Loch Fyne Whiskies - Scotch Whisky Review - Edition 12

LFW: What is your job?

I am the Master Blender for JBB (Greater Europe), part of Jim Beam Brands World-wide Inc., which incorporates Whyte & Mackay and Inver-gordon Distillers. Our leading products include Whyte & Mackay Scotch Whisky, Jim Beam Bourbon, Glayva Liqueur, Vladivar vodka and the single malts Isle of Jura, Dalmore, Bruichladdich, Old Fettercairn, Tam-navulin, Tomintoul and Tullibardine. We also have the grain distillery at Invergordon.

My job as master blender is ensuring that all the products in our portfolio achieve and surpass the quality criteria that we set out to attain. I am also responsible for the development of new blends for clients which is the key part of our group’s business.

LFW: But you are not the first Paterson blender.

My father and my grandfather were both whisky blenders. I started with my father when I was very young. I recall that when I was about eight he would ask, what did I think of this whisky? I could smell it on his breath and I wouldn’t think very much of it! So he would whack me on the back of the head and say what do you mean, is it dry or sweet? So it built up from there and gave me a very good foundation, as well as a sore head! My first job was with a small company called A. Gillies and Company (which had Glen Scotia distillery) in Glasgow where I spent my first four years learning every aspect relating to production, blending and bottling. Being the son of the great ‘Gus’ Paterson of WR Paterson Ltd and Stockwell Bond caused considerable difficulties for me so I was determined to broaden my horizons and I studied with the Wines and Spirits Education Trust for three years.

My first job as a blender was in 1970 here with Whyte & Mackay and I became their Master Blender when I was twenty six, the youngest in Scotland, I believe.

Now Whyte & Mackay has been my life-blood for thirty years.

My grandfather— the old sod—William, started W R Paterson in the thirties, (please don’t confuse with Pattison’s of Leith). Originally grandfather supplied coal to distilleries up north but when the coal trade started to decline he thought whisky appeared to be making more money so he moved into distilling, blending and bottling. Eventually he bought the Stockwell Bond which was a great old building, sadly now the site of the St Enoch shopping centre in Glasgow. I remember vividly as a small boy visiting it for the first time, all dark with a great smell and the noise of the bottling hall. It’s true, they were good old days!

LFW: Are blenders born or created?

A bit of both, but what is required is total and utter commitment; 100% dedication, passion, and pursuit of the highest quality. And time. Whiskies are like people; you get to understand them better as you get older.

The greatest thrill I think is when I produce something that I think is right but is then endorsed by the customer or gets an award.

LFW: Who ultimately controls the blend quality, you or the finance department?

Me. Quality is as important to the company as it is to me. I control the consistency of the blend in order to ensure that the customer is consistently happy.

We’ve just learned that Whyte & Mackay is number one in the whole of Scotland off-trade, possibly helped by our new blue label launched in January 1998. It was a very positive move reflecting the prestige of Whyte & Mackay and has been very successful.

LFW: Isn’t it an expensive whisky to produce?

You bet! There are 35 to 38 malts which we ‘marry’ for four months. Highlands, Lowlands and Campbeltown are brought together; the main baseline is from the highlands providing big heavier characters but I also let the Islays play their part. We then bring the married malts and grain together and finish it off with a further second marriage.

We handle our whiskies with the greatest respect, giving them plenty of ‘time’; time to settle, time to marry before the next step.

The marrying takes place in our ‘soldiers’, over one thousand former oloroso sherry butts, standing on end in regimented fashion in situ at our Inver-gordon blending centre.

This is the key to our success. Not only do the butts provide the final quality, but more importantly they ensure the consistency of the blend, achieving the quality objectives it has done now for many years. Successful in over 100 countries, the character is acceptable everywhere. The blend is not bold or brash but smooth, mellow, elegant and refined, thanks to the marriage. Something to be sipped without large lashings of water or ice.

LFW: But Whyte & Mackay is often cheaper than its main competitors.

Listen! What more can you want? This is an extremely high quality whisky which is one of the most expensive whiskies to produce, including the double maturation and which we make available to the consumer at an attractive price!

LFW: Is it always the same components employed?

