like, okay, I don't know. I have no clue. It is this is actually the first and only US veteran on Scott. And he looks at me like you're black, right? Because we're from New York, you know, we don't, you know, we don't see color religion like the average. rest of the people are wait a minute, aren't you black? And I'm like, yeah. And he's like, I think this is the first black on Scott. So those two loyalty band then technically it's like, aren't you also Latino? Like, dude, I'm a mutt. I'm a New Yorker. You know, I got, I can claim everything, you know, I'm probably the first and only Scorpio on Scott.

Ramon Vela (23:48.718)
Ha ha ha.

Ramon Vela (23:56.581)
Yeah.

Eric Dominijanni (24:00.848)
But that's how it started. know, the marketing, that's who we were going up against. As for the awards, the two big ones that I have right now are the, have a double gold for both the New York and San Francisco World Spirits Competition. What that means, to have a double gold means everybody on that panel thought it was amazing.

Ramon Vela (24:00.944)
You

Eric Dominijanni (24:27.662)
Okay, so everyone on the panel thought it was a gold medal. That's what a double gold means. And I got one from New York and one from South Carolina, sorry, one from New York, one from San Francisco. So that's a big deal. Then I got a 93 rating at the World Spirits Competition. What that means is they gave me a gold. And the other ones after a while, I was just like, okay, I got platinum here at the Ascot Awards.

Ramon Vela (24:31.461)
Mm-hmm.

Eric Dominijanni (24:56.094)
And I was just like, and again, I'm winning these awards and I don't know what they mean. All I know is that means people like what I, you know, like my scotch. And you know, that's, you know, that's, that's, it's impressive. You know, it's the, go ahead. I'm sorry.

Ramon Vela (25:10.512)
Mm hmm. Yeah. No, no, I say, yeah, mean, it's hugely impressive. And furthermore, it's like for those people who understand and know about these awards, I mean, it's it's really incredible. But it's it's almost as if, you're.

those awards really speak to the kind of people that you described earlier, like that guy who was in that Scotch bar who was excited to teach you and tell you everything. By the way, I love to hear people like that. There are people in different professions and different crafts that are like experts. I just love listening to them because they're so passionate and sort of knowledgeable about all these little things that you don't even think about and you don't even...

take into consideration, like, you know, describing the flavor of this particular Scotch, you you mentioned like smoky and all of this. Some of us don't even, don't realize what that is, but for those who are, like, I don't know what you call them, like the foodies of the Scotch world, right? Like these people who really care about all these different elements, you know, that's the people I think you're talking to with these words.

Eric Dominijanni (26:16.397)
What?

Eric Dominijanni (26:21.169)
Yeah.

And actually that's what I'm becoming now. remember I got this on a fluke and I, you know, I did go to culinary school and I got my, you know, my W set, you know, I'm basically in plain speak. I'm like a level one Psalm for wine. I'm a level one Psalm for everything. And I'm now I'm going for my, cause that's a CSS apparently that's a, that's a big deal. didn't know certified specialist spirits. I'm now going for my certified Scotch professional. And I've gone to the point where I can.

Ramon Vela (26:26.576)
Thank

Eric Dominijanni (26:53.102)
I study, believe it or not. I look at like just back in school. I have different scotches from different regions and I smell them and I taste them and I go, this is a highland. This is a space side. This is a isle. This is an island. And it sounds difficult, but unlike wine, is so much more complex. There's a significant difference between most many of the regions. So it's not that hard, but I'm also getting to the point I could tell the alcohol content within about 1.5 ABV.

Ramon Vela (27:15.258)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (27:23.172)
Wow.

Eric Dominijanni (27:23.298)
But it was that guy at the bar who kind of inspired me like, wow, he knows a lot. And I only recently got those certifications because I was like, well, if I'm going to be in the scotch business, I really, need to know more about it. Plus, again, tomorrow's promise to no man, the more you learn now.

Ramon Vela (27:39.322)
Yeah.

Yeah, I love that. I love that. That saying everyone out there, you can go to Fior Scotch dot com Fior Scotch dot com is a website and that's spelled F I O R Fior and then the second word Scotch S C O T C H dot com Fior Scotch dot com to check out what we've been talking about.

So what have been the challenges? Obviously there's a ton of challenges in place. Well, actually before we get into challenges, let's talk about the milestones. So you started winning awards. What was one of the business milestones in terms of getting this product out to market? did you get any...

Eric Dominijanni (28:32.142)
What?

