He Lets His Whisky Talk
“I have been in spirits business for a long time,” says Alan Winchester, Master Distiller, The Glenlivet and Production Manager for Pernod Ricard. It is a fair claim as Winchester’s career in Scotch spans more than 40 years and 20 different distilleries. Today, he manages 14 of the spirit giant’s malt distilleries.
For a youngster who stumbled into the whisky world at the age of 16 as a tourist guide to the distillery, his rise to one of the most sought-after positions in the whisky industry has been exciting and eventful. He started at the distillery in 1979 as a cooperage labourer and worked his way through cleaning to firing the still, brewing and then, in 2009, to be a Master Distiller.
“When I got the job at a whisky distillery next to my grandfather’s land, I thought I would only work there for a couple of years,” he muses. “But I have never looked back! It is an incredible industry to work in. It poses exciting challenges and opportunities,” he explains further.
An element of romance and nostalgia describes Winchester’s relationship with whisky. When he was younger and teething, whisky was often rubbed on his gums to calm him down. “My first memories are of adults around me enjoying a dram, so I became very familiar with the fragrances of the spirit. I still remember being presented with my first dram of whisky at a family gathering and feeling so grown up; surrounded by great company. This was when I first started to appreciate and enjoy whisky,” he recalls.
Starting from the bottom of the ladder, working with casks in the cooperage before working his way through various departments in a career spanning over 40 years has given him a thorough understanding of the whisky production process. “Understanding this process means I can appreciate the full breadth of whiskies produced the world over and their different, rich flavour profiles,” he explains.
