Starting in the early 1990s, Dr. Rachel Barrie’s whisky journey is long, colorful, and successful. Over the years, the acclaimed whisky maker has worked with some of the Scotch industry’s biggest players, creating malts for such well-known distilleries as Bowmore, Ardbeg, or Glenmorangie. In her current role as Master Blender and Senior Leader at Brown-Forman, Rachel works with the company’s three production units in Scotland: The Glendronach and Glenglassaugh in the Highlands as well as Benriach in Speyside.

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Two of these – The Glendronach and Benriach – were in the center of the attention at a recent promo tour through Germany, in the course of which Rachel and the Brown-Forman team also stopped by in my hometown of Hamburg. Luckily, when it came to compiling the list of invitees, my name was brought up, too. So I joined up with my pal Andy AKA the Whisky Captain (who was my +1 that night) to “raise expectations” with The Glendronach and indulge into “a world of flavour” with Benriach.

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The address on the invitation led us to Villa im Heine-Park, a high-toned residence located in the west of the city. There, we found ourselves right in the middle of spectacular whisky extravaganza. The first part of the evening was all about The Glendronach, which got celebrated with flamboyancy and bravado. Among others, we were treated to a fancy three-course flying buffet, skilful cocktail creations, an enthusiastic speech by Rachel, a dram of the signature 12 Years Old, and even a Flamenco performance that paid homage to the Spanish oak in which the spirit is kept. Also, we got to see the overhauled bottles for The Glendronach’s core range. As the result of a recent re-branding, the boxes and labels now sport a modernized design that looks slick and fresh on the one hand, but still contains a classic vibe on the other. If I understood correctly, the recipes of the malts remained untouched. Nevertheless, I also heard some voices claiming that the lavishly sherried drams would taste a little different now than they did before …

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Next to the 12 Year Old, which we sipped together, we got to try some more ‘Dronachs, too. Upon request, the Brown Forman team was happy to fill our glasses with the 15 Year Old, the 18 Year Old and – as a special treat – even a 31-year-old Vintage 1991 drawn from a single Pedro Ximenez sherry cask. Needless to say, these exquisite single malts as well as the Glendronach-based cocktails we got at the bar (Spanish Highball, Rob Roy, and Bramble Sour) did a first-class job introducing and representing this outstanding Highlands distillery.

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For our rendevouz with Benriach, we were then devided into three groups and led upstairs one after another. There, Rachel bid us welcome into the Speyside unit’s wonderfully fruity, fresh, and delicate world. As we drank a glass of the 10 Years Old and nibbled a fingerlicking-good macarone, we learned a lot about production site in general and its processes in particular. Afterwards, we were invited to explore the distillery’s broad core range – which consists of unpeated, peated, and triple distilled expressions – at the open bar. The whiskies available there had ages from ten to twenty-five years printed on their labels; and at least the ones I tried were all really nice. In the preciding tasting session with Racel, it was said that drinking a dram of Benriach resembles a stroll through an orchard in full blossom … and I must say that I find this comparision very, very fitting.

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All in all, this really marked a fantastic opportunity to not only get to know The Glendronach and Benriach a lot better, but also to meet the people that drive these two longstanding production sites – including their skilfull Master Blender and passionate Senior Leader: Dr. Rachel Barrie! Before I come to a close, I’d like to take a moment to virtually toast everyone who helped put this evening together. And I’d especially like thank Flo from Kammer-Kirsch (the distributor of all three of Brown-Forman’s Scotsh brands here in Germany) for bringing my name into play and suggesting the hosts to send me an invitation as well. Cheers, cheers … and see ya soon!

by Tobi

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The Glendronach: https://www.glendronachdistillery.com/ (Distillery)
Kammer-Kirsch: https://www.kammer-kirsch.de/ (Distributor)
Museumshafen Oevelgönne: https://www.villa-im-heine-park.de/ (Location)

*** I was kindly invited to the event by Brown-Forman. Thank you. ***