Ramon Vela (28:35.094)
retailers or wholesalers or distributors like did this winning these awards that they did you you get more interest in the in the product and get it out

Eric Dominijanni (28:43.406)
Well that was the test, know, because you know, kind of like beers and this would be the equivalent of like a micro brew, you know, if you will. Some people don't like to use those terms for like things like scotch because if you do...

Ramon Vela (28:49.498)
Mm-hmm.

Eric Dominijanni (28:55.436)
What's going to happen when you get big? You can't use the term anymore that this is like a home blend or a small batch. That's the Scotch acrylic. It's called small batch. Well, I think we're kind of getting to the past the point where no longer a small batch anymore, you know, or what happens when you move from handcrafted to something you're no longer handcrafted. But with working the first milestones were to see how many like how we're going to do with those first two tests where people get to buy it.

Ramon Vela (28:58.329)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (29:05.582)
moment.

Ramon Vela (29:09.978)
Hehehe.

Eric Dominijanni (29:24.366)
and where people are gonna ask for it again. But we were also at that same point, like sending our thing, we're just, send it to every competition out there, every tasting competition, every scotch competition, because if I show you a scotch and you're like, oh, it's okay. Hey, you you may not be a scotch drinker, but it's got a 95 rating or a 98 rating. Everyone else thinks it's amazing. So it was kind of a way to validate what, you know, the product.

You know, if everyone thinks it's good, you're more likely to try it and probably think it's good as well. And that was also a way to let me know that, hey, these are the real legitimate people who love scotch. If they like it, I did something right. You know, so that's, that was the reason behind it. I needed that validation for myself. Whereas my business partners, we needed to, as a validation towards other people, know, the consumer. but the biggest problem is here, the biggest problem that I,

Ramon Vela (29:54.714)
Hmm.

Ramon Vela (30:03.715)
Hmm. Yeah.

Ramon Vela (30:15.63)
Yeah.

Eric Dominijanni (30:20.482)
And I think we all know this. You have to be rich to become rich. You have to have money to make money. You have to be there to be there. And the biggest problems that I've had is you will get accepted into a big, big liquor store. But now you don't have a distributor or you'll get the distributor. We have, we will find a distributor, but we can't find the liquor store or we have the liquor store that doesn't deal with that distributor. So the thing you have to get the liquor store, the right liquor store,

Ramon Vela (30:44.698)
Hmm.

Eric Dominijanni (30:49.07)
and the right distributor at the same time. We've had it happen several times where they've timed out, like one of the distributors got bought out by a larger distributor. I believe that happened twice. And by the time we got to a new distributor, we timed out with the liquor store. And then when we finally got our third distributor, they're like, oh, we don't work with that distributor. They're too small. And you're like, oh, you know, and well, we're trying to get into, um,

Ramon Vela (30:53.264)
you

Ramon Vela (31:12.09)
Mm-hmm.

Eric Dominijanni (31:16.27)
For example, I'm trying to get into Afees or the PX. They're like, well, you have to be known. We don't deal with brand new. Well, how am I supposed to get known if you don't give me the opportunity? It even says that you're supposed to give me a chance. Yeah, well, we'll give you a chance once you're known. Well, you know, this is a little bit crazy over here. So a lot of things in the liquor business, it's very, very much like that. I find it personally annoying. The system, I believe, is not designed for people like me.

Ramon Vela (31:30.276)
Mm-hmm.

Eric Dominijanni (31:45.898)
on my own. I wasn't with my business partner, I wouldn't be here. It is not designed for someone like me to just come off the streets with an amazing product and get it on the shelf and be able to sell it.

And it's not just this, it's the overall system. Because in this state, for example, I can sell directly to you. Well, that's great. I can be very successful there if I have friends and consumers and stuff. But in other states, I might have to sell to a distributor. The distributor has to sell to the store and the store sells to the consumer. Okay, well, in another one, has to even go, it's got to go to the government level. So you're like,

Ramon Vela (32:13.519)
Hmm.

Eric Dominijanni (32:19.502)
And some of the laws are archaic. Like the minute I use you as a distributor, I'm not allowed to use anyone else. But why would I ever use you if you're a small distributor? Right? Because now I'm stuck with you for life. I'd rather wait and go to a large distributor, which basically, excuse my French, you over as the small distributor who's trying to get out there. And it also prevents me from ever wanting to work with you because now I'm stuck with you forever. So the system, every state's different, you know, and every county could be different.

Ramon Vela (32:29.391)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (32:36.89)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (32:43.332)
Yeah.

Ramon Vela (32:49.583)
Yeah.

