Master Whisky Blenders...

Rachel Barrie is the Chief Noser (or more officially, Product Development Manager at Glenmorangie plc). Ardbeg’s Chief Noser actually has a remarkably petite nose. She is truly, madly and deeply passionate about whisky - and effusive and articulate to match. Move over Jilly Goolden.

Her raison d’etre is to "delight the Ardbeg drinker" - and thoroughly enjoy every moment of the process. "I’ve never found another malt that is more Islay. It’s like standing on the pier and smelling the sea spray." She started off her career training to be a doctor. But, unsurprisingly for someone who has one of the most sensitive noses in the world, the smell of formaldehyde when cutting up cadavers was just too much. So she switched degrees back to her first love, chemistry.

One PHD and millions of interesting molecules later, she was hired by Scottish & Newcastle Breweries and recruited onto their sensory panel. Moving onto the Scotch Malt Whisky Institute, she set about exploring the enigma and understanding the chemistry of whisky...in other words, finding out where all the wonderful aromas came from. She moved to Glenmorangie plc 6 years ago and started a project to sample no less than 10,000 casks of malt whisky, assessing the flavour of each. This took over 3 years. So it’s little wonder that she understands malt whisky in such depth.

Even so, despite her extensive knowledge, she still feels that she doesn’t know everything there is to know. "You never stop learning about whisky. Even when I retire, I still won’t know everything. When it comes to increasing your knowledge, first you understand the category, then regionality and the different styles, and only when you’re a real anorak can you identify the individual characters of every malt distillery in Scotland. There’s also more to know about whisky than wine. For example, the influence of peat. You only get it in Scotch malt whisky, and it
ranges from no parts per million to 50 parts per million, which of course is Ardbeg, the most heavily peated Islay malt whisky. Scotch malt whisky is a wonderful enigma... a unique combination of climate, geology and palaeontology. "

Although she is mostly based at Glenmorangie plc’s HQ at Broxburn, she and Stuart (Distillery Manager and Chairman) are in constant daily contact with each other. They know the emerging characters of each individual cask, as, obviously, the character is influenced as much by the wood of the cask as it is by the character of the new make spirit itself. "The new make spirit can vary hugely in character because it’s a natural process. That’s what also makes it so endlessly fascinating. The nose and taste are affected by so many things - whether it’s summer or winter barley, the speed of the distillation run, the level of humidity in the warehouse, which is also affected by the amount of sea spray at any time, and so on. That’s what makes it so complex to manage. The key is developing the knowledge to best marry all the different forces together to keep producing superb individual products that all are faithful to the true Ardbeg taste. It’s a process of trial and error, and it involves tasting hundreds of samples."

And what about her own personal favourites? "It has to be the 21 Years Old. Nothing comes close to it. It’s absolutely amazing. You just know it’s worth the money. But I really enjoy all the Ardbeg expressions at different times. The 10 Years Old is a great nightcap, like a dose of medicine. The 17 Years Old is more of an after-dinner dram, great with espresso coffee or cappuccino. The ‘75 Vintage is so deep and intense and richly sweet, I love to drink it beside the fire. Apart from Ardbeg, on a sunny day in a beer garden I enjoy drinking Glenmorangie 10 Years Old. It’s easy, smooth and mellow."

And which would she recommend is best for whisky drinkers to introduce to their friends? "It’s all very subjective. I would recommend the 10 Years Old as a wonderful introduction to the chewing, mouth watering, gristy peat and beautiful balance and complexity which is totally unique to Ardbeg. It leaves you gagging for more!"

The Ardbeg Whiskies

The Glenmorangie Whiskies