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Our Team

Whisky.Auction has some of the finest bottles in our auctions each month as well as a dedicated team of some of the most knowledgeable people in the business.

Gemma de Jesus
Gemma de Jesus
Head of Whisky.Auction

A qualified engineer specialising in environmental engineering, Gemma combines her love for numbers and process with a passion for whisky, wine and spirits which originally stemmed from growing up around her family vineyard in Bierzo, Spain.

Having studied chemical engineering in Salamanca and Milan and worked in Paris, Gemma settled in London where she turned her hand to the world of fine wine and whisky. Following stints at Oddbins and Jeroboams, Gemma joined the team at famed drinks boutique Hedonism where she worked as logistics administrator. She joined Whisky.Auction in 2017, working on all aspects of the auction from listing and authentication to process management, before progressing to Head of Auction in December 2022.

Gemma is passionate about New World wine, especially from California, although her heart will always be in the vineyards of Spain. Her passion for whisky developed through a love of the smoky flavours of peated Scotch, while her cocktail of choice will always be a vodka martini, Grey Goose, dry with a twist.

Jeremy Lee
Jeremy Lee
Auction Manager

Jeremy has worked in the wines and spirits industry since a chance Christmas job in Harrods’ wine cellar in 1994 first fired his interest in rare bottles. Stints at Oddbins, Selfridges and Berry Brothers followed, along with international experience working for a variety of retailers and wineries in Australia and France. During seven years managing the wine and spirits shop at Harvey Nichols he further developed his interest in Scotch whisky - visiting no fewer than 19 distilleries in as many months - while walking most of Scotland's National Trails.

Scott Walker
Scott Walker
Head of Valuations

Scott grew up in Perthshire and has worked in the drinks industry since his student days. He studied both music and media management, in which he gained his MSC. Working for a number of independent wine and spirits specialists including Oddbins and an auction house in Glasgow he developed his interests and expertise in wines and spirits further. Scott continues to play the trumpet professionally in touring bands around the world, as well as on radio and television. A keen traveller, he has also completed two vintages as a cellar hand in France’s Northern Rhône. Scott joined the team in 2019.

Naina Rawat
Naina Rawat
Customer Service Administrator

Naina graduated in media communications before studying for an MSc in Marketing. Her passion for communication is what led her to pursue a career in customer service, leading her to join the Whisky.Auction team in 2023. Naina loves going for long walks in nature and keeping fit. In her spare time you can usually find her alone in a corner somewhere reading a book. Naina’s drink of choice is rum.

Peter Wilcockson
Peter Wilcockson
Assistant Valuer

Peter grew up in Wimbledon, London and studied sports science at university but he developed his great passion for whisky while he worked at Royal Mile Whiskies in London for five years. He particularly loves whiskies from Islay and Campbeltown, specifically Lagavulin, Ardbeg, Caol Ila and Springbank. He also likes Foursquare rum from Barbados. Peter joined Whisky.Auction in 2021 to develop his specialist interest in old, rare and vintage spirits. Peter enjoys playing Dungeons and Dragons and also loves working out regularly saying that ‘lifting heavy things and putting them down is my favourite pastime’.

Florin Cherar
Florin Cherar
Cataloguer

Florin Cherar was born and raised in North Eastern Romania, in the Bucovina region. In high school he studied social science, then, at the age of 19, he moved to the Czech Republic and began working not only in logistics and car part manufacturing. In the autumn of 2020 Florin moved to London to start his next new adventure. He wanted a fresh new start so he took on a job in the Speciality Drinks’ warehouse and this is where he was first introduced into the world of fine spirits. Florin’s talents were quickly spotted and he joined the Whisky.Auction team in 2021. When it comes to hobbies, Florin leads an active life and likes to spend his time at the gym or playing football. He enjoys escaping the city, wild camping and spending time in nature.

Momchil Zlatarov
Momchil Zlatarov
Cataloguer

Momchil graduated with a History of Art degree from the University of Birmingham and later an MA at Courtauld Institute of Art. His first foray into the auction world came during an internship at Sotheby’s in 2021, followed by a role with Christie’s in the Chairman’s office. This experience, combined with his love for whisky led to him joining the Whisky.Auction team in 2023. Outside of work, Momchil enjoys visiting art galleries, playing guitar and listening to music.

David Wojdal
David Wojdal
Cellar Coordinator

Born in the city of Lodz in central Poland David graduated from gastronomic technical college then came to the UK in 2019. His love of whisky and rum led to him joining the warehouse team at The Whisky Exchange where he worked for two years before becoming cellar coordinator for Whisky.Auction in September 2022. Outside of work, David is a super sociable TV and film buff, he enjoys keeping up with new releases and meeting with friends over a dram or two. He's also multilingual, speaking fluent Polish and English, with a little German for good measure.

Emily Webster
Emily Webster
Marketing & PR Manager

Emily graduated with a medieval and early modern history degree and embarked on a career in food and drink PR. She built on an interest in whisky, wine and spirits working with the Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC), Wines of Germany various drinks brands from Pinkster Pink Gin to Champagne Laurent Perrier. In her spare time Emily is gradually curating her own library of favourite drinks books, she spends a lot of time in excellent cocktail bars and enjoys a good history lecture or museum visit. She joined Whisky.Auction team in 2022 to combine her love of spirits and history in her dream job.

Sebastian Pietris
Sebastian Pietris
Product Photographer & Team Lead

Now a devotee of Islay whisky, Sebastian first fell in love with the world of alcoholic drinks when introduced to Palincă from Bihor county in his native Romania. Having studied Geography at university, he moved into logistics and began to work in the drinks industry when he moved to the UK. Sebastian now manages our showroom and is responsible for Whisky.Auction's photography.

Rita Burseviciute
Rita Burseviciute
Product Photographer

Rita began her career in drinks when she joined The Whisky Exchange warehouse team in 2011. Rita joined the Whisky.Auction photography team in 2020 and soon developed a passion for producing high quality images, with a big focus on the perfect bottle shots. She enjoys experimenting with images, using the available software to ensure she provides the most accurate bottle images every time. Rita is a huge coffee fan and always has her own supply of unusual brews to hand. Above all, she is a devoted mother to her daughter and they love going to the cinema together to see the latest releases.

Iwona Zych
Iwona Zych
Photographer

Originally from the south side of Poland, 100 km from Krakow, Iwona came to the UK in 2014. She worked as showroom assistant for The Whisky Exchange before joining the photography team in 2019. Now she assists with all the photography needs at Whisky.Auction. Her favourite part of her job is seeing the journey her photographs take, from setting up the shot and taking the photo, through the editing process right up to the pictures appearing on the website and social media.

Jana Holotnakova
Jana Holotnakova
Photographer

A graduate of the Technical University of Košice in Slovakia, Jana is a fan of fine wine and travelling, and is usually found with a camera in her hand, both in and out of work. She moved to London in 2007 to improve her English and began working at The Whisky Exchange as a warehouse assistant. Building on her knowledge of old and rare bottles, Jana came to work at Whisky.Auction in our showroom.

Jason Vaswani
Jason Vaswani
Consultant

Jason is the Head Buyer of Old & Rare Spirits for The Whisky Exchanges. He spends his time sourcing some of the rarest and most collectible spirits from all around the world. Jason developed his first passion for spirits, especially whisky, in 2016 and has since spent his time developing and sharing his enthusiasm and knowledge. He came to The Whisky Exchange after running a successful YouTube channel where he shared his love for great whisky and is the company’s go-to person for information about Old and Rare bottles.

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