Eric Dominijanni (32:49.686)
So you're like, you know, what, just streamline it. You just tax me. Just tax me. Let me get it to the consumer. Leave me alone. You know.

Ramon Vela (32:54.296)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, I've heard these challenges before with other brands that I've had on the show, which is that whole area is just so difficult. it's I mean, it's an antiquated system. Some people refer to it as almost like the mob. there's like these families who own different areas and they're all in bed with the government and this and that. And I mean, it's just really crazy.

Eric Dominijanni (33:23.15)
I don't know if I'll put it this way. I'll carry out. don't know that for a fact, but it has to be there. mean, okay, because there's no real I can't figure out why these laws or it's done that way. Like it just if you started from ground zero, it wouldn't be that way. You know, so I don't know how, who, what, when, where, why, but it's gotta be something.

Ramon Vela (33:40.826)
Yeah.

Ramon Vela (33:46.416)
Well, I mean, when you've got, you know, I mean, you've got the power of centralized with a small number of people, right, families, whatever you call it. It's just, you know, you create these type of environments where it's, you know, it's very difficult to break into. So I'm assuming then that in some states that you're probably bigger in terms of direct to consumer where you can be.

and in other places you're trying to work within the system.

Eric Dominijanni (34:19.278)
Right. Well, like I'm right now available online. I'm available in New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., South Carolina, Georgia, and Texas. And soon we'll be available in Florida, Connecticut and Maryland. I think we just got approved in Maryland. And there's always like one tag on. And yeah, you know, like I said before, everything is completely, you they all have their own little laws and

Ramon Vela (34:37.22)
Mm-hmm.

Eric Dominijanni (34:47.53)
and just trying to circumvent them sometimes are crazy, but like for me, I feel that one of the most successful States is not my largest or number one selling, but it's the amount of people who will buy it based on the amount of people that are there. per capita, it's the Washington DC. This is the first and only black owned Scotch, very high black population. It's the first and only veteran owned Scotch, very high veteran population.

Ramon Vela (35:01.808)
Hmm.

Ramon Vela (35:12.719)
Hmm.

Eric Dominijanni (35:13.262)
It's also very high professional population. Scott Stringer is usually 35 year old males who make over $100,000 a year, blah, blah, blah. So it's kind of like 90 % of the population are my consumers, you know? But I do very, very well in Atlanta. I just love getting out there. I just came from South Carolina. I'm the general who likes to be in the field. And I go out there and people are like, wow, you really sell this product. Are you a great taster? I'm like,

Ramon Vela (35:24.975)
Hmm.

Eric Dominijanni (35:40.334)
I'm not the poor. I'm not. I'm actually the owner of the company. What? You're the owner of the company. Why are you here? I'm like, because no one is going to sell my product as hard as me. And like you said earlier, my investors are my friends. I can't let them down. I can't let myself down, but I cannot let them down. I cannot go to sleep knowing that I didn't give it my 100 % for that day.

Ramon Vela (35:50.968)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (35:57.968)
Thank

Ramon Vela (36:07.278)
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, it's an amazing product. sounds like and and it's really fascinating. I think you're there's a lot of people who listen to the show who are like foodies and so forth. And I think people like that are attracted to the craft, right? They're attracted to to to understanding a lot about how you describe the blends and everything else and so forth. And we're going to talk about the product in a second. But I just wanted to kind of get an understanding of your of your journey thus far.

So you've, you know, you know what I was gonna mention is there's another company that I've had on the show. They're called CAN and they are a, they were a beverage company, but they're a CBD company, you know, the CBD. And they also work in an industry that's very difficult for them to bring to market. they can't even.

Advertise on Facebook and all sorts of other stuff and so forth because of regulations and so forth But they ended up selling I think a million cans By selling into distributors, know the dispensaries or whatever you call them and so So, I mean that's hard to do like, you know Because you have to deal with all these like little small places and big places or whatever what not but they ended up doing it so I know like

Eric Dominijanni (37:19.298)
Yeah. Yeah.

Eric Dominijanni (37:25.976)
Mm-hmm.

Eric Dominijanni (37:29.87)
Right.

Ramon Vela (37:33.488)
there's a will, there's a way somehow, you know, to getting in there. It's just figuring out what that path is moving forward or, you you like the military. I always love that phrase. I don't know if this is true or not, but I think it's from Hannibal where he says, if we cannot find a path, we will make one or something like that. Yeah, I love that.

Eric Dominijanni (37:36.407)
Yeah, exactly.

