Whisky drinkers today are younger than they were earlier: Dewar's Stephanie Macleod

In the over 170-year-plus history of Dewar's, a leading blended Scotch whisky brand under the Bacardi portfolio, there have been only seven master blenders. Stephanie Macleod is the only woman to hold that position. It is her job as master blender, to combine different malt and grain whiskies from all over Scotland in order to achieve a consistent, balanced flavour in every bottle. 

She was in India recently for the launch of the Dewar's Double Double series where Stephanie has created a unique four stage ageing process. In a free-flowing conversation with Business Today she spoke about the Double Double series, what is it like to be a woman in a male-dominated industry, resonating with a younger customer and what makes a good Scotch whisky. Edited excerpts: 
 
BT: Could you tell us a little more about the Double Double series? 

SM: We are launching the Dewar's Double Double series with the 21-year-old, the 27-year-old and the 32-year-old. As a company we were challenging ourselves to producing our smoothest whisky yet. 

All the Dewar's range is double aged and that means once we bring the blend of malts and grains together, we then put it all back in specially selected oak casks, for an additional period of maturation that we call double ageing.  

And that allows all the different malts and grains to interact with one another to give an enhanced level of smoothness. It costs us a lot of money and time, but we truly believe it makes our whisky smoother.  

We do a four-stage ageing process. We started off with ageing it in its original cask for 21, 27 and 32 years, respectively. The second stage was drawing on the first master blender, AJ Cameron's double aging experience. He would double age the malts according to the region. So, I thought why don't we blend the malts together and double age them, blend the grains together and double age those and then after months we brought them out as a blended Scotch whisky. We double aged it again for around a month. Then the 21-year-old was put in an Oloroso sherry cask, 27 into the Palo Cortado sherry casks, and the 32-year-old in the Pedro Ximenez sherry casks.  

We wanted each one to represent a different Dewar's style. So, the 21-year-old has toffee and floral notes, the 27-year-old has citrus and honey and the 32-year-old has smoky notes.  

BT: There aren't too many master blenders who are women. What is it like to be in such a male-dominated industry? 

SM: It's not that much male dominated now. I have been in the role since 2006.  It was daunting to take on the role because Dewar's is such a big brand. And there weren't too many women for me to look up to as role models. But now what we try to do at Bacardi and what I try to do with my own team is to ensure that we have diversity. We now have someone who has relocated from Bacardi India to Scotland and is working as an assistant blender. Her dream is to become a master blender. It's very important to me that there is always diverse talent for making Scotch whisky. 

BT: How have things changed? 

SM: Now more and more women are drinking whisky. There was a perception that whisky was a man's drink. But there is a whisky out there for everyone. Some whiskies are light in character, some are creamy, some are peaty. So, you just have to find your perfect whisky. 

Also, during the lockdown, a lot more women started drinking whisky. They were doing online tasting sessions. Also, we never say drink whisky a particular way. We say enjoy it the way you like it.  

BT: Whisky cocktails are now popular. Is the cocktail culture helping the whisky industry? 

SM: Undoubtedly. In India, for instance, earlier people stopped drinking when the food arrived. But now they are having whisky cocktails even with food. It's great to see that people are enjoying it in a different way. India is priority market for Bacardi and for Dewar's.  

Globally too whisky cocktails have picked up. We, along with other companies, have been trying to show people that there are other ways to enjoy whisky. People now have home bars but they still enjoy going out and have someone else make cocktails for them.  

BT: Dewar's has a lot of history and heritage. How do you ensure that Dewar's resonates with a younger customer?   

SM: Whisky drinkers today are younger than they were earlier. One of the things we have done with the double aged series is to prove that you can add flavour to whisky, without adding flavouring. We innovate a lot. We were the first to use mezcal casks for Scotch whisky. We are introducing the Dewar's 8 Japanese Smooth in India. Mizunara oak is grown in Japan and we had casks made out of it and shipped to Scotland. We then filled it with the Dewar's 8-year-old. It's given it a different character. It's a whisky meant for cocktails. When you are starting out on your whisky journey, sometimes just having a whisky on its own can seem daunting. If you are mixing it with things familiar to you, it makes it that much more inviting.  

BT: What kind of challenges do you face as a master blender? 

SM: The main challenge is that we never have enough whisky. It's a great problem to have. Every year we get forecasts for demand and it just goes up.  

BT: What makes a good Scotch whisky? 

SM: If it has Dewar's on the label, then that's a start (laughs). At Dewar's we are committed to making an age statement for our whiskies and I think our drinkers like that. But for me personally a good whisky is one which is interesting. Something you can talk about. Discuss with your friends. So, interest, great flavour and age statements make a great whisky.

Also read: World's most expensive bottle of whisky to be auctioned in the UK