John Hayes is the Head Distiller at Cotton & Reed, a rum distillery in Washington, DC. Under his direction, Cotton & Reed has been the recipient of two gold medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition for their white and gold rums, as well as a silver medal for their dark rum.

John received his B.S. in Chemistry from UNG in 2013 and his M.S. in Chemistry from Vanderbilt University in 2016. After completing his graduate work, he began working for the regulatory division of the Tennessee Department of Agriculture where he served as the lead analytical chemist in a multi-state pesticide contamination investigation. John was recognized for his leadership and analytical competency and he was soon promoted into program management where he served as the administrator over the State’s fuel quality program. He elevated the status quo for fuel quality inspections by implementing a quality management system which ensured consistency and reliability across the state. This led to his selection by the Commissioner of Agriculture to participate in the highly selective LEAD TN Government Leadership program.

Throughout graduate school and his time in public service, John developed an interest in distilling and distillery operations. He started distilling part-time at Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery in 2017 and quickly realized that manufacturing spirits was his perfect fit. The time constraints of maintaining a secondary job caused him to leave that role after six months but, when he and his wife decided to relocate to Washington, DC, he purposed to return to the spirits industry.

John has been distilling at Cotton & Reed since 2019. His chemistry background enabled his company to safely pivot into the production of over 7,000 gallons of hand sanitizer throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. He was promoted to Head Distiller in mid 2021 in recognition of his commitment to quality and continuous improvement which earned the company their first gold medals. John recently completed his General Certificate in Distilling through the Institute of Brewing & Distilling in London and hopes to continue his studies to become a certified Master Distiller.

John’s wife, Kate, graduated from UNG in 2013 with a B.S. in Physics. She holds an M.S. from Vanderbilt in Electrical Engineering and is currently a technical research scientist in a university research laboratory. John and Kate met through the UNG Honors Program. They live in Northern Virginia with their dog and two cats.