Eric Dominijanni (37:52.782)
We'll make one. Or from Lord of the Rings, know, if there's a whip, when there's a whip, there's a way.

Ramon Vela (38:00.184)
Yeah. So I would imagine so that your story is a compelling one too on the news, right? Because have you, that's one angle to work with because getting people to know who you are by knowing who the brand is, by knowing who you are, you have a compelling story because you are like the first black owned, veteran owned Scotch company.

Eric Dominijanni (38:13.208)
I

Yeah.

Eric Dominijanni (38:21.976)
Right. All right. I remember it's the first black owned and the first veteran owned. So it's two separate ones and it's the first black and veteran owned. So I've been on the news quite a bit. I was last November. I was on NBC 6 here in Miami. I made front page of the Miami Herald. I remember the mailman walked by and he's like, my God, I saw you on the news. I didn't even know I made front page. I had no clue. I just saw the digital article and that was it.

Ramon Vela (38:28.782)
Yeah.

Ramon Vela (38:45.4)
the

Eric Dominijanni (38:52.174)
One more thing, I actually been on TV quite a bit earlier. I went up against Bobby Flay many years ago before I ever went to culinary school. He's an iron chef if you know who he is and I actually went up beating him. So I still have like some of that residual stardom if you will. People like, I still remember you from when you went up against him and I was like, yeah. And this guy recognized me in the bar is like, my God, are you the same guy? I'm like, that's me. And he's like, no way.

Ramon Vela (39:01.786)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (39:06.914)
Yeah.

Eric Dominijanni (39:18.668)
So it's great, but it does help because it's free advertising. The news when people go, hey, local guy or New Yorker or Marine or really good looking guy, Eric DiMigliani, got his own scotch. And even the story behind it, I just donated $10,000 last spring to Operation Gratitude. There's a woman who took care of my Marines. She takes care of all service members, law enforcement, fire department, first responders.

Ramon Vela (39:18.926)
Yeah.

Eric Dominijanni (39:47.502)
And me and her became friends after years. Her son became a Marine. She used to talk about me all the time to him. So he got out as Captain Blaisek. She was like, this woman I've always wanted to meet. And I finally got to meet her and gave her the big check and give her a big hug. So yeah, that's also free advertising. But who cares sometimes? I wanted to meet the woman who took care of me. I wanted to just give back a little bit.

Ramon Vela (39:54.266)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (40:03.482)
He

Thank

Ramon Vela (40:12.144)
Yeah.

Eric Dominijanni (40:15.052)
and I wanna teach scotch, fine, put it on TV, that's great, but I have so much fun teaching, you know?

Ramon Vela (40:18.32)
Thank

Ramon Vela (40:21.882)
Yeah. And I think that's the part I think that is the most, it's probably the thing that attracts people the most is your passion as a chef, but also as I don't know what you call it on the Scotch side, but it's just, it's your love for the, for the product and not just for the product itself, but almost for the craft. You know, people love that. And I told you, I love hearing people, whether it's woodworking or whether it's, you know, cooking or being a chef or

or wine or whatever it is, I just love hearing people who really understand and know all the different elements. Because we as consumers sometimes we drink it, we know we like it, but we don't know all the little things that go into it. to me, I think that's a fascinating part of it. Let's talk a little bit about the product now. So everyone out there, as I mentioned before, you can go to fjorskoc.com, fjorskoc.com.

Eric Dominijanni (41:07.358)
Right.

Ramon Vela (41:19.601)
to see what we're talking about. Fior is spelled F-I-O-R Scotch.com. By the way, Fior, what does that mean?

Eric Dominijanni (41:27.31)
There's a little story, you don't mind, I'll give you the quick story. We were sitting out trying to figure out names and I was like, originally it was gonna be Domaniani Scotch, when it was never supposed to leave my house. was gonna be Domaniani House Blend, Casa Domaniani, something like that.

Ramon Vela (41:30.789)
Sure.

Ramon Vela (41:38.588)
Thank

Eric Dominijanni (41:44.674)
But it's a Scotch. You once we started like, hey, we're going to market it. We got to think of a name. We can't do an Italian name with Scotch. know, great name for wine. Great name for something else. But, you know, not for even for a sports car, you know, but the Mignani's got a great name for Scotch. So I my business partner, Jim, that we were talking to, he's got his clipboard. He's there like he's there like this, you know. And I was like, OK, so we got to talk names. I'm like, all right, what do you got?

Ramon Vela (41:52.654)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (41:57.528)
Hehehe.

