Booze and community work have a surprisingly compatible history. For examples, the Bon Vivants’ Pig & Punch or Jameson’s collaboration with The Movember Foundation. So it makes sense that Old Pulteney Whisky teamed up with US Sailing for the 2015 Maritime Heroes Award. The reward? A $5,000 grant for the winner to carry on their maritime-related community improvement activities. Why Old Pulteney? The distillery, located in the seaside town of Wick in the north of Scotland, has a rich maritime history. Old Pulteney Navigator is a 3,000 bottle release of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry cask aged whisky meant to honor the sailing community (and toast the 2013-14 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race).

The recipient was somewhat of an unlikely candidate. The winner of the award was not only someone who was far from an expert in marine life, but a person who hailed from landlocked Marion, South Carolina. US educator Nathan Indergaard was honored on February 5th at the 2016 Sailing Leadership Forum for his stunning accomplishments in education.

It all began when Mr. Indergaard took a class as part of the Reach Initiative, the US Sailing’s program designed to use sailing to broadly educate on other subjects, such as math and science. After having been a teacher for ten years, Mr. Indergaard was working as a computer tech in his district when he discovered the Reach program. He had a hunch that using sailing to teach kids about various school subjects would pique their interest more than your average class.

“I’ve seen a lot of teaching styles, so I know what works and what doesn’t,” Mr. Indergaard explained to me. “When I was a kid, I didn’t learn like everyone else. The teacher would show one way to get the answer, and I would find a different way to get the same answer. The teacher would make me find the answer in that specific way, and I didn’t like that. Who’s to say what’s right and what’s wrong? So that’s what drove me to this.”

Soon, Mr. Indergaard was teaching forty 6th graders at Creek Bridge Middle High School about anything sailing related from buoyancy and marine plankton. The program took place for half the school year, but it gained so much steam that by the next year, the number of students participating in the program more than tripled. Mr. Indergaard began teaching 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, and the program went from a half-year program to a full year program.

With the $5,000 grant, he hopes to teach even more kids in the district as well as acquire new helpful teaching materials.

“This could be life changing for the kids in the community. We have a high poverty rate, and most of these kids have never been on a sailboat or even gone to the beach, even though we live about an hour away.”

At the end of last academic year, the kids got to go sailing on the Charleston Harbor with the College of Charleston Sailing Team. “It was magical,” Mr. Indergaard says. “That’s what made it all kind of click. If everyone could see the faces on the kids, they’d understand.”

Other cool perks about Mr. Indergaard’s class? The kids got to tour Beneteau Boat Plant and they have a land yacht in their school parking lot!

As for Mr. Indergaard, we’re sure he had a dram or two of Old Pulteney Navigator at the awards. Much like his teaching style, when it comes to selecting booze, he likes to try new things. “I like to explore wherever I’m at. It keeps things interesting.”

Cheers to that!

Old Pulteney Navigator retails for approximately $45. At 92 proof, the nose is full of honey and toasted grain. It sips mildly with a medium smoke. Bronze medal, 2015 NY International Spirits Competition.