Alba Hough

Alba, a veteran in the field of hospitality with more than 20 years of experience ― many of which were spent working for the Hilton chain― Alba chose to focus on wine and spirits right from the beginning. Her studies included a food and beverage degree from the Hospitality and Culinary School of Iceland, the WSET Lvl 3, and Court of Master Sommelier certification. During this period she dabbled in wine journalism for local news outlets, which eventually inspired her to complete a Bachelors in Creative Writing. Alba also spent more than a decade representing Iceland in a wide range of international sommelier competitions, including the Best Sommelier of the World, Best Sommelier of Europe and Best Sommelier of the Nordics, to name a few. After retiring from competing, Alba has stayed within the competition world as an organizer, host, judge and coach. She is also the President of the Icelandic Sommelier Association. Alba feels extremely fortunate to have been given such great opportunities to experience the wine and spirits world from such a global platform. Therefore, she believes it is important to pay said great fortune forward and does so by serving as a member on the Diversity Committee for ASI (Association de la Sommellerie Internationale) as well as the Ethics & Compliance Committee. As Chief Production Officer for Himbrimi Gin, Alba can generally be found tinkering about in the distillery and talking to the botanicals as if they were house plants.