Welcome to The Whiskey Lifestyle Q&A. This will be where we feature the people we feel best embody “the whiskey lifestyle.” Whether they be musicians or moguls, distillers or dealers (of art), these people all distilled by adventure and risk taking.
For example, our first subject is tattoo artist and bar owner Alex McWatt. He co-founded both Brooklyn’s Three Kings Tattoo and A Bar, so he knows how to turn his passion into profits—without losing perspective. We recently talked to Alex about tattooing, drinking and what it means to live this lifestyle.
The Whiskey Lifestyle: Why did you become a tattoo artist?
Alex McWatt: Like so many things in life, I don’t know if there is a specific why. Kind of more a bunch of different things pointing you in a direction and following them down a path to its conclusion.
TWL: What do you love most about tattooing?
AW: One of the many things that I love about tattooing is the personal connection that I get to have with my customers. Creating something that they will wear for their entire life is a special responsibility that I cherish.
TWL: Is there anything you won’t tattoo on someone?
AW: The only thing that will get a flat out no from me when someone asks is any symbol of hate. Outside of that everything is open for discussion.
TWL: What inspired Three Kings?
AW: The idea came about when two friends and I decided we wanted to open up our own shop. We wanted to have a place that was artistically at a high standard but still very approachable for everyone. I came up with the name one night while we were building out the original shop in Brooklyn. Kings County… there were three of us… it kind of just fell out of my mouth… Three Kings.
TWL: What advice would you give to your younger self?
AW: Be more organized. Fear nothing.
TWL: What was your first drink?
AW: I remember when I was a kid downing a glass of peppermint schnapps because I thought it smelled so good. I also remember half way through the glass thinking it didn’t taste nearly as good as it smelled.
TWL: What’s your favorite drink?
AW: I think I’d have to say an Old Fashioned. Class in a glass.
TWL: What’s your hangover cure?
AW: Everyone is going to hate hearing this but… I really don’t get hangovers.
TWL: What’s your favorite city to drink in?
AW: New York is always on my list of best cities regardless of the question. But I’d have to say that both Tokyo and Edinburgh are really really cool places to have a drink… or lots of them.
TWL: What is your favorite whiskey?
AW: I love Willet. Blanton’s is pretty damn nice. And almost always, if it’s an option when I’m out, I’ll order an Oban.
TWL: If you could drink whiskey with one celebrity, dead or alive, who would it be? And why?
AW: I think he is supposed to be more of a weed guy, I think drinking with Carl Sagan would be pretty amazing. I would love to have some in depth talks about the cosmos.
TWL: What were some of the different things that pushed you towards becoming a tattoo artist?
AW: One of the main things that really pushed me towards being a tattoo artist was constantly and competently having to create something new for the customer. Being able to connect with and deliver something to a person, in a fairly short time period, that will directly affect them in their lives. Sometimes, it could be a very small hidden tattoo that has such deep meaning to the person or it could be a huge piece that very much affects how people view you in your daily life.
TWL: Can you share a story about connecting with customer that has stayed with you?
AW: Man, there are really so many. I had an older gentleman come in to get his first tattoo — an owl with ”Tomorrow never comes” under it. As we were doing it, I came to find that he had only months before suffered a massive stroke. In his recovery, which included learning to talk and walk, he had decided to do all of the things that he kept telling himself he would “get to tomorrow.” He was such an inspiration to me that I’m trying to adopt a bit more of his “tomorrow never comes” attitude into my life.
TWL: Tell me a story about a night of drinking.
AW: So many of my favorite nights of drinking really revolve around the same thing. Usually a small divey kind of bar and a few good friends getting drunk [and] talking some shit, which often end up with me not remembering all the small details.
I have this one strange story from a night out in London. I was in London for a tattoo convention and a small but decent sized group of us went out one night. We went to this place that was a restaurant upstairs — which was closing for the night — but had a bar downstairs that stayed open later. So, we were having a good few drinks as we pretty much had the place to ourselves. At some point a woman appears — honestly it seemed like out of nowhere — dressed very Goth. She sits next to me and starts talking, almost whispering to me. At first, I was polite but it started to feel weird so I tried to ignore her. After a little bit, she stands up and yells at all of us, “I put a curse on you!” It shocked all of us. She kind of backed away and was gone. We almost immediately got up, went to the bartender and asked if he knew her or anything. He became weary, told us that she used to come here along time ago and that they were closing. We all went upstairs right away and out to the street. There wasn’t a single person on the street, seriously only a slight fog. We all decided to go back to one of our hotels and get tattoos to protect us from her hexing — also to drink some more. “Witches get stitches.” It was actually even creepier in reality.
TWL: What does The Whiskey Lifestyle mean to you?
AW: For me, it’s much like whiskey itself. There are so many different whiskeys, all of which are influenced by the elements that make them but ultimately they all are unique. To me, if you are living the whiskey lifestyle, you are doing the same thing — taking in different influences and living in a unique and way.
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