I always try and maintain the same rigorous formulation, but being realistic during the last thirty years there have been distillery closures, changes in trading arrangements and so, like any other whisky company, I have to adapt accordingly. But it takes years rather than months. Our bulk stock manager Norman Matheson has built up stocks so that we can react well in advance when we see that in the future there is going to be a shortfall in certain stocks. Having so many aged malts in the blend means component changes can be made well in advance. The best part is the long marrying period which is a great asset to attaining continuity and conformity with all the little edges being smoothed out with time.

Good stock management and efficient planning enable you to respond to a change in supplies without any discernible changes in the final quality.

LFW: How many whiskies are you responsible for?

I don’t know for sure; it is well over a hundred.

At JBB we produce whiskies for many different clients such as major stores, supermarkets down to small prestige outlets all over the world. The Japanese say ‘the customer is king’ and we take great efforts to make sure that we remain the best at our business, supplying a whisky which meets the customer’s price level coupled with individual style objectives and quality of delivery and service.

LFW: If I gave you a sample of our Loch Fyne, could you replicate it?

We are constantly being asked to do things like that and given enough time then I would like to think I could get close. However to really crack it I would ask you to come back in one year.
Making up a blend in the sample room and then sending it to a customer only gives a rough indication and is just the first step in the process. The rest is down to careful selection, ageing and giving the individual malts and grains time to ‘bed down’ with each other—it must be a lasting union. I would come up with a good match. When do you want me to start?

I love creating new whiskies. Denis Charpentier, a Frenchman specialising in Cognacs, came to me after I won the 500th anniversary award in 1994 and asked that I produce an award-winning blend for him. I asked what kind of style he wanted and we discussed it at great length; he wanted something soft, elegant and distinguished and I told him this was going to take at least a year and a half. Having waited, he entered it in the International Wine and Spirit Competition in 1997 and 1998. Each time it got the trophy for the best blended whisky which gave me great personal satisfaction.

Let me tell your readers that once such a blend has been produced it must be drunk properly. I believe that to get the best out of it, a little splash of good still water like Highland Spring to bring the alcohol down to 38% is ideal—too much water (or any bloody ice!) masks and upsets the flavour. Hold the whisky in the mouth and allow the warmth of your tongue to reveal the whisky’s attractive flavours. The wait is well worth it.

LFW: And Coke?

As long as they are drinking the amber nectar that’s fine by me. Hopefully as palates become better educated there will be a move to a single malt or a deluxe blend which will not need such a mixer—but listen, no matter what I say, it’s for the consumer to decide how to drink it.

LFW: What is your policy on your single malt bottlings?

For the standard bottlings where consistency is essential such as with Jura 10 or Dalmore 12 years, I like to allocate as many casks as possible, up to 150 to 200 at one time, drawing from various positions throughout the warehouse, which I believe has some considerable effect on the whisky character. To overcome this and to bring uniformity we do large vattings which will encompass all these subtle variations and give us the desired style we seek.

In the case of Dalmore 12yo, 30% is oloroso sherry wood and the rest is ex American bourbon. The Cigar malt which we produce for America is Dalmore with a 60% oloroso. That was released two or three years ago as a complement for those who want a cigar with a malt. America is where Dalmore’s great success lies.

Jura has a style of its own and it performs better with ex bourbon. We have done tests with sherries which have worked relatively well but we still find that good old American white oak suits it. We are also looking at peating levels; we are in no hurry to change the present style in any way, but we are always reviewing options.

When it comes to the Stillman’s Drams, the 25 to 30yos, it is entirely different. These are personally selected at rare ages that reflect the true character of each malt. Just recently I selected a 30 yo Dalmore which is unbelievable. If you compare that with the one from 18 months ago there is a significant difference. This one is superb; for the last nine years I had transferred it to an oloroso butt that previously had held some 50 year old Dalmore, which made it exceptionally rich and very complex. I try not to worry about variations in limited products; the style and character changes are subtle and depend on actual wood use.

With these fine, big whiskies I recommend that you savour it; sip it and combine it with Colombian coffee and high cocoa fat chocolate, the combination will highlight the taste. And remember if it is matured for thirty years then give it as many seconds in the mouth.

LFW: Out of seven distilleries you have three which are closed.

