“This is a man’s world.” –singer, James Brown

Welcome to the second BUMS (Bureau of Malt Sippers), Women in Whisky profile.

In the predominantly male world of whisky making, a woman you may not have heard of has had a dominant hand in creating some amazing new drams in recent years. Her name is Rachel Barrie.

She is part of the “Whisky Creation Team” at Glenmorangie/Ardbeg and is responsible for some recent “big hits” in the whisky world. I’m talking about releases such as Ardbeg Rollercoaster (released in 2010), Corryvreckan (released in 2008), Supernova (2009 and 2010 releases) and the 2009 release of Uigeadail (Winner of Jim Murray’s 2009 Whisky of the Year award). On the Glenmorangie side there’s Astar and Signet (both launched in 2008), as well as Sonnalta PX and Finealta (both launched in 2010, Finealta available only in Duty Free shops).

But she is not alone in her job of shepherding new releases to market. Also on the team is Dr. Bill Lumsden, Head of Distilling and Whisky Creation.

As part of that team, Rachel, who holds the title, Whisky Creator and Master Blender, helped develop their wood management policies, which have to do with how wood is selected and dried to produce the ideal American whisk(e)y barrel, later used to age Single Malt Scotch.

At Glenmorangie much has been made of their persnickety requirements for wood.  They are so particular that they actually own some of the oak stands in the Ozarks of Missouri, which they insist produce the finest wood to be used in barrels for aging whisky.  After air drying for two years, a technique believed to produce a superior, more open grain to the wood, these special staves from hand selected trees are coopered into barrels and used by Jack Daniels to mature their Tennessee Whisky before being shipped to Scotland and used as first refill barrels for Scotch aging.

Rachel is the first woman in history to earn the title “Master Blender.”

“I’ve been extremely lucky,” says Barrie, “and still feel very honored to be in my job. For me, whisky is a passion and a hobby, so I feel very fortunate to do what I love. Through my passion, I have an endless desire to keep learning about all the distilleries in Scotland (and the world), the science and technology of what makes every whisky so special, and how to unlock flavor characteristics from the barley and oak.

“I’ve spent nearly 20 years building up knowledge and experience, so important to my job…sensory experience through nosing nearly 80,000 samples of whisky. I’m one lucky lady to have been given the chance!”

Barrie started her sojourn into the world of Whisky Glitterati humbly, when she joined Scottish & Newcastle brewery as an analytical chemist. That led to the more sensory driven task of evaluating beers for aroma and taste.  This was the beginning of developing her keen nosing abilities, which have served her well ever since.

She also worked at the Scotch Whisky Research Institute, where she and Jim Swan did research into perfecting the art of wood maturation where she was the only female scientist in the maturation and blending department.

Her career at Glenmorangie PLC began in 1995. 

At that time the company was still owned by the MacDonald family, which also owned Glen Moray and Ardbeg, which it had brought back to life in 1997. 

In 2004 Glenmorangie and Ardbeg came under new ownership from Moet Hennessey, which is in turn owned by LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey).

During her time with Ardbeg and Glenmorangie, she has analyzed and profiled the Ardbeg stocks through the formation of the whisky creation and sensory laboratory, giving her a base of knowledge to start with when creating new bottlings.

In 1997, along with Bill Lumsden she worked to create what we now know as Signet, a whisky that by special roasting of some of the barley has the effect of creating a dram with an intense chocolate, coffee and butterscotch character. It was nearly 11 years before they perfected and bottled the result, their Magnum Opus, if you will.  The gestation of a new whisky release can indeed be complex, tortuous and lengthy.

I asked Barrie if she could shed a little light on how a new expression comes into being.

“There’s not one process - it involves everything from brainstorming ideas to detailed analysis of the stock profile. If there is a short term requirement (within a year or so), then it is pretty much working with the stock we’ve got, identifying unique or special characteristics that could make a new release. Ardbeg Supernova is a good example of this - I had analyzed the stock profile historically and knew which parcels had higher than usual peating levels.”

But creating Glenmorangie Signet required a more complex approach. Here the Whisky Creation Team innovated from start to finish. 

