Paul Tuell

Founder/President

Accomplished Marketing and Sales leader with a 30-year record of success in growing brand equity, volume, and profits with companies including Brown-Forman and Papa John’s International. Extensive experience and success in senior sales and marketing leadership positions, distributor management, national account management, consulting, and senior strategy & staff positions.

Paul has enjoyed a varied career in his 30 years in the beverage and culinary industries, which are comprised of 22 years with Brown-Forman, several years with Papa John’s International, and 7 years at the helm of Saloon Spirits.

In 2015, Tuell founded Louisville-based Saloon Spirits, which gave life to Ballotin Chocolate Whiskey in November 2015. Working with Flavorman, a renowned Louisville firm credited with creating thousands of consumer beverages, Tuell developed the approachable, yet vibrantly flavored line of versatile whiskey-based beverages accented with familiar chocolate expressions. Ballotin Chocolate Whiskey first hit retail shelves in Kentucky and South Carolina in November of 2015 and has since expanded to distribution in over 30 states.

His broad experience includes positions in field sales, national account management, business consulting, human resources, partnership marketing, and brand leadership. Most significantly, before founding Saloon Spirits, Paul served for five years in global brand leadership roles on the Southern Comfort and Finlandia Vodka brands with Brown-Forman, where he worked successfully at the executive level and as business partner to global business leaders, and several years as VP, Marketing Director, for Papa John’s for the US and Latin American markets.