These are not closed, they are simply not in production at present. Production at our distilleries is geared to meet the market place and is constantly under review.
Bear in mind we have done a small production at Bruichladdich and the same may happen either at Tamnavulin or Tullibardine. We ran Bruichladdich for two months last year which produced sufficient for many years supply as a single malt. Bruichladdich is a great malt with a great potential.

LFW: You have a fine collection of W&M bottles dating back 150 years; what changes could we identify over the years?

During the early years, especially the 1890s, Whyte & Mackay were using a high proportion of Campbeltown malts, (not surprising with there being so many)— and even the age was about 8 years—with the result you can expect the overtones to be big and heavy in body compared with today’s more mellow flavour.

It is a shame that in 1887 Barnard wrote about 129 Scotch Whisky distilleries but he never referred to the taste of the whisky! It wasn’t until Wallace Milroy’s Almanac in 1984 that consumers have had the chance to acquire a taste and love of malts, yet we have produced it since 1494. I wonder why we kept this so quiet?

LFW: Will the character have changed in the bottle?

If you open a bottle that is fifty or sixty years old, you find that the whisky is stuffed, numb and closed—it needs air. Swirl it in the glass for five minutes and it will recover. If it has been lying on its side against the cork, sadly that will have an unwanted effect as years ago corks were very heavy and can give quite a flavour.

Once any bottle is opened, please finish it! Keep it at an even temperature—not in the sun or an illuminated cabinet—and a good strong seal is important for keeping the character. But if you have something good then for goodness sake drink it! Once I get to a quarter full, I think that is an awful lot of air and this bottle should be finished soon. Certainly I think it should be within a year.

LFW: There are a lot of changes in the industry, including within your own company.

It’s not just the drinks industry. The pace of change is increasing dramatically and the need to remain alert is essential if we are to continue being one of the leaders in our trade.

I would like to see much more long term thinking, less short term injections, less gloom and doom and more passion. Producing a good Scotch Whisky is not just the achievement of the blender, but everyone in a great team working at distilling, blending and bottling. Slainté to them all.

LFW: Your desert island dram?

A Whyte & Mackay at lunch time, Bruichladdich 27yo with my afternoon tea and any Dalmore as a night-cap.

LFW: Thank you.


