I’m nurturing them for the future, and they will go on to develop with someone else. I’m quite protective of how my whiskies will develop. I see it as being a guardian of quality, continuing the legacy and tradition and protecting whisky for the future. What does it mean to be a master blender? Each and every day, my mission is to make the ultimate malt whiskies and share them with an increasingly appreciative audience. Since then, I have worked with the finest single malt whiskies in the world and have sampled well over 150,000 casks.Īt the pinnacle of my career, in 2017, I moved to Brown-Forman, where I work with Benriach, The GlenDronach and Glenglassaugh, continually researching and developing a vision for how these malts will evolve and grow in the years ahead. In 2003, I was given the role of Master Blender and was the first woman in Scotch Whisky to be officially given that title. As my career progressed, I moved into new product development, and developed a strong passion for whisky making. At 23 years old, I was just learning the ropes as a research scientist for the Scotch Whisky Research Institute before moving into production and whisky making. I started in the spirits industry 30 years ago, in the spring of 1992. Tell us a bit about your career background… I loved visiting distilleries and tasting different malts, and this eventually became my job.
My grandmother used to cook with whisky, and, luckily for me, I often had earache as a small girl and she would give me a thimble full of hot toddy to cure it – it definitely helped! What started as an interest became a hobby.
He has always shared a deep appreciation for the ‘water of life’ (the translation of ‘whisky’ in Scots Gaelic). Growing up in rural Aberdeenshire, I was surrounded by so many distilleries and these certainly had an influence on me – as did my father, as he is a big Single Malt Whisky fan. When did you first develop a taste for whisky? Master Blender Rachel Barrie On The World of Whisky Below, she tells C&TH about the past, present and future of the distilled drink, giving us insight into what her job involves and what trends we should be looking out for this year. Then, in 2017, Rachel moved to Brown-Forman, where she remains today, creating single malt Scotch whiskies. She began working in production at Glenmorangie, and in 2003 became a master blender – a top job in whisky making. She developed a taste for whisky growing up in North East Scotland, and went on to train as a research scientist for the Scotch Whisky Research Institute, later moving into product development. That’s in part thanks to names like Rachel Barrie, a whisky whizz with over 30 years of experience in the industry. Historically, the world of whisky has been heavily male-dominated – but things are changing.
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