Mark Hickey
National Education / Ambassadorial Program Manager
Mark Hickey has been in the Alcohol industry for over 27 Years, with a family of Irish descent coming from Galway.
Over his 27 years in the industry Mark has worked as Bar manager, venue manager & General Manager before switching to the sales industry firstly under Suntory where he was both sales & state ambassador for 10yrs, currently Mark is the National Education & Program manager for Spirits Academy within Spirits Platform.
Mark has always immersed himself within the industry & pushed himself to learn more for educational purposes, he has self -funded trips to Scotland, Ireland, Jamaica, Cuba, Barbados & Cognac just to name some locations.
These trips have led Mark to write some of the most detailed, thought-provoking brand scripts that lead to him winning 2018/19 Icons of Whisky Scotch whisky ambassador of the year & represented Australia in the World Ambassador finals in London in which Mark was shortlisted in the final 4 Ambassadors of the World for the Scotch Whisky Category.
At the Icons of whisky 2019/20 Mark again took out an award-winning World Whisky Ambassador of the year & has been nominated for many more Brand Ambassador awards.
Marks passion for fine spirits includes Rum, Whisky, Gin & Cognac. Mark’s goals are simply to understand each category in greater detail, to therefore output a clear understanding of the methods, history & story of the people behind such amazing brands & distilleries. He has always believed in firsthand education with region interaction through sight, sound, touch & of course taste.
Currently Mark is working with the Edinburgh Whisky academy & has completed certificates in distillation, nosing & aroma understanding, Irish Whiskey & has now completed his diploma in single malt Whisky. It is this passion that drives Mark to keep learning & educating within the hospitality industry, furthering himself & those around him to become an even better mentor for all industry levels.