		THE MASTER BLENDER There is no blender in the Scotch Whisky Industry more respected than Richard Paterson. LFW: What is your job? I am the Master Blender for JBB (Greater Europe), part of Jim Beam Brands World-wide Inc., which incorporates Whyte & Mackay and Inver-gordon Distillers. Our leading products include Whyte & Mackay Scotch Whisky, Jim Beam Bourbon, Glayva Liqueur, Vladivar vodka and the single malts Isle of Jura, Dalmore, Bruichladdich, Old Fettercairn, Tam-navulin, Tomintoul and Tullibardine. We also have the grain distillery at Invergordon. My job as master blender is ensuring that all the products in our portfolio achieve and surpass the quality criteria that we set out to attain. I am also responsible for the development of new blends for clients which is the key part of our group’s business. LFW: But you are not the first Paterson blender. My father and my grandfather were both whisky blenders. I started with my father when I was very young. I recall that when I was about eight he would ask, what did I think of this whisky? I could smell it on his breath and I wouldn’t think very much of it! So he would whack me on the back of the head and say what do you mean, is it dry or sweet? So it built up from there and gave me a very good foundation, as well as a sore head! My first job was with a small company called A. Gillies and Company (which had Glen Scotia distillery) in Glasgow where I spent my first four years learning every aspect relating to production, blending and bottling. Being the son of the great ‘Gus’ Paterson of WR Paterson Ltd and Stockwell Bond caused considerable difficulties for me so I was determined to broaden my horizons and I studied with the Wines and Spirits Education Trust for three years. My first job as a blender was in 1970 here with Whyte & Mackay and I became their Master Blender when I was twenty six, the youngest in Scotland, I believe. Now Whyte & Mackay has been my life-blood for thirty years. My grandfather— the old sod—William, started W R Paterson in the thirties, (please don’t confuse with Pattison’s of Leith). Originally grandfather supplied coal to distilleries up north but when the coal trade started to decline he thought whisky appeared to be making more money so he moved into distilling, blending and bottling. Eventually he bought the Stockwell Bond which was a great old building, sadly now the site of the St Enoch shopping centre in Glasgow. I remember vividly as a small boy visiting it for the first time, all dark with a great smell and the noise of the bottling hall. It’s true, they were good old days! LFW: Are blenders born or created? A bit of both, but what is required is total and utter commitment; 100% dedication, passion, and pursuit of the highest quality. And time. Whiskies are like people; you get to understand them better as you get older. The greatest thrill I think is when I produce something that I think is right but is then endorsed by the customer or gets an award. LFW: Who ultimately controls the blend quality, you or the finance department? Me. Quality is as important to the company as it is to me. I control the consistency of the blend in order to ensure that the customer is consistently happy. We’ve just learned that Whyte & Mackay is number one in the whole of Scotland off-trade, possibly helped by our new blue label launched in January 1998. It was a very positive move reflecting the prestige of Whyte & Mackay and has been very successful. LFW: Isn’t it an expensive whisky to produce? You bet! There are 35 to 38 malts which we ‘marry’ for four months. Highlands, Lowlands and Campbeltown are brought together; the main baseline is from the highlands providing big heavier characters but I also let the Islays play their part. We then bring the married malts and grain together and finish it off with a further second marriage. We handle our whiskies with the greatest respect, giving them plenty of ‘time’; time to settle, time to marry before the next step. The marrying takes place in our ‘soldiers’, over one thousand former oloroso sherry butts, standing on end in regimented fashion in situ at our Inver-gordon blending centre. This is the key to our success. Not only do the butts provide the final quality, but more importantly they ensure the consistency of the blend, achieving the quality objectives it has done now for many years. Successful in over 100 countries, the character is acceptable everywhere. The blend is not bold or brash but smooth, mellow, elegant and refined, thanks to the marriage. Something to be sipped without large lashings of water or ice. LFW: But Whyte & Mackay is often cheaper than its main competitors. Listen! What more can you want? This is an extremely high quality whisky which is one of the most expensive whiskies to produce, including the double maturation and which we make available to the consumer at an attractive price! LFW: Is it always the same components employed? I always try and maintain the same rigorous formulation, but being realistic during the last thirty years there have been distillery closures, changes in trading arrangements and so, like any other whisky company, I have to adapt accordingly. But it takes years rather than months. Our bulk stock manager Norman Matheson has built up stocks so that we can react well in advance when we see that in the future there is going to be a shortfall in certain stocks. Having so many aged malts in the blend means component changes can be made well in advance. The best part is the long marrying period which is a great asset to attaining continuity and conformity with all the little edges being smoothed out with time. Good stock management and efficient planning enable you to respond to a change in supplies without any discernible changes in the final quality. LFW: How many whiskies are you responsible for? I don’t know for sure; it is well over a hundred. At JBB we produce whiskies for many different clients such as major stores, supermarkets down to small prestige outlets all over the world. The Japanese say ‘the customer is king’ and we take great efforts to make sure that we remain the best at our business, supplying a whisky which meets the customer’s price level coupled with individual style objectives and quality of delivery and service. LFW: If I gave you a sample of our Loch Fyne, could you replicate it? We are constantly being asked to do things like that and given enough time then I would like to think I could get close. However to really crack it I