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WhistlePig Whiskey has found a new CEO in Charles Gibb, a nearly 40-year veteran of the spirits industry, as the brand explores new avenues for growth ahead. The Shoreham, Vermont-based distillery exclusively shared the news with Fast Company, nearly four months after announcing that its previous CEO had stepped down. WhistlePig made a splash in the spirits scene by debuting its first rye whiskey in the 2010shelping to reintroduce drinkers to this once-popular style of whiskey. The company quickly started racking up fans and one award after another, even landing coveted closeups on TV shows like Breaking Bad that werent arranged as product placements. Fast-forward to today, and WhistlePig spirits are sold in more than 140,000 bars, restaurants, hotels, and retail locations around the world and the brand commands a 34% market share of the ultra-premium rye whiskey category, according to 2024 figures from IWSR shared by WhistlePig. But for a period, many headlines about WhistlePig had less to do with its drinks and more to do with the drama unfolding behind its distillery doors. Founder Raj Bhakta was forced out in 2016, resulting in a messy legal dispute that saw him ultimately sell his stake and fully exit WhistlePig in 2019. Jeff Kozak, who became CEO in 2017, left in January to pursue other opportunities. Former master distiller Dave Pickerell, who helped shape WhistlePigs early days, died unexpectedly in 2018. Now, Gibb joins as the company seeks to become a total American whiskey business and expand beyond its rye roots. Gibb most recently led Fever-Trees North American division until earlier this year, when Molson Coors acquired a stake in the mixers business. He also spent several years as president and CEO at Belvedere Vodka and in various roles at Moët Hennessy and Diageo. While there are fun things about moving into whiskeythe Scotsman has a newfound appreciation for the American spelling of the spirit, for exampleGibb says hes really excited to come to WhistlePig when the industrys in a state of flux. And, he says, he wants to make the brand truly famous. Recent years have seen WhistlePig evolve in various ways, something Gibb intends to build upon. The brand sold minority-stake investments to LVMH and an investment firm run by Byron D. Trott, exclusively partnered with Southern Glazers as its national distributor, expanded into single malt and bourbon, hired a woman as chief blender, and later this year, will open a tasting room in downtown Louisville. Gibb sat down with Fast Company to talk about whats next for WhistlePig. (The transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and length.) Charles Gibb [Photo: WhistlePig Whiskey] What are some of your goals for the first few months in your new roledo you have a checklist of things that you’d like to accomplish? This is a beautiful brand. It’s still in a position that fits all the things that I love about a great brandits dynamic, it’s entrepreneurial, it’s very innovative, it plays in the high-end and luxury space, and I think the danger is that you can come in and [say], “Lets make lots of changes.” The most important thing for me in the first three to four months is learn, learn, learn. Really getting myself up to speedI think that’s the biggest thing, and ensuring that we don’t lose the momentum. The business has had great momentum over the years. It’s got some solid momentum now despite the challenges in the industry, which are well-documented. But we’re in a good place to address some major opportunities. What was so compelling about coming to WhistlePig, and especially right now? Loads of things. Number one, I love the premium-branded spirit space. Every time I mentioned the brand to people, people have got this love for the brand. They’ve got a real respect for it. So it’s loved and it’s respectedI think those are two different things. It’s really well respected for the quality of the liquid; it’s really well respected for the innovation. It’s admired and respected for the way in which they revolutionized the rye whiskey category in North America. And those things are really important to me. I suppose, as a Scotsman who likes to disrupt things, it was quite fun, the idea of working on an American whiskey business. I love this aspect of the brand, as well, this whole idea of zero generations of tradition. I think that allows you to innovate, it allows you to change the rules of the game. What will define this next era of WhistlePig? We were famous initially for our rye whiskeys, and I think we’re looking now to explore and expand further. We’ve launched recently the 10-year-old bourbon and so I think there’s an opportunity to become a total American whiskey business. I think the other big opportunity, it’s really in and around this beautiful, iconic brandand how do we make it truly famous in the U.S and international markets? But let’s be famous at home first. We’re loved, but we’re not yet famouswell, were famous in certain circles, but not more broadly famous, as yet. How do you approach leading an alcoholic beverages company at a time when people are drinking less alcohol? It’s certainly an interesting time to be in the industry. There’s still this whole idea of drinking less, but better. It’s still really fundamental in the consumers minds: I may be going to drink less, but every time I have a drink, I’m going to make sure I’m drinking the best, and I’m going to enjoy it. I’m really excited