Dustin Parres, corporate bar manager for Gamlin Restaurant Group, is a busy man. He started out as a barback at 16,began bartending at 21 and has spent the past decade building up a clientele and a reputation known throughout St.Louis while manages just shy of 100 employees at the bustling Sub Zero Vodka Bar (home of the nation’s largest vodkaselection) and Gamlin Whiskey House.

Parres is passionate about well-crafted cocktails and creating an experience for guests that’s both unique and inviting.He works closely with the restaurants’ owners to select the spirits served at each location — which include more than700 vodkas and more than 250 whiskeys — and uses his expertise to create extensive cocktail lists that introduce guestsat both restaurants to intriguing new flavors and re-imagined old favorites. Parres has led spirit tastings in farawayplaces such has London and L.A., has be intimately involved in the development of a new St. Louis-based whiskey andis a founding member of the Missouri Whiskey Society, leading the more than 500 members each month in tastings andother educational experiences.