would ask you to come back in one year. Making up a blend in the sample room and then sending it to a customer only gives a rough indication and is just the first step in the process. The rest is down to careful selection, ageing and giving the individual malts and grains time to ‘bed down’ with each other—it must be a lasting union. I would come up with a good match. When do you want me to start? I love creating new whiskies. Denis Charpentier, a Frenchman specialising in Cognacs, came to me after I won the 500th anniversary award in 1994 and asked that I produce an award-winning blend for him. I asked what kind of style he wanted and we discussed it at great length; he wanted something soft, elegant and distinguished and I told him this was going to take at least a year and a half. Having waited, he entered it in the International Wine and Spirit Competition in 1997 and 1998. Each time it got the trophy for the best blended whisky which gave me great personal satisfaction. Let me tell your readers that once such a blend has been produced it must be drunk properly. I believe that to get the best out of it, a little splash of good still water like Highland Spring to bring the alcohol down to 38% is ideal—too much water (or any bloody ice!) masks and upsets the flavour. Hold the whisky in the mouth and allow the warmth of your tongue to reveal the whisky’s attractive flavours. The wait is well worth it. LFW: And Coke? As long as they are drinking the amber nectar that’s fine by me. Hopefully as palates become better educated there will be a move to a single malt or a deluxe blend which will not need such a mixer—but listen, no matter what I say, it’s for the consumer to decide how to drink it. LFW: What is your policy on your single malt bottlings? For the standard bottlings where consistency is essential such as with Jura 10 or Dalmore 12 years, I like to allocate as many casks as possible, up to 150 to 200 at one time, drawing from various positions throughout the warehouse, which I believe has some considerable effect on the whisky character. To overcome this and to bring uniformity we do large vattings which will encompass all these subtle variations and give us the desired style we seek. In the case of Dalmore 12yo, 30% is oloroso sherry wood and the rest is ex American bourbon. The Cigar malt which we produce for America is Dalmore with a 60% oloroso. That was released two or three years ago as a complement for those who want a cigar with a malt. America is where Dalmore’s great success lies. Jura has a style of its own and it performs better with ex bourbon. We have done tests with sherries which have worked relatively well but we still find that good old American white oak suits it. We are also looking at peating levels; we are in no hurry to change the present style in any way, but we are always reviewing options. When it comes to the Stillman’s Drams, the 25 to 30yos, it is entirely different. These are personally selected at rare ages that reflect the true character of each malt. Just recently I selected a 30 yo Dalmore which is unbelievable. If you compare that with the one from 18 months ago there is a significant difference. This one is superb; for the last nine years I had transferred it to an oloroso butt that previously had held some 50 year old Dalmore, which made it exceptionally rich and very complex. I try not to worry about variations in limited products; the style and character changes are subtle and depend on actual wood use. With these fine, big whiskies I recommend that you savour it; sip it and combine it with Colombian coffee and high cocoa fat chocolate, the combination will highlight the taste. And remember if it is matured for thirty years then give it as many seconds in the mouth. LFW: Out of seven distilleries you have three which are closed. These are not closed, they are simply not in production at present. Production at our distilleries is geared to meet the market place and is constantly under review. Bear in mind we have done a small production at Bruichladdich and the same may happen either at Tamnavulin or Tullibardine. We ran Bruichladdich for two months last year which produced sufficient for many years supply as a single malt. Bruichladdich is a great malt with a great potential. LFW: You have a fine collection of W&M bottles dating back 150 years; what changes could we identify over the years? During the early years, especially the 1890s, Whyte & Mackay were using a high proportion of Campbeltown malts, (not surprising with there being so many)— and even the age was about 8 years—with the result you can expect the overtones to be big and heavy in body compared with today’s more mellow flavour. It is a shame that in 1887 Barnard wrote about 129 Scotch Whisky distilleries but he never referred to the taste of the whisky! It wasn’t until Wallace Milroy’s Almanac in 1984 that consumers have had the chance to acquire a taste and love of malts, yet we have produced it since 1494. I wonder why we kept this so quiet? LFW: Will the character have changed in the bottle? If you open a bottle that is fifty or sixty years old, you find that the whisky is stuffed, numb and closed—it needs air. Swirl it in the glass for five minutes and it will recover. If it has been lying on its side against the cork, sadly that will have an unwanted effect as years ago corks were very heavy and can give quite a flavour. Once any bottle is opened, please finish it! Keep it at an even temperature—not in the sun or an illuminated cabinet—and a good strong seal is important for keeping the character. But if you have something good then for goodness sake drink it! Once I get to a quarter full, I think that is an awful lot of air and this bottle should be finished soon. Certainly I think it should be within a year. LFW: There are a lot of changes in the industry, including within your own company. It’s not just the drinks industry. The pace of change is increasing dramatically and the need to remain alert is essential if we are to continue being one of the leaders in our trade. I would like to see much more long term thinking, less short term injections, less gloom and doom and more passion. Producing a good Scotch Whisky is not just the achievement of the blender, but everyone in a great team working at distilling, blending and bottling. Slainté to them all. LFW: Your desert island dram? A Whyte & Mackay at lunch time, Bruichladdich 27yo with my afternoon tea and any Dalmore as a night-cap. LFW: Thank you.