to be able to come into a brand in an industry in a state of flux and actually finding our niche, finding our spot and being able to push that really hard. These times engender greater levels of creativity and as a small brand with zero generations of tradition, I think it enables us to be more fast moving, flexible, and dothings that are innovative and differentiated. Do you see any challenges of leading a whiskey company versus a vodka company? A lot more age on the product, that’s for sure. It’s funny because we all play in the same industry, and we all play with similar consumers. You’re talking to the same consumer on a different occasion, and I can see a Belvedere martini drinker being a WhistlePig drinker and it depends on the occasion, depends on the people that theyre with, time of year, time of day, and different things. There have been some big changes at WhistlePig in recent years. In the wake of some of these changes, how will you approach leading the company? The first and the most important thing is the brand and the business have done very, very well. So I’m about celebrating the people who started itthe founderscelebrating the achievements. And now, how do we grow from here? I think that’s the most important thing. What’s great is there’s a great team of people assembled, they’ve got phenomenal knowledge of the brand and the business, as I’ve seen in the first week onboard, they’re extraordinarily passionate, and they’ve delivered some amazing new products, innovations, growth, etcetera. My job at the moment is very much to learn from them and then well sit down collectively, as a leadership team and then as a broader company, and take all of that to the next level.
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Need help sparking conversation on Hinge? Esther Perel has some questions for you. The renowned psychotherapist and relationship expert is celebrated for opening up vibrant, vulnerable conversations between couples. Now, shes helping Hinge bring that same energy to new matches. Users can answer Hinges My World promptsa collection of 10 recently added questions designed to help daters share more of themselves on their profiles. [The prompts] are intended to help someone reading them have a bit more imagination about how your world and their world might connect, says Jackie Jantos, Hinges president and chief marketing officer. Esther contributed what she knows about getting into deeper, more intimate conversation. How Esther Perel is fueling Hinge connections Hinges “My World prompts encourage daters to open up about their lives and relationships. They touch on friendships (In my friend group, Im the one who . . .), family (An award my family would give me . . .), and even petsone prompt asks what your pet might think of you. That sense of play is central to Perels philosophy, which deepens connection through storytelling. Hinge spent a number of years in conversation with Perel, Jantos says. Prompts were the right area to collaborate, as they are where users are already sharing personal insights. Esther is a deep practitioner in the relationship space with decades of experience, and we also have a deep learning and insight around how people engage in relationships, Jantos says. It was a nice opportunity to finally do something together. The new prompts wont feature Perels name or any special branding. Theyre meant to blend in seamlessly with Hinges existing prompts and will replace 10 underperforming ones. (Jantos isnt concerned about losing those; Hinges data showed they were the least likely to spark conversation.) The My World prompts are expected to remain on the app indefinitely. Who likes prompts, anyways? These new prompts reinforce Hinges focus on written conversation. Unlike Tinder and Bumble, where writing is optional, Hinge requires users to answer three prompts in full. That built-in friction is intentional. Our onboarding experience is long, it takes a while, but that is by design, Jantos says. We are asking people to put in a level of effort, because the community on Hinge is intended to be high-intention daters. Jantos frequently refers to the idea of romantic momentum. One good conversation can spark another, which can eventually lead to meeting in person. Prompts help ensure those conversations arent dull. The numbers back that up: In 2024, likes on prompt responses were 47% more likely to lead to a date than likes on photos. Dry messaging is a common pain point on dating apps, particularly for Gen Zers, who often report fatigue with online dating. Some apps, including Tinderalso owned by Match Grouphave seen user declines among younger generations. Match Groups new CEO Spencer Rascoff addressed the shift, saying Gen Z is different: Its not a hookup generation. They dont drink as much alcohol, they dont have as much sex. Match Group’s year-over-year revenue was down 3% in Q1 of 2025, Rascoff’s first full quarter. Despite this generational shift, Hinge has grown with Gen Z, which now makes up 56% of its user base. Jantos highlights the companys work to meet Gen Zers’ needsfrom pandemic-era social setbacks to evolving views on gender and relationships. Strong prompts are part of that mission. Hinge was initially designed for a millennial audience, and weve had to continually iterate to bring the app closer to Gen Zs mentality, Jantos says. Gen Z is looking for intentioned relationships. I do think they need some support in product experiences that are guiding them toward that.