Eric Dominijanni (42:13.128)
And I just said, long as I don't want nothing against some of those other drinks there, I don't want to be associated with like those peanut butter brandies. And I said, listen, like this is something I just want. This is pure, you know, clean. This is like the most amazing story you're gonna hear about the Scotch ever. So I'm like, I just want it like pure, clean and true. Okay. You know, nothing to talent in me. go, so what's your first, you know, I he goes, Fior. And I'm like, did you not listen to me?

Fior means flower in Italian. And he's like, yeah, but it means, you cause I was like, I said no Italian names. Fior means flower in Italian. He's like, no, but it means pure, clean and true in Scottish Gaelic. I'm like, wow. Like, you serious? And he's like, yeah. And I'm like, he's like, okay, so number two, I'm I don't want to know number two. Don't kill it. This is, this is it. This is, this is a sign from God, you know? So yeah, that's the, that's the condensed version of the story. But I was like,

Ramon Vela (42:54.448)
Mmm.

Eric Dominijanni (43:12.522)
I can't believe that, you know, just like, although my father will probably still say it's fiore, it's Italian, you know, it's a flower in my language.

Ramon Vela (43:14.095)
Nah.

Ramon Vela (43:20.679)
Yeah. No, I love that story and the bottle itself, I'm looking at it right now on fiorescotch.com and it looks regal. It looks, you know, enticing. Yeah. It's a beautiful, it's a beautiful bottle. Um, and it's very regal. So it looks like, you know, it fits the name. You you said Scottish Galen.

Eric Dominijanni (43:31.363)
Beautiful

Ramon Vela (43:41.485)
It looks like something that's old and traditional yet modern and beautiful. And it just feels like, you know, this is the drink of Kings. You know what mean?

Eric Dominijanni (43:49.27)
And that's, that was group effort. was, it is exactly. It's a team effort. Like, the original band, the blue X that you see around it was just, it was, it wasn't an X. It was like a solid thing. I said, no, let's cut that, make it an X and Jim threw on the line or MPR and, know, you know, for Scotland. And then, you know, was like, there was originally be blue and white. I'm like, no gold, gold. So, yeah. And then I put my name, if you look at the back of the bottle,

Ramon Vela (43:58.788)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (44:12.773)
Hehe.

Eric Dominijanni (44:18.678)
It has my signature on it. I was dumb. That's our second gen bottle because I was really scared to put my name. This goes with actually something about the bottle that most people don't know. And what that is is this is our second generation bottle. Our first generation bottle did not have my signature because I didn't know what it was going to be like when we mass produced it. And I was like, well, if it doesn't taste good, I don't want to be associated with it. We're just going to dump it.

And I was stupid thinking like, hey, this is, you know, chemistry, three parts this and one part of this is the same as 30 parts this, 10 parts this. So I was like, all right, so after the first batch and I fell in love with my product, because I knew it was going to be good after we mass produced it, then I put my signature on the back. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that the black ink against the blue background is not going to show off too much. from now on, when we get to our third gen bottle, it'll be either in white or in gold across the back.

Ramon Vela (45:16.048)
Yeah, like I said, it looks beautiful and I loved how you have your story there and you have a mention of the name and what that means and so forth. And then you also have the awards, the Ascot Awards, the World Wine and Spirits Award, the Sante Magazine, you've got the Ultimate Spirits Challenge, the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, the New York International Spirits Competition,

Eric Dominijanni (45:36.366)
I'll take a Yes.

Eric Dominijanni (45:45.006)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (45:45.296)
I mean, it's just amazing. It's highly, highly decorated. One thing I was going to ask you is describe, describe to us as well as you can, because I know it's difficult, but describe to us, you know, in words, what the scotch tastes like.

Eric Dominijanni (46:05.58)
Okay. In layman's term, I'm to give you two because one is I'm not supposed to say it because this is for the layman. Okay. And the reason why you don't want to use it. I like to say it has, and I don't taste it with my mouth. I taste it with my nose. That's, it's really weird, but to the layman terms, I would like to say it's notes, not taste notes of apple, caramel and, and slight smoke.

Ramon Vela (46:14.212)
Yeah.

Eric Dominijanni (46:34.676)
slight, slight. So apple, caramel, smoke, and vanilla. Sorry, and vanilla. And there's a scientific reason as to why those flavors exist. For example, the vanilla that comes from the barrels. OK, the smoke comes from when they're actually at the process. think it's a second stage process in which they're trying to not roast, but like you're.