“We started the process by using tumble roasted chocolate malted barley, and continued innovating with every element thereafter. We experimented with various ratios of roasted chocolate malted barley to normally malted barley, various casking strategies and length of maturation.  Then constant sampling, refinement and further stock selections to create the final taste I had originally imagined at the start  - a rich, robust and distinctive nutty aromatic coffee aroma and taste, like no other malt whisky before.”

Now if I’ve got things right, recently Rachel Barrie has been more responsible for the Ardbeg products and Bill Lumsden, the Glenmorangie drams. So you and I and all the other Peat Freaks have a lot of “Thank You” notes to write to Rachel for the plethora of fantastic Ardbeg products over the last few years.

I am a big fan of Astar (see our tasting notes from 5/21/2009 here) and Signet but for me it’s the Ardbegs, with the peat dripping off of them that take my breath away.

Rollercoaster, a melding of whiskies from 1997 to 2006 is a beautifully balanced dram.

Rated 89 by Hansell, 90.5 by Murray.

Corryvreckan, the original bottling made up of 12-year old bourbon casks and some younger French oak casks. Malt Advocate Whisky of the Year 2010, Hansell rated at 96.  Rated 96.5 by Murray. (Won’t be around forever, so get it while you can.) Amazingly easy drinker considering its high ABV. (See our tasting notes from 4/8/2010 here.)

Supernova.  Over 100 ppm phenol rating. Whoa!  Jim Murray’s Scotch Whisky of the Year Award 2010, rated 97. Hansell rates the 2010 version a 90.

All quite nice but let’s not forget their flagship 10-year old, still excellent and rated a 97 by Murray. A few months ago I tasted the 10 against the Uigeadail and found I actually like the 10 better even though the cask strength Uigeadail is still quite a nice smoky hit with its 54.2%ABV.

All these great whiskies have come out of the Whisky Creation Team brain trust. How does the team work?

“We have monthly meetings (travel permitting of course) as well as ad hoc sampling sessions where we compare the development of various experiments, and discuss what works (and what doesn’t) as well as which development or innovation to focus on next.”

As a trusted member of Scotch’s inner circle at Ardbeg and Glenmorangie, I wondered what occupied her time on a day-to-day basis?

“I am very fortunate in having tremendous variety in my job. I could be running tastings or education sessions for part of the day, approving whisky for vatting and bottling throughout the day, or experimenting with a new cask selection recipe or filling.

“I am also lucky to be selecting casks for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society [now owned by LVMH] in addition to my role with Glenmorangie and Ardbeg, so this gives me the opportunity to work with the other malts in Scotland (and elsewhere in the world too). I have a lot of freedom to be creative with Glenmorangie and Ardbeg, suggest new ideas and experiment, and for me this is the most exciting part of the job - creating new and unique tongue-tingling taste profiles or experimenting with barley and oak to unlock a surprising flavor dimension.”

After 20 years in the business of nosing, testing and creating whiskies, I asked what changes, good or bad, Barrie had observed.

“It’s all been good.  The whisky industry has never been so successful, and we are just at the start of an exciting future. Malt whisky is growing round the world, and it’s fantastic how drinkers (young and old, male and female) are getting a taste for it. The industry is having a real relevance to drinkers in the 21st century with packaging that oozes quality, and amazing layers of flavor complexity, whilst being steeped in Scotland’s heritage, provenance and culture.”

What had been her biggest professional challenge so far?

Fortunate for us too.

If her drive and success in creating new and exciting bottlings is any indication, we need more like her in the “man’s world” of Whisky Making.

A big “Thanks,” from me and probably from thousands more whisky fans to Rachel Barrie and Bill Lumsden and all the folks at Ardbeg and Glenmorangie who have created some truly exceptional whiskies, year in and year out.  Cheers to them and their warming, delightful drams!

Links to other media on Rachel Barrie:

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/8099/Tongue-twisters-The-new-Glenmorangie.4719905.jp

Video of Barrie and Murray discussing 2009 Uigeadail: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8KMlVEIVo0

Other Women in Whisky Blog Posts:

Demystifying Single Malt Scotch, Holiday Food Pairings and Music featuring Heather Greene

Kristy Lark and the Lark Distillery in Tasmania, Australia

Who’s Making the Only Welsh Single Malt? featuring Gillian Macdonald