Company:
Ian Macleod Distillers
Job:
Tamdhu Distillery Manager
Website:
tamdhu.com
How long have you been working in the whisky industry?
I joined the industry from what you could say was a rather strange
background. I graduated with a degree in Environmental Chemistry, then joined
the Scottish Environment Agency, prior to managing wastewater treatment plants
in the North east of Scotland.
In 2006, I joined Diageo in the maltings at Burghead &
Roseisle, as one of a team of managers. I was there during the construction and
the opening of Roseisle Distillery. In 2010, I was transferred (a thing that Diageo does as part
of their management cycle) to the Glenlossie Complex just outside Elgin, where
I managed Glenlossie and Mannochmore Distilleries. In 2014, I was then transferred
to Glen Spey in Rothes.
In December 2014, I was then delighted to join the team at
Tamdhu, in the role of Distillery Manager.
What has been your biggest career highlight to date?
I’ve actually got two highlights. In 2015, I was thrilled to
be part of the team that developed Tamdhu Batch Strength 1, with our Master Blender
John Glass. It went on to win Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits
Competition, three weeks after its release.
My second highlight was getting my signature onto Tamdhu Batch
Strength 2, which was released in November 2016. Like most managers in the
business, it leaves a legacy and I know it’s something both my parents would
have loved to have seen. My Dad enjoyed a dram or two! My brother marked the
occasion by buying 50 bottles and gifting bottles to the rest of my family and
all his business clients.
Can you remember your first dram and indeed what it was?
The first whisky I tasted would have been a Famous Grouse,
given to me by my Dad when I was wee boy aged 5 or 6. It was put on a cloth to help
cure toothache. I don’t remember it working but I do remember it tasted awful to
me, not because it was Grouse just because it was whisky!
The first drams that I truly remember would have been in
around 1993, though I’m sure I’d have shared a few before then. I was working
in Oxfordshire for a year with Esso. At that time, I wanted to sound as though
I knew all about whisky so I regularly returned from a weekend back home with a
bottle of Bowmore. It was something that folk further south never really saw,
as it was always the likes of Glenfiddich and Macallan on the top shelf in a
bar. So I think I was trying to look knowledgeable and impressive, not too sure
it worked though!
What does whisky mean to you?
That’s an interesting question for me, as it was something I
never thought much about before coming to Tamdhu. Despite working in whisky, my
previous drink of choice was Captain Morgan Spiced Rum and Coke. I have since learned
a significant amount and have a real “every day is a school day” philosophy.
There was a time that I thought casks were just the thing
the spirit spent time in to mature, but now my knowledge has improved, I
realise that good wood selection has such an influence on quality that it needs
constant monitoring. The range of flavours and quality never fails to amaze me,
and that allows consumers to explore and find out what suits them best.
Now my drink of choice is actually whisky and particularly sherry
matured malts. Whether my palate has changed and the sugary sweetness of the
Morgan’s is no longer to my taste, or whether I have just matured like the
whisky I am not sure, but the complexity of whisky is certainly more to my
taste now.
Where would you like to see yourself in five years’ time?
I hope I’ll still be at Tamdhu, I never want to leave! In
previous roles, I was never so immersed in a brand, but having spent over two
years at Tamdhu, I am extremely passionate about so many things.
The team at Tamdhu are all so enthusiastic about their work
and actually seem to enjoy it! They want
to see the brand develop and expand and are always keen to hear about sales, new
releases and what our next project is, whether that be site-based or with the
brand itself.
It’s sometimes hard to remain patient, though I have always
said that patience is one of the things you need to make great whisky, but I so
want us to have some other expressions; single casks, perhaps a 15 or 18 Year
Old. These will come with time and good stock management, but I still want to
be at Tamdhu when they arrive.
What was your last dram?
I was sampling the very first cask of Tamdhu filled after
Ian Macleod Distillers resumed production in 2012. It’s a first fill sherry cask,
milled, mashed, distilled and filled by my Assistant Manager, Iain Whitecross.
We have been drawing a sample each year since March 2015 just to see how it has
been maturing and how much colour is developing. It’s remarkable to see, nose
and taste the journey that the spirit is now on and it will be really interesting
to continue that year-on-year until the cask is called forward for disgorge. It
has a real depth of colour already but, as you would imagine, it is still a
young whisky.
Do you have a favourite whisky and food pairing combination?
This is only something I have started to explore recently. I am not adventurous
with food I’m afraid, as my tastes are quite plain in that respect. Often if
I’m enjoying an older whisky, I’ll have a simple cheese platter to go with it.
Again, as I’ve gotten older, instead of having a sweet at the end of a meal I
would rather have a good malt and some Scottish cheeses. Peppered crowdie on
oatcakes is my current favourite with either a Tamdhu 10 Year Old or a Glenfarclas
18 Year Old.
What’s your favourite time and place to enjoy a dram?
It’s got to be with my oldest brother, Douglas, and with the
rest of my family around. Despite there being quite a few McIntyres in the
family, it’s only Doug who also enjoys a dram. Ideally at my house at Tamdhu,
but it’s not often we are all together there, so his house in Glasgow would be
my second choice. Glasgow is my home city and I’m proud of that so what better
a place to celebrate families and friendships?
What do you think is going to be the next big thing on the
whisky horizon?
It has got to be something around an assurance scheme for casks
and ensuring that cask quality is something that is consistent. I would like to
see something on the bottle label that tells the consumer if caramel has been
added to the spirit for colour. While I understand that consistency of colour
is relevant for the larger blends out there, I also feel that for a good
quality single malt there should be no need to add caramel to simply make it
look better in a bottle. We exclusively use sherry casks for our Tamdhu single
malt and have no need to add caramel for colour as it all comes from the wood.
What’s the one dram you couldn’t live without?
Dare I say it,
but Glengoyne 21 Year Old has to be up there as it is the kind of dram that I
aspire Tamdhu to be at, hopefully when it’s 18! The depth of flavours, the
colour and quality is superb. As you can tell, I love the sherry maturation,
like Tamdhu, the flavours of fruits – sultana and pear, vanilla, the subtleness
of fudge and even hint of spice, really bounce around your palate and make it a
dram to sit, savour and explore.
Many thanks to Sandy McIntyre. Who will be our next Whisky
Insider? Click back soon to find out!