FEATURE: NEW DISTILLERS • 21
They’re clever, ambitious and have big plans for your dram. Meet the distillers of the future
WORDS: RICHARED CROASDALE
from some sort of factory; ready tweeded and moustachioed, with their own personalised book of risqué anecdotes. In reality though, the idea of a factory
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for distillers is not completely absurd, as such a thing very nearly exists in the Heriot-Watt University graduate and postgraduate courses in brewing and distilling. Taking a scientific approach to the whisky-maker’s art, the course attracts intelligent, creative individuals keen to get on in the industry. Georgie Bell, a brewing and distilling student and Society ambassador says the course was an excellent grounding. “The course was essentially bio
chemistry and engineering. I loved it and absorbed all the knowledge I could. It was challenging at times, but I rose to the challenge. “I gained confidence in the industry and
knowledge, and it’s certainly led me down a more creative thinking route. I also met fascinating people on the from various distilleries who I’ve stayed in touch with and visited at various locations.” Recent graduate Colin Gordon, now
on a traineeship with Diageo, agrees. “The course was excellent. We learned a lot of the fundamentals about barley
ttending ‘big name’ tastings and reading the whisky press, it’s easy to imagine master whisky- makers spring fully formed
and the malting process, as well as brewing, which I had a very limited knowledge of. On the distilling side, it was great to really get into the science and engineering. You can learn so much just by speaking to people in the industry, but it really helps to have that scientific understanding to back it up,” he says. As the only globally recognised
degree course in the field, Herriot-Watt’s programme is attended by students of all backgrounds from around the world. Abhishek Banik is a PhD student and tutor on the course, supervising masters projects and specialising in the distillation lab. “Our students generally haven’t come straight out of graduation,” he says. “They are often mature students, who already have some experience in the industry, but are taking a break to learn more of the technical side and improve their job prospects.” A prime example of this is James
McCoy. Having cut his teeth on quality control roles in the US craft brewing industry, James relocated to Edinburgh last year, to gain the skills for a move into distilling. “I really hope to take what I learn
and reapply it back home. I come from New England and presently I think the world sees American whisky as coming just from Kentucky. It doesn’t have to be that way – there are some great whiskies being made in America and still room for more, I think.” “Bourbon and Scotch have to adhere
to a set of principles in production, and I think there’s so much more experimentation you could do and other flavours your could bring out without deviating from whisky. After I gain my MSC, I’d like to spend at least a few years working in a small UK distillery, getting that experience.” McCoy’s restlessness seems common among the new generation of distillers. Although they have a great respect for the traditions of whisky making, they are all hungry to innovate and improve. This is a theme picked up by another
NAME:
JAMES McCOY GRADUATE YEAR:
2012
recent graduate, Cory Mason. The son of a California wine-maker, Mason is now working with the university on a research project and is already involved in setting up one distillery in the US and another secret project in the Highlands of Scotland. “I’ve always loved booze,” he says with a theatrical flourish. “I see it as a tangible expression of our culture. Every
NAME:
CORY MASON GRADUATE YEAR:
2012
culture has its own alcohol, whether it’s whisky from Scotland, vodka from Russia or Akvavit from Norway; it’s all so tied up with national identity. So, yeah, I think it’s a shame that you don’t get farmers brewing up spirit from leftover grain on their kitchen stove any more.” But Mason also sees a groundswell of
interest in smaller scale ‘craft’ distilling in the UK – a movement he believes will be supported by the technical knowledge coming out of Heriot-Watt. “The brewing industry in Scotland
mirrors where the US micro-brewing scene was in the late 80s, early 90s,” he says. “The US distilling industry followed a number of years later. The UK micro-distilling industry is right at the very beginning of that same journey. I’ve had contact with four or five new distilleries that aren’t open yet, but are positioning themselves in that craft distilling market - they’re the next wave.” Andrew MacLeod Smith, head distiller
at The London Distillery Company and another Heriot-Watt alumnus worked as an electrical and electronic engineer in the oil industry before “running away” to New York to take stock of his life. After rediscovering his love of whisky while working in a high-end bar, Andrew returned home and enrolled at Heriot-Watt. “I originally did the masters degree with the idea of using it as leverage to get back to the states to work in one of their craft distilleries, because I realised there really wasn’t anything like that here in the UK. I hadn’t applied to Diageo or Grants or any of the guys who were coming in to speak to us at the University. That didn’t interest me at all.”
CONTINUED OVERLEAF THE SCOTCH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY
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