You're toasting the malt, if you will. You know, the malted barley. You're literally malting the barley. So those flavors make a lot of sense here. Other people, and this is probably the best description I've ever heard. I did not come up with this description. The general term, it tastes like the scent of roasting marshmallows over the campfire. It's the...

Ramon Vela (46:58.223)
Mm-hmm.

Eric Dominijanni (47:25.996)
Like roasting marshmallows over the campfire, but not sucking on a charcoal briquette. That's what she said. Because you have to realize a woman's sense of taste is significantly greater than a man. We taste smoke, they taste charcoal briquette. So I also created this so everybody could enjoy it. You know, if you like spicy food and the other person does it, if I make it spicy, one person's not gonna enjoy it. If I don't make it spicy, the other person isn't gonna enjoy it.

Ramon Vela (47:31.354)
Hmm.

Ramon Vela (47:40.176)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (47:52.824)
Mm-hmm.

Eric Dominijanni (47:52.91)
So you got to give that little bit of heat to make both sides happy. it's slightly smoky, slightly sweet, notes of apple. And again, sense, would say more of an aroma than a flavor, aroma of apples, vanilla, caramel, and smoke.

Ramon Vela (48:04.058)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (48:10.468)
Wow.

Eric Dominijanni (48:10.51)
And the reason why you don't want to say apples is because people will think that, oh, this is one of those apple scotches or something. No, no, no, no.

Ramon Vela (48:17.208)
Yeah. No, I love the way you described it. it's in it actually. And that's the way you describe it is actually very enticing. Because, you know, even if I don't know 100 percent of all of what you're saying.

It just sounds really good. And it makes me want to like, Oh man, I think I want to try that. You know, it's like in the mind, in people's minds, they were like, wow, that's, you know, it's fascinating. I'm not even a huge drinker, but I appreciate like a good, uh, liquor or a good, you know, scotch or a good tequila and so forth. And I rarely drink, but like a good tequila in my mind, you know, when you run across one is just, it's a sipping tequila. It's not a shooting tequila. It's a sipping tequila.

Eric Dominijanni (48:42.862)
There we go!

Eric Dominijanni (49:02.06)
Yeah, you know, it's not the one rule I have and I try to tell the younger people when they're drinking, because I didn't start drinking until very late in life. I started drinking when I had a good job. started, so I bypassed all the, you know, I'm to get drunk and what if something tastes so bad that you have to take a shot of it? Why would you drink it?

Ramon Vela (49:15.33)
Yeah.

Ramon Vela (49:22.682)
Yeah.

Eric Dominijanni (49:24.172)
There you go, that's it. if you're drinking to get drunk, by the way, here's all the garbage in the world. Take it, you know? But scotch, especially my scotch is an event. Scotch to other alcohols is like, it's the difference between a shower to a bath or a cigarette to a cigar. Okay, when you're in a rush, you take a cigarette, a quick cigarette, but when you have a cigar...

Ramon Vela (49:42.574)
Hmm.

Ramon Vela (49:50.394)
He

Eric Dominijanni (49:50.572)
You relax, tranquille, you know what mean? You're laid back. Same thing with a shower. You take a shower really quick in the morning, go to work, you know, and dip out the door or, you you're in your bathtub, you've got the notebook on, got your chardonnay, you know, you relax, you get your toe bubblies, your hairs and curlers, things like that. So a scotch, when do you drink a scotch? You drink it when you're celebrating or you're mourning. You just had a kid or your father passed away. You got married or you got a divorce or you got divorced. I'm still trying to figure out which is the...

good and bad part of that one. Or you got hired or you got fired. And one big one is they always ask me, what is the best way to serve your scotch? And what my consistent answer is, with good friends and family. That's it. I couldn't care less because that's how a scotch is supposed to be. You do not drink scotch for the sake of getting drunk. You come back from work, you had a rough day.

Dog at your feet, leather couch, cigar in hand, peace and quiet. And you're just like, you just get that little inner peace. There you go.

Ramon Vela (50:52.644)
You

Ramon Vela (51:00.88)
You make it sound so good. So this is amazing. This is, I love it. And like I said, the way you describe it is just so enticing. It's like the foodie in me wants to taste it because I want to feel the complexity of it and the taste. But then the other side, like the way you just described right now, it's like, just feels like, that feels like it would be so great to sit back and enjoy it, know, like have a cigar or whatnot.

Eric Dominijanni (51:03.734)
you

Eric Dominijanni (51:25.4)
I'll make sure you get a bottle. How's that?

