Amsterdam · London · New York · Nairobi · Mumbai · Singapore
Ian Matthews. 20+ years across four continents — Brown-Forman, Proof Strength, 70+ markets. He knows the buyers, the bartenders, and the markets that are actually ready for your brand.
Ian started in a French kitchen in Breukelen at sixteen. That turned into a career built from the bar up — not the boardroom down. Brown-Forman. Drinksology. Proof Strength. Brands distributed across 70+ countries, from Delhi cocktail bars to Parisian sommelier tables. He has sourced a Gondoraaj lime in India when Sicilian lemons weren't available. He knows what it means to adapt.
Barrels Matter is how Ian works now: selectively, directly, and without the overhead of a large agency. If your liquid is worth it, he'll tell you honestly where it can go — and where it should wait.
Not a retainer with a junior team behind it. You work with Ian directly — someone who has sat across from the distributors, activated the bars, and built the commercial models himself.
Is this market ready for your brand — or are you two years too early? Ian reads the landscape first, so you invest in the right place at the right time.
Decades of relationships with importers across 70+ markets. Not introductions — qualified partnerships, negotiated and structured to work for both sides.
Ian's background is bar-first. He understands what bartenders actually need, how to build loyalty on-trade, and how local culture should shape the story you tell.
Pricing architecture, expression gaps, positioning clarity. Honest assessment of what's working, what isn't, and what the market will actually support.
Margins, logistics, financial projections for new markets. The numbers built alongside the narrative — because neither works without the other.
Distillery experiences, bartender workshops, trade education. Ian has run these in Delhi, Paris, London, and beyond — always with the local context built in.
Ian has lived and worked across four continents. He's activated brands in India, rolled out distribution across Latin America, taken American single malts to European whisky shows, and built portfolios that reached 90 countries. The connections are real — and so is the understanding of what each market actually needs.
Tell Ian about your brand, your ambitions, and where you're stuck. No obligation. If he can help, he'll say so. If it's not the right fit, he'll say that too.
ian@barrelsmatter.com