Glenfiddich's top whiskey master reveals the key to Single Malt success

On an unseasonably warm day in Scotland's Speyside region, the sun shone brightly on the warehouses and trademark pagodas on the grounds of the Glenfiddich distillery. Scotland has a reputation for being foggy, gloomy and cold – in the most wonderful and atmospheric ways. But there was not a cloud in the sky or a drop of rain to be seen.

It might not have looked like sipping scotch. But after touring the distillery grounds, I visited one of the oldest warehouses, where Glenfiddich malt master Brian Kinsman shared flavors of the whiskey straight from the cask.

Of the more than 150 distilleries in Scotland, Glenfiddich is one of the largest and most popular. The distillery is owned by the family-run William Grant & Sons, which owns The Balvenie, Hendrick's Gin, Reyka Vodka and blended whiskey brands such as Grant's and Monkey Shoulder. Glenfiddich dwarfs them all in terms of size and scale. The brand's hugely popular core range includes 12- to 18-year-old single malts, experimental releases like Fire & Cane, and much older whiskeys made in various casks as part of the Grand Series.

Kinsman and I retreated to a quiet corner to talk more about the Glenfiddich DNA after the tour. He's a quiet presence but clearly an expert on all things whiskey – as you'd expect after more than two decades in the industry, partly under the tutelage of legendary, now-retired malt master David Stewart MBE of The Balvenie fame.

Kinsman has worked at William Grant & Sons since 1997, but even at this point in his career, he still feels the urge to experiment: “You have to push the boundaries, try to be a little innovative and see where it leads,” he says. “I see it as my role to constantly be an agitator and think long-term.”

Here's what Kinsman had to say about the “conscience” of single malt production, the care of “living whisky” and the delicate balance of combining innovation with proud tradition in the world's biggest Scotch brand.

Men's Magazine: How did you get the malt master title? What does this really mean?

Brian Kinsman: I think it was originally a William Grant title because my business is the master blender. The words “blending” and “single malt” can be confusing, so a malt master is the single malt version of a master blender, and this is to make it clear that we are not blending.

Simply put, my job is to make sure that every drop that goes into the bottle is exactly what we want it to be. His final sign: “Is this correct and we're happy to send it to market?” it's my call.

How would you describe the essential character of Glenfiddich?

It is a constant balance of fruit and oak notes. Both gradually increase in intensity as you go through the ages – starting with that light, subtle, surprisingly flavorful new spirit that doesn't have big, heavy notes.

I always use the analogy of cooking. When you make a sauce, you intuitively know that reducing the sauce will make it deeper, richer, and more intense. Making whiskey is like that – except it takes 30 years instead of 30 minutes. So it's the process of gradually concentrating the flavor and controlling it over decades.

How do you age Glenfiddich?

Our biggest building block is what I call recharge wood, or wood that has been in our system for 10-20 years. It can be American or European oak, but basically it provides a fine, light touch and a solid Glenfiddich character.

Then you have ex-bourbon barrels. Ex-bourbon tends to have big vanilla, toffee and sweet notes – that vanilla note is really forward. Then there's the European sherry oak where you get a dark ruby ​​character and it's almost hard to tell which distillery it's from because it's so strong in the cask.

Simply put, this is how Glenfiddich 12, 18 and 30 are made. The refill barrel itself is great, but a bit thin. The ex-bourbon cask is great on its own, but it's too one-dimensional vanilla. And the sherry cask doesn't represent Glenfiddich because it's so intense. A marriage is better than its parts.

How do you select the casks that go into a batch of Glenfiddich?

I am part of a team of three whiskey blenders. We select all the barrels and tell you exactly which barrel we want to include in each lot. We also check that everything is in order by random sampling.

Then there is a sensory panel here in the distillery. They receive a sample immediately after depositing and making the batch. The distillery's laboratory performs the initial checks.

Mixtures receive the same treatment. What you fear is drifting. It's very easy to slowly drift away from what you think is perfect, so you should always try to bring yourself back.

The solera vat is a vital part of maintaining the true character of Glenfiddich. How does it work?

We first filled the solera tub in 1998 and it has never been emptied. So that tub has been working continuously for 26 years. The original premise was to create a live whiskey to create a consistency where 50 percent of the volume in the bottle came from the previous batch.

Today, the 15-year-old whiskey we bottle contains a tiny, tiny, tiny amount of the batch that was first bottled in 1998. There really isn't a more consistent way to produce a product than to build continuously. the former. And now we've expanded to a bunch of different products.

Do consumers understand that blending, despite its connotations, is part of single malt production when it comes to barrel selection?

The average consumer does not. Sometimes I'm surprised that even whiskey enthusiasts don't really know what's going on. I believe the concept of mixing different barrels is not known at the consumer level.

Proper whiskey fans get it, but everyone else doesn't. I don't think consumers will jump at the discovery that a bottle of whiskey comes from potentially 100-200 barrels in a batch selected by a master maltster.

How do you balance consistency and experimentation while staying true to the brand?

You have to wear two hats. This distillery is 140 years old and single malts have been around since the 60s, so it's our responsibility to keep it going. Don't compromise on quality. Keep everything in order. Stock up on casks that we know will make 12, 18 and 30 year old whiskey without risk.

If you do it right, it earns you the freedom to do other things – the fun of just trying something. You might get something unusual, one day you do a slightly different distillation on the experimental stills to see what happens. You can play freely in a distillery this large, but you have to earn the right by maintaining the core.

Is there a limit to what you can do with barrel surfaces, or is there more to explore?

Every time I think we're done, something else comes along. Some people make spirits, use barrels and do unusual things in many places. There are little nuances, like a winemaker doing something unusual, that we can go back to see if that barrel worked for us. So there will definitely be more to come.

We did a Tabasco barrel finish and I was honestly interested. It wasn't Glenfiddich, it was a blend – and it doesn't taste like Scotch at all, but I really like it. It just makes me smile.

The guidelines of the Scotch Whiskey Association have recently been expanded. How would you say they have changed?

It was expanded, but more importantly, it was clarified. It wasn't really that they unlocked a bunch of new stuff. They just made it really clear: Prove that this barrel came from a traditional source; prove that you are aging it traditionally; and to demonstrate that it still retains the traditional qualities of Scotland. If you do all that, you're home and dehydrated.

Brand ambassadors see things and taste things around the world. We have a great network of people who donate food and eventually the next thing comes.

How can you ensure that the next generations of distillers receive quality whisky?

Don't compromise and be the conscience of the distillery. It would be dead easy to rob some accountant somewhere and say, “Let's not do it. Do not use a wooden back rest. We choose stainless steel because it is cheaper. Let's stop the marriage process because it's just a pain.”

But I see my role as an agitator all the time: “No, keep it.” Think long term. We fill warehouses with whiskey that people will bottle in 30 or 40 years, so we have to be sure that they won't disappoint us. It is very important to pass it on to the next generation.

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