Ramon Vela (51:31.06)
by the way, my, my daughter, the funniest thing she's, she's 18 and she's not, they're not big, they're not drinkers and everything. Not like I was when I was a kid. and she always tells me, she goes, when I turned 21 dad, I want you, I want you to take me to a, a cigar bar so I can taste a Scotch and a cigar. I'm like, what? Yeah. Yeah.

Eric Dominijanni (51:51.726)
Yeah, that might be a little too intense for her at that point. Maybe when you're 35, know, like, you know, like, not quite at that point.

Ramon Vela (52:00.336)
I know it was the weirdest weirdest thing I've ever heard. But anyways, she was in the movie she's watching. don't know. So on the website, you also have drinks. You've got ways to make cocktails. You've got a button where it says find fewer scotch, which you can click on. And I'm sure you can see what's available if there's anything available in your area. And then the engraved bottle. Walk us through that really quick.

Eric Dominijanni (52:28.59)
Okay, if I can focus on one drink before I do the engraver bottle. There is one drink, know, I prefer, like the song, I prefer my whiskey neat, my coffee black, blah, blah, blah, I do prefer my scotch neat, but when they ask me like, hey, what's a good, you know, what's a good mixed drink that you like with it? And I tell everyone, no, I don't believe there's a drink that says Marine Corps any more than scotch and coffee.

Ramon Vela (52:31.525)
sure, sure.

Eric Dominijanni (52:55.502)
You know, so we have one Semper Fidelis in the Marine Corps means always faithful. We have the Semper Fior. Actually that name, friend of mine, you know, gave me the idea. was like, oh my God, it's such a great name. And I thank you very much Dawn for that one. But I was like, you know, Semper Fior. And I was like, wow, like nothing says, you know, nothing says Marine Corps when it comes to drinking, I think more than the Semper Fior. Are you, other question I forgot, I'm sorry, sir. Oh, we have a bottle.

Ramon Vela (53:05.136)
you

Ramon Vela (53:23.48)
No, no, no. Yeah. Well, I was going to say, you know, so this is amazing because I'm glad you brought this up because you actually have the recipe for that. The Semper Fior cold brew coffee. I love cold brew coffee. I love coffee in general. And and so that sounds really amazing to me too.

Eric Dominijanni (53:45.166)
The crazy thing about that drink is that on one hand, it's like tomatoes and basil. Tomatoes taste good, basil tastes good. But when you put the two together, they taste completely different. They have like a synergistic effect on flavor, like one plus one equals three. So when you put those two things together, it actually gets sweet. I was just in shock. I was like, my God, this is phenomenal. So I actually love the Semper Fiore. I think it's a great drink.

Ramon Vela (54:08.047)
Mm-hmm.

Eric Dominijanni (54:14.126)
The engraver bottle option is something that we discovered on, I won't say like by accident, I was just inquiring. I sell, I cannot tell you how many engraved bottles I sell. I do not make one penny off of engraving, not one penny. And I think it's like $72 that's shipping, handling the bottle and engraving and everything.

They look beautiful. Oh, it's the Marine Corps birthday. We're gonna slap on an Eagle Globe and anchor and your name. your father-in-law just retired from law enforcement. Let's take his badge number, slap it on his badge, you know, and they, you know, it gets laser etched or water etched. I don't know how they do it. And then get his name on there, you know, oh, you know, you just, you got drunk and you got married. There you go. You you got, you know, you got drunk and divorced, you know, like you put the date down to the guy's name, whatever it is, they look unbelievable.

And the problem is like, I don't want to drink it. I hear this all the time. It looks so good because of the gold color of the liquid inside the blue and gold bottle. They're like, I don't even want to open this up. So it's like get two, get one and keep it there. You even I have a couple, I can't even open them. can't, I just can't open it. And then, you know, you have your bottle and then you have the other one. One of my buddies put a, what do call that? Water with a.

Ramon Vela (55:14.8)
Hahaha.

Ramon Vela (55:23.748)
Yeah.

Eric Dominijanni (55:31.918)
Food coloring after he finished it just to make it look there and he has it. It looks great

Ramon Vela (55:33.637)
Yeah.

Ramon Vela (55:37.978)
Yeah, I can imagine that. then it makes for such a great gift, right? For someone who's retiring, for someone's birthday, whatever it is. I mean, just buying something like that and just telling them like, hey, you know, this is for you for the whatever, there's like your retirement or whatever. But it's also like, you know, save it for a for a special occasion or whatnot. But it's just it's a great bottle. And that that whole engraving is a really, really nice touch.

