Spirits and cheese is the most underrated pairing in food and beverage — and the rarest experience to find done well. Most tasting hosts can pour the spirits or curate the cheese; almost no one does both. All Spirits Events designs spirits and cheese pairing experiences across New York City and the United States, led by founder Adam Levy — the only host in the country who is simultaneously the editorial voice behind The Alcohol Professor and The Cheese Professor.
From a 12-person bourbon-and-cheese pairing dinner at your home, to a fifty-plus-guest scotch-and-cheese station experience to a 300+ charity event with multiple spirits and cheese tasting tables, every pairing is built around the room and the story you want guests to leave with.
Led by the Alcohol Professor AND the Cheese Professor
Adam Levy is the founder of The Alcohol Professor and The Cheese Professor — editorial properties exploring both crafts with equal depth — and the New York International Spirits Competition, one of the most respected trade-judged spirits competitions in the world. That dual credential is the point: your guests get the same level of context on the cheese as on the spirit in the glass.
Why spirits and cheese — and what we actually pair
Wine and cheese is comfortable. Spirits and cheese is a discovery — the salt and fat in cheese round the heat of high-proof spirits, and aged cheese mirrors the funk and depth in single malt or mezcal. Done with intention, it lands harder than wine on the palate. A few pairings we have built for past clients:
- Islay single malt + aged Cheddar — peat and brine meeting a sharp, crystalline three-year cheddar.
- Bourbon + washed-rind creamy cheese — sweet caramel notes against the pungent funk of Époisses or Taleggio.
- Mezcal + aged sheep’s milk — smoky agave with the nutty depth of Pecorino or Manchego.
- Añejo tequila + Spanish Mahón — caramelized agave alongside a buttery, salty cured cheese.
We design the order, storytelling, and a recipe-card takeaway guests can use at home.
Formats — how it fits into your event
- Standalone tasting — a 60- to 90-minute hosted pairing for 5 to 50+ guests.
- Dinner course — a pairing module woven into a multi-course menu, coordinated with your caterer or chef partner.
- Gala or cocktail-hour station — a curated pairing station guests drift through; works beautifully at fundraisers and brand activations.
We curate the cheese — and the spirits
We are brand-neutral and do not sell spirits, so each pairing is curated around what works on the palate. Cheeses come from artisan producers and cheesemongers built through The Cheese Professor; spirits come from distillers, importers, and medal winners from the New York International Spirits Competition. If your venue already has strong inventory, we can curate from what is on the shelf.
Group sizes and where we host
We host pairings as small as 5 guests — intimate dinners and executive experiences — and as large as 50 or more for corporate, gala, and brand-activation settings. In New York we host across the Metro area; nationally we travel for events in any major U.S. city.
How it works
Tell us your date, headcount, city, budget, and the kind of experience you’re after. Within one business day we come back with a curated pairing flight, a format proposal, and a quote. From there, one short call locks the details — and we handle the rest.
Ready to plan your spirits and cheese pairing?
Contact us and let the Alcohol Professor and the Cheese Professor design a pairing experience your guests have never had before — and will not forget.