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Welcome to Pressing Questions, Fast Companys workplace advice column. Every week, deputy editor Kathleen Davis, host of The New Way We Work podcast, will answer your biggest and most pressing workplace questions. How can I delegate more?Warning: Clichés abound with my answer to this problem. You may feel that if you want something done right you have to do it yourself, or that passing your work off to someone else means that it wont be done to the same standard. Or you might feel threatened that if someone else does a good job at your work you will be seen as expendable. Or maybe you’re worried that teaching someone how to do some of your work will be more time-consuming than just doing it yourself.But another cliché is true too: If you teach someone to fish, they eat for a lifetime. Delegating tasks may have more upfront time costs than doing it yourself, but once that person learns the skills and takes over the task, not only is it off of your to-do list forever, but they now have gained a valuable skill.If you delegate the right tasks, you can also help in your own career growth. Heres where another cliche comes in: Time is money. As Fast Company contributor Elizabeth Grace Saunders pointed out in a recent article, If your time is worth about $60 an hour and a task takes five hours, thats $300 of time. But if youre paying an entry-level employee $15 per hour, that same task ends up only costing $75. For you to do the task might not make sense. But its not just that creating a PowerPoint costs you $300; its what other things you can be doing with those five hoursor as Saunders puts it, the opportunity cost of spending your time in different ways. With those five hours freed up you could focus on the types of projects that are more likely to get you promoted, for example.Okay, so now that Ive convinced you why you need to delegate, heres how to go about it: Write it down clearly The worst way to delegate is to just throw a bunch of information at someone and hope for the best. Your best first step when handing over a task is to make a written guide. The clearer and more step-by-step, the better. Include screenshots or record a video if relevant. Yes, its more up-front work for you, but then if the person you are delegating the task to doesnt remember something you told them, they have a reference. And if that person ends up leaving, you have a guide to pass on to the next person. Walk them through the task and ask them to repeat it back to you Putting together a written guide is your first step. The next is walking them through the task. Share your screen if you’re in a virtual meeting or sit next to them and complete the task together. Watching you build the presentation, for example, will help form the memory of how to do it. Make sure to stop for questions along the way. And, after you walk them through the task, its a good idea to have them repeat back the most important points to make sure that information sticks. This might feel condescending at first blush but its a common practice in lots of critical jobs. An air traffic controller gives a pilot instructions, and the pilot has to repeat it back to ensure they got it correctly, says Dana Brownlee, author of The Unwritten Rules of Managing Up. You can use the same thing in the workplace. To avoid appearing untrusting, you can say something like, I know I threw a lot at you, and this has a lot of moving parts. To ensure I didnt confuse you, would you mind repeating the information about the slides and the day they’re due? Check back in, then step back Finally, once youve given them the written guide and walked them through how to do it, check back in around the time its due to make sure everything is going smoothly. You dont have to go full-on micromanager and look over their shoulder. Just a simple, Hey, wanted to see if everything is going okay with the PowerPoint and my instructions were clear. This can be helpful if they hit a snag but were too embarrassed to speak up. Then, after they successfully complete the task, you can let them own it and reclaim you freed-up time! Want more advice on delegating? Here you go: How to master the art of task delegation These are the 5 mistakes you make when you delegate 3 ways to delegate without forfeiting your power Having trouble delegating? These 3 questions can help How to delegate when youre a die-hard perfectionist 4 questions to ask to decide if you should delegate or do it yourself Why delegating tasks is so hardand how to get better at it
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