California Liquor ExpertSpirits Consulting & Valuation
Spirits consulting · Nationwide

Operator-level spirits expertise, on your side of the table.

We help spirits brands launch and relaunch into the market, help bars and restaurants build lists that sell, and help retailers open with the right assortment. When inventory is the question in a claim or a dispute, we provide the independent valuation.

Book a consultSee consulting services
Spirits brands & importersBars & restaurantsLiquor retailersInsurers & attorneys
Track recordConsulting
Brand launchesNew and rebranded spirits placed in California, New York, Texas and Florida
80+
Opening lists builtRetail shelves and on-premise wine & spirits programs
25+
SKUs bought, priced and soldEvery category, from everyday to allocated
15,000+
Live
distributor cost and product data
behind every recommendation
80+spirits brands launched
25+store and restaurant opening lists
15,000+SKUs bought, priced and sold
15+years in wine & spirits

"For fifteen years I was the buyer every rep wanted to see. I know what makes a brand get reordered, what makes a list work, and what a bottle is really worth when it is gone. That is the knowledge I sell now."

Jessie Nesan · California Liquor Expert
Consulting

Advice from people who have actually moved the product.

Most beverage consulting comes from the supplier side. We come from the counter and the buying desk, with fifteen years of deciding what gets carried, what it costs and what it sells for.

01

For spirits brands

Launch a new product or relaunch a rebranded one. Route to market, distributor strategy, pricing from FOB to shelf, and the retail and on-premise sell-through that makes a launch stick.

Brand launch consulting
02

For bars & restaurants

Curated wine and spirits lists, cocktail programs, brand selection and suggested selling prices built around your concept and your margin.

Beverage program consulting
03

For retailers

Opening offering lists, assortment and category strategy, allocated product programs, pricing and buying, and the inventory discipline that protects margin.

Retail consulting
Our data advantage

We work from live distributor cost, not estimates.

Every recommendation and every valuation is grounded in current distributor price books, allocation availability, product specifications and real retail and market pricing across more than 15,000 SKUs we have bought, priced and sold.

Live distributor costCurrent wholesale pricing, deals and post-offs from the distributors that actually supply the market.
Allocation availabilityWhat is allocated, how it is released and what a retailer can realistically obtain.
Product specificationsSizes, case packs, proofs, vintages and releases, so identification is exact.
Retail & market pricingVerified shelf prices and market data for allocated and collectible product.
Proven on our own floor

Before we advised anyone, we did it ourselves.

The businesses below are our own operations. The results are the reason brands, operators and insurers started calling.

Retail

Main Street Liquor

Revamped sales and partnerships for our own San Diego retail operation and grew sales fifteen-fold, with no added marketing spend.

15× sales growth
E-commerce

BuyMyLiquor.com

Built the e-commerce business from zero on an extensive spirits inventory, reaching customers far beyond the storefront.

Built from zero
On-premise

Major restaurant groups

Opening wine, spirits and cocktail programs for new locations of major restaurant brands. Names withheld under NDA.

Under NDA
Insurance & legal

When an inventory is the claim, the number has to be right. In both directions.

Undervalued. A liquor store loses its stock to fire, water or theft. The generalist appraiser prices it from invoices, and the handful of allocated and collectible bottles that carry a disproportionate share of the value get booked at cost. We have seen limited-release whiskey carried at a few hundred dollars on the invoice when replacing it would cost more than ten times that, and in some cases more than fifty times. Across a full inventory, that gap runs to six figures.

Overvalued. It cuts the other way too. In one claim, the claimant valued a single bottle at $30,000. We confirmed it was available from the distributor and could be reordered and replaced for $7,000, with availability documented on the date of the report.

We provide independent, SKU-level valuation for carriers, adjusters and counsel, grounded in live distributor cost, confirmed availability and verified market pricing, written for the reader who has to rely on it, and defended through appraisal panels, deposition and trial.

Insurance valuationExpert witness
Generalist appraisalInvoice costOne line on a spreadsheet, product never identified
Actual replacement value10× to 50×On allocated and collectible lines, in real claims
Claimant's figure$30,000Single bottle, asserted value
Confirmed distributor replacement$7,000Reorderable, availability confirmed
How we work

Every engagement starts the same way.

Consult

A confidential conversation about the brand, the venue, the store or the claim. We tell you plainly whether and how we can help.

Scope

A defined engagement: a launch plan, an opening list, a pricing review, a valuation report. Deliverables and timeline agreed up front.

Deliver

Work grounded in live distributor cost, product data and fifteen years of buying and selling, written so you can act on it.

Stay available

Follow-up calls as decisions come up, or an ongoing advisory relationship if you want one.

Tell us what you are building, or what you need valued.

Consultations are confidential and scoped to the matter. No pricing tables, no obligation.

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