Our Company
Born from the union of two flagship craft spirits companies—Pura Vida Tequila and Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery—Frontier Spirits is poised to become a leader in the liquor industry.
At the intersection of craft and beverage, the story of Pura Vida Tequila dates back to 1923, when two brothers worked the agave fields outside Arandas in the heart of Mexico’s finest agave-producing region. Under the care of these vigilant agaveros, the fields of beautiful blue agave in Los Altos earned international acclaim for their exceptional quality, rich flavor, and high sugar content (the lifeblood of tequila). Here, among fourth-generation agaveros, the first expression of Pura Vida Tequila was brewing.
Delivering an authentic farm-to-bottle experience, Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery’s roots date back to 1851. That’s the year when our founder’s fourth great-grandfather, Heinrich “Henry” Ochs, moved his family from Germany to Gillespie County. He quickly became one of the town’s first teachers, as well as a County Clerk – and opened the Buckhorn Saloon, serving the family recipe for whiskey and beer. Now, 170 years later, the same premium whiskey recipe will become the centerpiece of a new, 28,000-square-foot facility, world class tasting room and charming country store called Little Peach. The site is located at 21 Luckenbach Road, in the heart of the Texas Hill Country. Great attention to detail and sustainability helps each bottle capture the unique richness, depth and complexity of local flavors while the family’s recipe ensures a historic, smooth finish.
Stewart Lawrence Skloss
Chairman and Founder
(Frontier Spirits Company)
Frontier Spirits is the brainchild of Stewart Skloss. Building on the success of his signature spirits company, Pura Vida Tequila, Frontier Spirits integrates his newest endeavor, the Luckenbach Road Whiskey Distillery, with his first love to leverage an opportunity that seven years ago was only a dream. Born from his passion to create the world’s finest tequila, Pura Vida’s success is no accident. Years of hard work, painstaking travel, and careful research bore the fruit of what is today a line of Double Gold award-winning tequila, available from Coast to Coast. Throughout the United States and Mexico, the many personal relationships and business connections made over the few decades forged the foundation for these enterprising spirits entities. Frontier Spirits and Luckenbach take the next bold steps forward in the vision Mr. Skloss holds, as he knows the size and scope of this project create even more opportunities to attract the best leadership and talent the industry has to offer. Mr. Skloss will serve as the acting CEO of Frontier Spirits until an appropriate industry relevant Chief Executive Officer has been acquired, at which time he will take on the role of Chairman and Founder.
Kaitlyn Callaluca Skloss
Chief Marketing Officer & Co-Founder
(Frontier Spirits Company)
Kaitlyn Callaluca Skloss is currently the Chief Marketing Officer. Prior to this role, she gained her extensive marketing and communications experience at NPR’s national office in Washington, DC, and at Datawatch Systems in Bethesda, Maryland. Demonstrating her trademark self-sufficiency and commitment to hard work, she also put herself through private college by working three jobs. In her executive role today, she is an active corporate member of Women of the Vine and Spirits, an organization that provides women in the alcohol industry a network of colleagues, mentors, and opportunities to develop and advance their personal brands and careers. She also brings a passion for community service though involvement in World Affairs Council, American Business Women’s Association, Women of Wardrobe - Dress for Success Program, The Bush Literacy Foundation - Ladies for Literacy, and Meals on Wheels - AniMeals.
Jim Allen Cerks
Chief Financial Officer
(Frontier Spirits Company)
Mr. Cerks brings a wealth of legal and financial experience to Frontier Spirits. Mr. Cerks serves clients in Harris County, as well as throughout Texas, and specializes in business and tax law. He previously worked as a Certified Public Accountant in the tax division of Arthur Anderson & Co. He also worked as a Criminal Investigator in the Intelligence Division of the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Department of Treasury from 1971-1976. Mr. Cerks received his Bachelor of Science degree from Florida State University, an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Juris Doctorate from Baylor University. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the American Bar Association, the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the American Association of Attorneys—Certified Public Accountants. Upon onboarding of a new CFO, Mr. Cerks will stay on as senior advisor.
Marshall Bennett Skloss
Chief Operating Officer
(Frontier Spirits Company)
A seventh-generation Texan, born and bred in Austin, Marshall Skloss brings a wealth of operations experience to bear, in addition to his multiple honors-level degrees. A proud University of Texas graduate, Marshall spent 12 years as Director of Operations for the Chicago Athletic Clubs, as well as successfully owning and operating small businesses whose consistent growth in revenues were the direct result of his relentless drive and commitment to excellence.
As Chief Marketing Officer for Pura Vida Tequila, Mr. Skloss pushed the brand to new heights, making his bones in the spirits industry along the way. Tenures at multinational icons Chiat/Day/Mojo, DDB Needham, and Foote, Cone & Belding were the building blocks of the advertising and marketing savvy invaluable to the continuing progress of the Frontier Spirits brands.
