The world’s first female master blender in Scotch whisky, Rachel Barrie, was originally destined for the medical profession – but her nose scuppered that particular line of work. 

“I left school to study medicine and realised I had a very sensitive sense of smell. When I started doing anatomy and carving up dead bodies I realised it was not for me – the formaldehyde and other smells. I changed to chemistry and concentrated on creating smells and colours and reaction.

“A big part of distilling is chemistry, it’s alchemy so it’s easy to transfer skills.” She sees her work as bringing the art to blending, using psychology to create aroma and taste. “It’s creativity, science and art,” she says. “It’s thinking about bringing the whisky to life and connecting with the drinker.”

So medicine’s loss was distilling’s gain as Barrie managed to breach the ranks of males who dominated the industry to make her significant mark on the business.

First taste

Since the age of seven, when she had her first taste of one of the Scotches she is now most associated with, Glen Garioch, Barrie has been imbued with the spirit of the Highlands spirit, a passionate imparter of wisdom about the way in which it reflects the local terroir, from its waters to its heathers by way of its honey.

To date she has nosed some 130,000 casks – “not many people have done that” – and is dedicated to broadening the demographic of whisky appreciation. “The human element is still the arbiter of quality,” says Barrie. “There’s not a machine that can do my job. It’s the best job in the world, creating new exciting whiskies, being an ambassador for the industry.”

So back to that first taste of Glen Garioch. Barrie says she has “very firm memories of when my grandmother used to give me milk and honey and whisky. It’s a well-known north east cure for earache. Of course I had earache every weekend after that”. 

That was back in 1977, five years after the brand was launched as a single malt, at that time for Inverurie local consumption, although the distillery has been operating in the market town of Oldmeldrum, near Aberdeen, since 1797, making it one of Scotland’s oldest.

Serendipity

The young Barrie set off on her medical studies at Edinburgh University and, on her discovery that her nose was too sensitive for those anatomy classes, transferred to chemistry, gaining a first class degree. From there she was offered jobs in pharmaceuticals and the oil industry, but says: “It was serendipity that led me into distilling.”

She explains: “I helped set up a malt whisky appreciation society at Edinburgh University although I had not made a connection with distilling. Very few people went into that line of work from university – they went from school as mash men or malt men, and it was mainly men as it was very hard and physical labour.

“I was offered a job at the Scotch Whisky Research Institute, one of only 20 people looking into the science and technology of whisky [now the technical arm of SWA], having to do with authenticity, measuring what’s in it, protecting it, researching everything from the barley to the oak casks to creating a flavour wheel which encapsulated hundreds of flavours. 

“I worked there for four years – people didn’t realise how amazingly complex it is.”

Barrie makes a comparison between wine production and whisky production and pronounces that there’s more choice in the flavours that can come out of whisky, which is “why there’s been such a rise in interest in whisky over the past few years”.

She adds: “In the 80s people were starting to do that with wine. Now there’s a rise in whisky connoisseurship. Whisky is getting more global appeal, a lot of it coming through the web. People have access to the knowledge and more people are visiting distilleries. 

“I just joined Twitter in February and I am amazed at how many people are Tweeting about it. There’s a real widening of the demographic. Now just about every university in the UK has a whisky appreciation society and every city has a whisky festival, which is all fairly recent – the past five years or so. 

“It’s now cool to like malt whisky. Celebrities are being associated with it. Individual distilleries are more like wine châteaux – there’s a sense of terroir, place and culture and people are really engaging with that. There’s a unique taste from each distillery.”

Rising star

Barrie’s first taste of whisky industry production was with Glenmorangie, where she remained for 16 years, rising through the ranks from product development to become master blender in 2003. 

“Morrison Bowmore approached me two years ago and the opportunity to work with my home whisky was very close to my heart.” She is master blender now for Bowmore, Auchentoshan and Glen Garioch, working on the core range, product development, maturation and deciding on taste and spirit quality. She is the creator of new expressions, backed by a team of four.

But, given the very masculine element that has until now dominated Scotch whisky, just how did Barrie manage to gain her elevated position?

“Because I came in as a research scientist in a very expert side and focusing on flavour and sensory aspects it was a fairly easy transition. It was an area at the time that was developing and an opportunity to be at the forefront of understanding.” 

Barrie cites the research projects in which she was involved. “I analysed oak from Hungary, the US and Spain to discover what was best for whisky maturation. Once you have an expert knowledge you have the credentials. More women are now starting to come through, mostly again from the technical side, similar to me.”

And the peripheral elements to Barrie’s role put her in a strong position to spread the word – she judges competitions and holds tastings for women around the world to widen the demographic.

“I did a tasting recently in New York and there were 150 women in the room, so I am hoping I can bring more women into the world of whisky. The demographic used to be 40-plus men, but now it’s moved to be a lot more about attitude and taste than a traditional demographic. There are now women going straight to Islay whisky to enjoy the peaty taste. I find women who have an adventurous taste in food love the taste of Glen Garioch. It’s a wholesome taste, a lot like artisanal foods.“I was brought up on mince and tatties as a child – the staple food was very plain and simple. Now you can get Scottish wasabi, there are lots more fusion foods around.”

Rare gift

Barrie clearly has a rare gift for isolating and explaining how flavours and smells come through in her whiskies and her knowledge and enthusiasm are a hallmark of her tastings. Consider how she describes Glen Garioch’s production: “Another unusual characteristic is the extremely short spirit cut, one of the shortest in the industry, running from 75% to 69% abv.  

“This almost eclectic combination of long lyne arm and extremely short spirit cut in distillation creates a unique alchemy in the stills at high alcohol strength; it encourages significant reactions to take place in the highly active vapour phase of distillation as the vapour reacts with the copper to promote lots of apple and pear fruits and long-chain waxy esters, activating malt spices, and creating complex meaty and honeyed malt flavours. “The result is a richly fruity, complex and spicy new-make spirit with deep malty notes, milky lipids and meaty/leathery base notes.  

“All these flavours remind me of the smells of growing up in the Garioch district, surrounded by barley fields, the commanding and undulating body of the Bennachie mountain range, picking apples and berries in the summer months, the sweet smells from the local milk dairies and my grandfather’s beehives and juicy fruit-laden greenhouses.” If that doesn’t have you reaching for the decanter, I don’t know what will.

Legacy

As well as leaving a legacy in her malt creations, Barrie may have bequeathed a second-generation expert on the sector in the shape of one of her three sons. “My middle son is nearly 12 and has just done a project on distilling for school. He’s showing a significant interest in the industry. I do hope one of the three joins.”

Barrie also has a passion for playing jazz and classical piano, running half marathons and collecting vintage motorbikes – and she likes to imbue her whiskies with elements of the things that fire her.

“I create whisky but I fuse it with science, with food, with art and things I love that help bring it to life. “I feel like I am home now. I’m 44 years old this year and there’s a sense of having arrived.”