Project Optimist describes itself as a consortium of people who make cool things happen in the beverage world. It is run by the team at WellSpun Consulting, Will Schragis, Celia Erickson, Eli Dreyfus, Stefanie Bair and Jay West, as a creative outlet for personal projects, some its own brands and blends, others collaborations with friends and companies who share its vision. An affiliated quarterly club, Odes To Vie, sits alongside the portfolio.

Its whiskey work centers on blending and barrel finishing rather than distilling. Whiskey for Displaced People, its flagship whiskey series, takes mature American whiskeys aged 9 to 16 years, rests two base blends in reconditioned sherry barrels, then moves each micro-blend into one of 13 individual tertiary finishing casks before bottling at cask strength. The series pledges its first $10,000 of first-year revenue to refugee relocation assistance in upstate New York, where the whiskey is bottled.

Beyond whiskey the range includes Covalle Tomato-Water Gin, Youthful Porpoise, Alternate Current and assorted collaborations. Browse our full Project Optimist collection with fast nationwide shipping delivered straight to your door.