Direct descendants of Texas pioneer Herman Ochs, the Skloss brothers’ passion for their 3rd great grandfather’s storied whiskey burns brighter than ever. Now the dream of bringing his century old family recipe into the modern age and delivering the farm-to-bottle experience of Luckenbach Road Whiskey becomes reality as they create the destination distillery, hotel, conference center, and resort which bears its name.
Steven Randall Swaim
Chief Investment Officer
(Frontier Spirits Company)
Mr. Swaim has been actively involved in the Beer, Wine and Spirits industries as both a paid consultant and an in-house advisor for years. His industry expertise included operations, finance and marketing long before joining Pura Vida Spirits. Having worked extensively with Young’s Market, the largest Distributor on the West Coast to Anheuser-Busch, he brings a vast wealth of experience to Pura Vida.
More importantly, Mr. Swaim also brings 20 years of Senior Leadership in guiding early stage companies to the next level. He’s led companies in the Investment Banking Industry, TV Production, Sports Nutrition and Advertising and Marketing fields. As the President of Heartbeat of the City, a local Business Television Show, he led the company over a seven-year period into five new major markets with revenue growth of over 150% per year, after which it was successfully sold at an extraordinary profit. As CEO of Synergy Sports, Mr. Swaim had the vision to see a need in the market and to fill it. With Synergy Sports, he worked with Gatorade in supporting their Brand Sponsorship in the Iron Man Series and Beach Volleyball, working alongside the CMO to enhance and maximize brand awareness and consumer experience in each area. Synergy Sports simultaneously was creating its own proprietary products, a line of hair and skin care products for the athletic market and sports nutrition products. Synergy Sports was successfully sold to a competitor.
Alfred Schandlbauer
Director of Governmental Affairs
(Frontier Spirits Company)
Alfred Schandlbauer served the American State Department for over 30 years as a Foreign Service Advisor, Executive Secretary, and Senior Advisor in assignments across Asia, Europe, Latin America and the United States.
His ability to negotiate complex international laws and organizations proved invaluable as he built and led expert teams from diverse cultural, linguistic, and professional backgrounds. Specializing in implementation strategies and multilateral negotiations, Alfred’s top secret clearance and dogged determination produced counter-terrorism initiatives which successfully improved the long-term effectiveness of counter-terrorism efforts around the world.
His hard-earned insights and business savvy resulted in saving the U.S. Government many tens of millions of dollars, due to his extensive mentoring and cooperation with the Afghan provincial governor as the senior U.S. official there. As a Trade and Investment Officer for the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires, he expanded U.S. company interests abroad through a combination of strategic commercial advocacy and shrewd international diplomacy.
Alfred’s global business acumen and diplomatic repertoire perfectly position The Frontier Spirits Company for the international playing field to come. His reputation for complex problem solving through a wealth of interpersonal relationships and unwavering financial integrity form the cornerstone of our developing spirits interests abroad.
Modesto Nuñez del Toro
Director of Operations - Mexico
(Pura Vida Spirits Company)
Mr. Nuñez del Toro is highly experienced in Mexico’s beverage industry. He comes to Pura Vida with more than 10 years of experience within the tequila industry. Mr. Nuñez del Toro was previously the Plant Manager for Tequila Don Roberto S.A., where he coordinated and managed operations at the company’s bottling plant. Under his leadership, the plant saved 2.5 million pesos by reducing costs of raw materials, as well as 18% on shipping costs, customs brokers, and exports. Mr. Nuñez del Toro additionally increased productivity by 12% in the packaging line.
Prior to this, Mr. Nuñez del Toro was the Director of Operations at Caribbean Distillers Corporation (Tequila Patrón). He increased the volume of packaging from 400 boxes a day to 8,500 boxes daily while reducing operating personnel and boxes. Mr. Nuñez del Toro also implemented a quality system in an artisanal process and developed a network of local suppliers for savings of $5 million USD. Mr. Nuñez del Toro was also the Head of Operations at Ultimat Vodka in Poland.
Wilfrido Ortega Casas
Master Distiller - Mexico
(Pura Vida Spirits Company)
Mr. Ortega is one of the industry’s most seasoned Master Distiller. Before joining Pura Vida, he worked at Patrón Spirits, and Tequila Quiote, where he served as Production Manager. In this role at Tequila Quiote, he was in charge of the organoleptic profile of the brands produced there, including Quiote, El Toril, Puerto Vallarta, El Mante, and Chamucos, as well as Cava Don Anastasio.
He left his role at Tequila Quiote to work alongside Tequila Masters Leopoldo Solís and Gabriel Espíndola to develop Destilería Morales.
In 2008, this distillery was awarded best bottle design of the year, as well as several gold and platinum medals for quality. Mr. Ortega was instrumental in improving production conditions, complying with good manufacturing practices, and implementing quality controls for Grupo Industrial Tequilero de los Altos, Centinela Tequila, Tequila Quitapenas, Destiladora, and Tequila Rubio.