Retired Marine Major Eric Dominijanni only wanted to blend his own scotch, but he ended up founding the only U.S. veteran and Black-owned scotch brand in the world.
Dominijanni debuted Fior Scotch last year, but it all started when he was visiting some Marine Corps pals in California after he had returned from Iraq in 2014. “We were out at this bar in Huntington Beach, and this guy buys me a shot to thank me for my service, and it was just awful,” Dominijanni says. “It might have been Malort. I just couldn’t get the taste out of my mouth so we finally went to this other bar that specialized in scotch.”
At this point, Dominijanni knew absolutely nothing about scotch so he instructed the bartender to teach him about scotch. “I told him ‘I’m serious. Just teach me. Don’t rip me off, but teach me,’” he says.
So, the bartender spent two hours instructing Dominijanni, and by the end, he was hooked. After that, Dominijanni started collecting scotches, and then in 2017, he started personally blending scotches together to achieve the flavor profile he was seeking.
A retired Marine with three tours in Iraq and two in Okinawa, Dominijanni also is a culinary school graduate who competed and beat Bobby Flay in 2006. “I make my own mead, I make my own beer, I make my own sausage,” he says. “So, while I don’t have a distillery in my home, I do know what I enjoy drinking. I knew that one scotch had a nice flavor, and then another accented the previous flavor, and I ended up with this blend.”
Dominijanni says that while he didn’t consider himself a scotch expert, he did know what he liked, and when he finally achieved a blend in 2017 that he really loved, he shared it with his friends and family, they loved it.
“They were like ‘This is some great stuff,’ and slowly, slowly the amount of my juice kept getting lower and lower,” he says. “Then, I remembered my uncle gets his own wine made. He’s like ‘I want 33 percent of this grape, and then the rest of this grape,’ so I wondered if I could make my own scotch blend.”
Dominijanni started researching it, and he reached out to a buddy of his who worked in the alcohol business, and he asked him to try his blend. “I asked him if he liked it, and ‘Do you think I could get this out of my house?’” he says.
His friend said yes, and by 2021, Dominijanni had ordered his first personal blend. It took a few more years to debut, however, because of shortages of glass and other things. In 2022, Dominijanni received his first bottles, then launched in early 2023. “This was really mind-blowing, and I was totally out of my comfort zone,” he says.
The name, he says, is a Gaelic word that means pure, pristine or true. “At first, I was like, fior is Italian for flower,” Dominijanni says. “But pure is how I raise my children and live my life. I always strive for the best.”
Since its debut last year, Fior has earned earned numerous accolades, including double gold medals at both the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and New York World Spirits Competition, along with a 93 rating at The New York International Spirits Competition. It is now available in New York, Florida, Georgia, Texas and online.
“It’s in a beautiful bottle, and it stands out in the liquor store,” he says. “People might buy it at first because of my background or because they like the bottle, but the only thing that gets them to buy their second and third and fourth bottles is the taste.”
Dominijanni says Fior will continue to expand its distribution footprint, but he would also like to give back. “I’m currently researching to find the right veteran charity to support,” he says. “I can’t support everyone, but I have to give back.”