Meet the Educator: Sean Ou

Having spent 11 years as a Sommelier & Trainer with Singapore Airlines, Sean Ou longed to become a Master of Wine which led him down the path of achieving the elusive WSET Level 4 Diploma. With further professional experience as a Master Sake Sommelier / International Kikisake-shi, Southeast Asia’s Johnnie Walker Whisky Advocate and Head of Wine for Southeast Asia under the SARMENT Group, Sean currently works as Head of Education for The Beverage Clique.

Based in Singapore, we’re delighted to welcome Sean onboard as an Approved Course Provider. We caught up with him to learn more about what brought him to the role, what makes him tick and what his world of whisky looks like, quickfire style.

When I was a Sommelier, I was dealing with more wines than spirits. It wasn’t until I joined the National Sommelier Competition that I was truly humbled by the need to be sufficiently good at both wine and spirits. Since then, I’ve made a point to up the strength of my spirits game and have not looked back since.

Through teaching, I’ve met many people from all walks of life and forged friendships along the way. I found my calling when I saw the need to save others from the same steep learning curve I endured, and I truly enjoy sharing knowledge.

What’s exciting about the Edinburgh Whisky Academy courses is that the content is in-depth yet still easy to understand. Having gone through the EWA courses myself, I can tell the content bears quality and the delivery of the courses is very well structured.

Being too opinionated will limit your learning and sight. If you’re really wanting to learn more about whisky or get into the whisky industry, my advice would be to keep an open mind!