Blue Run Spirits announced the appointment of Chelsea Catania to the role of Vice President of Sales for the whiskey company.

Catania will oversee the global sales operation for Blue Run, including on- and off-premise; chain; military; duty free; and ecommerce, as well as distributor relationships. She will report directly to CEO and cofounder Mike Montgomery.

Catania joins Blue Run with nearly 15 years’ experience in the spirits business, with a particular emphasis on luxury brands. Prior to Blue Run, she served as the Southern Glazer’s Division Director – Diageo Hospitality Partnership at Enthuse Marketing, a women-owned experiential agency. While at Enthuse, she also held the position of West Region Manager – Diageo Reserve (CA, NV, WA, OR), managing the business for the industry leader’s fine spirits portfolio. In both these roles, Catania mentored a large commercial sales team to drive growth metrics for Diageo’s portfolio, with an emphasis on education and trade advocacy.

Before joining Enthuse, Catania was Regional Sales Manager – Southern California for Casa Dragones Tequila and spent five years at Patron Spirits Company as Area Sales Manager – New York and Ultimat Vodka Brand Ambassador. Previous spirits experience includes roles at Beam Suntory and The ONE Group, owners of STK steakhouse and Kona Grill.

“As we expand nationally and globally, it was critical for us to find a spirits industry veteran who understood the luxury brand market and had deep distributor and retailer relationships to help capitalize on the potential of the Blue Run brand,” Montgomery said in a news release. “We are excited to bring Chelsea on board as our first global sales leader and look forward to leveraging her experience to meet our ambitious long-term sales goals. In addition, it is important that we continue to hire Blue Run team members who accurately reflect the diverse community that is embracing our whiskies, staying true to Blue Run’s founding mission and values.”   

“I am extremely excited to join the Blue Run team at this moment in the company’s very quick evolution from a pandemic startup to a company set to release six bourbons and rye whiskeys in 2023 alone,” said Catania. “My goal out of the gate is to work cooperatively with our existing distributor partners to get product on shelf and behind the bar to meet consumer demand, then expand the brand beyond our current 27 U.S. and two Canadian markets.

“At the same time, I will remain keenly focused on ecommerce both on our own platform and those of partner retailers, as our consumers, who help sell out Blue Run products in mere minutes online, are engaged with us when we introduce limited-availability whiskeys through digital commerce.”

Blue Run Spirits has introduced 13 bourbon and rye whiskey releases since the company launched in October 2020, selling 21,000 9-liter cases in 2022 – a 300% year-over-year increase. The company recently announced expanded distribution in New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Washington, Minnesota and Ontario. Blue Run plans to invest nearly $51 million in a 35,000-square-foot distillery and a 20,000-square-foot rickhouse in Georgetown, Kentucky, which will break ground in 2023.

Find Blue Run Spirits online at www.bluerunspirits.com.