Raj Peter Bhakta is the founder of BHAKTA Spirits, a purpose-driven family of spirits brands formed around a mission to revive the campus of Vermont’s Green Mountain College, which he purchased in 2020. Widely considered to be the progenitor of the luxury rye whiskey category, he is also the founder of Whistlepig Whiskey.
After exiting Whistlepig in 2019, Bhakta embarked on a sabbatical in search of new discoveries in the world of spirits. A twist of fate brought him to Condom, France, where he unearthed—and acquired—a miraculous cellar of ancient Armagnac brandy dating back to 1868, which BHAKTA Spirits now releases as single vintages and as BHAKTA 50, a blend bearing a minimum age statement of fifty years.
A first generation American and son of immigrants, Bhakta attended the Hill School in Pottstown, PA, before graduating Boston College. Formerly an investment banker, U.S. Congressional candidate, and contestant on The Apprentice, he lives in Poultney, Vermont, and Vero Beach, Florida.