And so that makes a great gift. This has been amazing, man. Thank you so much for spending time with us. I want to be respect for your time. And really, you know, thank you. mean, your stories are so interesting. I love hearing your stories and you probably have so many more. The bottle is just amazing. The way you describe it is just so enticing.

Eric Dominijanni (56:15.906)
No? Thank you for having me.

Ramon Vela (56:34.209)
in terms of the blend and everything you went through. And then of course, add on top of all of that, you know, the fact that, you know, it's the first black owned and first veteran owned Scotch company. It's just, it just adds to the story. But beyond that, I mean, this is like anyone who appreciates good food, good drinks, appreciates the craft of all of this. Even if they're not an expert or whatnot like me, I just, admire the craft.

And I enjoy the fruits of that craft. I don't know how to anything about the craft, but this is this is a great product Especially for those type of people I think So thank you so much Eric. I really appreciate you making time for us and and if you want to leave the audience with where to buy Where you recommend if you want to shout at any partners any social media? Channels that you want to mention and then any last words

Eric Dominijanni (57:31.618)
Yeah, like I said, we're available online at the www.fiorascotch.com F-I-O-R and if you can't spell scotch, you're too young to drink or you're just too stupid to drink personally. That's number one. Number two, we're available in New York, New Jersey area. You can find us in Total Wines throughout various states. We're also in South Carolina. We're in...

Ramon Vela (57:42.288)
Thank

Eric Dominijanni (57:51.966)
South Carolina, we're in Georgia. We are gonna open up soon in Southern Florida. DC, we're opening up in Maryland and I believe Connecticut relatively soon. And Texas, and the big things, if you can't find this, ask. Just say, hey, I would like to buy through it. Well, we don't carry that. Ask them. Hey, that's how I get into the store sometimes. It's, oh, we don't have it here. And my Marines have said, hey, that's my boss, the Scotch. Can you get it into the store? And they're like, would you buy it? And I'm yeah, absolutely, I've had it.

We just don't have it anymore in my neighborhood. It's like, yep, not a problem. And they ordered it, now they can get it there. So that helps me out, you know?

Ramon Vela (58:24.24)
Yeah. Yeah, that's fantastic. And then they can buy it online on your, but only in certain states, right?

Eric Dominijanni (58:36.046)
We're available in I think a 45 out of 50 states. Yeah.

Ramon Vela (58:39.982)
That's pretty good. Okay. Yeah. mean, worse comes to worst. They can can buy it online.

Eric Dominijanni (58:44.258)
And also if you buy three bottles, because I don't do the shipping and handling, that's not something I control. But if you buy three bottles, we avoid out the shipping and handling fee.

Ramon Vela (58:55.82)
All right, great. So this has been amazing. Thank you so much for making time for us. I love this conversation. You're such a fascinating person. I love the saying that you've mentioned several times, tomorrow is promised to no man. I keep thinking about that because like I said, when I describe what you've done thus far, it feels like it's a couple of lifetimes. So that's really amazing within itself, man. So thank you for that.

Eric Dominijanni (59:19.982)
It means a lot. Thank you.

Ramon Vela (59:23.28)
So everyone out there we have just had Eric Peter Domini, Iani who is founder and CEO of your Scotch Go to the website for scotch.com We're gonna have that link as well as all the other links and everything else on our podcast description Which you could find on Apple Spotify and all the other places you listen to podcasts Simply simply type in the story of a brand show and you should be able to find it

Beyond that, just go straight to the website. If you're a Scotch, sign up for their newsletter, whatnot. That way you keep up to date on the products, promotion, events, anything that they're doing. Anytime they're in the news, I'm sure, and all the other good stuff about it. And go try it. Go to your liquor store. If they don't have it, ask them if they can carry it. And if it comes to where you can't find it in any physical location, go to the website, order it. Especially if you have someone in your life who really appreciates

craft, alcohol, who loves scotch, who loves just a fine drink, and you want to surprise them and give them a really cool gift, buy them a bottle, engrave their name or their badge number or whatever it is and buy for them because this is something that I think someone would really love. Anyone who appreciates good food and drink, think will really appreciate it. Beyond that, everyone, stay safe, stay sane, stay healthy, and one last other thing.

Hey, the world's a little crazy right now, a of stuff going on, everyone's a little stressed out. So let's just be kind to each other. That's it. Just knowing everyone's going through something, let's just be little kinder to each other. Not so quick to be angry and lash out. Let's just be good to each other. And I know we can make this human experience a better one. Beyond that, thank you from the bottom of my heart for listening to another episode of the story of a brand.