IRENE TAN is the owner of Canterbury Liquors and Whiskey Mentors. While simultaneously maintaining a software development consultancy for 40 years, she co-owned her first liquor store before purchasing Canterbury Liquors in 2019. Purchasing over 160 barrels of whiskey, rum and gin in the last five years, she’s built her reputation as the Single Barrel Queen. Canterbury Liquors is the destination for whiskey enthusiasts and aficionados. In fact, it has made it on the Connecticut Tourist map as a top destination in the Quiet Corner.
Before retiring from her software career in 2025, she started making whiskey blends for a number of craft distilleries.
Projects for her store include Locke and Co Rye blend Landmark Series, Whistle Pig 15 yr Cask Strength blend, Flambeaux Wheat Whiskey blend with Lone Elm, Taconic Distillery maple finished bourbon blend, Litchfield Distillery Single Malt blend, barrel aged gins from Boston Harbor Distillery and Berkshire mountain.
Her commercially available projects include The Kings Code Series for Kings County Distillery, the Magnificent Beasts and Alliance Series for Crowded Barrel Whiskey Company, the World Whiskey Award Gold Medalist Cigar Malt Series with Andalusia Whiskey Company and a sold out twenty barrel blend of Uncut Unfiltered bourbon for Watershed Distillery.
Projects to be released soon include a 250th Anniversary Bourbon made from red, white and blue corn with Wood Hat Spirits, a gin and the second edition of Cigar Malt with Andalusia Whiskey Company, Expedition Series limited release bourbon with Maverick Distilling Company, a German Single Malt with Märkische Spezialitätenbrennerei KG, an Irish blend with Clonakilty Distillery and a Custom Spirits project (including bourbon, gin, American Single Malt) with Boston Harbor Distillery.
Besides the World Whiskey Awards, her work has also won gold and silver at San Francisco Spirits Competition and American Distilling Institute Spirits Competition. She’s also a judge at the ADI Spirits competition.
Irene has an insatiable hunger for learning and sharing her knowledge. Moderation is a word that seems to escape her mental vocabulary. Those who know her well know that she’s always 150% invested when she starts something that interests her. This has led to become a level 4 Whiskey Sommelier ( 1 of 22 in the world) , an Executive Bourbon Steward, Certification in WSET Level 2 Wine and Spirits, a Certified Specialist Spirits with the Society of Wine Educators, Edinburgh Whiskey Academy Diplomas in Single Malt Whisky and Art of Tasting Whisky, Certified Sherry Wine Specialist, a certified Whisky Ambassador and an instructor at the Whiskey Marketing School.
With all of these wonderful whiskies and other spirits she has created, there are many empty barrels and casks available for other projects. In the spirit of conservation, she has reused several of these barrels in her projects to maximize the use of the wood and honor the trees that made it possible to begin with.
Her penchant for limited edition whiskies for charitable work started at least a dozen years ago with her first store. Recipients of this work include the Roger Williams Zoo, Friends of Assisi Food Pantry, Canterbury Volunteer Fire Department, Canterbury Public Library, Helen Baldwin Middle School, Compassion for Cats, Kitty Harbor, Playhouse on Park and One Summit in Boston.
Her hobbies (outside of her retirement hobbies) include reading, cycling, kayaking, pickleball, basketball, building garden rugs, outdoor cooking, sharing food and drink with family and friends and hanging out with her cat, Chauncey.
Where to find my products
Crowded Barrel Whiskey Company, Austin, TX
Magnificent Beasts Series
Cerberus (Delbac Distillery and Virginia Distilling Company)
Orthrus (Delbac Distillery and Virginia Distilling Company, Silver Medal ADI Spirits Competition 2025)
Lakeenta (Old Elk Distillery)
Devils River/Maverick blend (tbd Spring 2026)
Alliance Series
Maverick Distilling Alliance Series
ISCO (to be released 2026)
Kings County Distillery, Brooklyn, NY
Kings Code 1 Riona (Gold Medal San Francisco Spirits Competition 2024, Silver Medal ADI Spirits Competition 2024, sold out)
Kings Code 2 Touch of Bessie (Bronze Medal IWSC 2024, Silver Medal ADI Spirits Competition 2025))
Kings Code 3 Tan’s Fury ( released Spring 2025)
Also available online at Kings County Distillery website and at Canterbury Liquors, Canterbury CT and other fine whiskies stores and bars in CT, RI and MA
Locke and Co Distilling, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Locke and Co Landmark Series 1 Pikes Peak (Silver Medal ADI Spirits Competition 2024)
Also available at Canterbury Liquors in fall 2026, sold out at the distillery
Boston Harbor Distillery, Boston, MA
Lawleys Barrel Aged Gin (Silver Medal ADI Spirits Competition 2024)
Available in person at the distillery and also at Canterbury Liquors.
Five Points Distilling, Forney, TX
Lone Elm Wheat Whiskey Flambeaux 151 Blend – Pre-sold out at the distillery two weeks before launch.
Watershed Distillery, Columbus, OH
Watershed Uncut Unfiltered Bourbon (released Spring 2025, sold out, Silver Medal ADI Spirits Competition 2025)
Andalusia Whiskey Company, Blanco, TX
Cigar Malt (released Spring 2025, World whiskey Award 2025 Gold Category Winner, Gold Small Batch 12 yrs and under)
Available in person at the distillery and also at Canterbury Liquors.
Maverick Distilling, San Antonio, TX
Expedition Series (to be released mid April 2026)
Wood Hat Spirits, New Florence, MO
250th Anniversary Blend (to be released June 2026)