Fukuyo joins others already announced as participating in the conference, including keynote speaker Dame Anne Glover, former chief scientific adviser to the European Union, and Dr James Brosnan, director of the Scotch Whisky Research Institute.

The WDSC organising committee says they will join a range of experts from the global distilling industry who will congregate in Glasgow from May 29 to June 1 to share their knowledge and latest thinking on the spirits sector.

The theme of the conference is ‘Local roots; global reach: delivering distilling expertise to the world’. The Scottish section of the Institute of Brewing & Distilling is hosting the sixth WDSC at the Hilton Hotel in the centre of Glasgow, with hundreds of delegates expected to attend. 

Fukuyo was appointed chief blender of Suntory whisky in 2009 and executive officer in 2014. He is responsible for the liquid quality of all of the seven million cases of Suntory whisky brands as well as the research and development section of whisky production.

Shinji Fukuyo said: “I am very honored that Suntory has been chosen as the closing lecturer for this historic and prominent academic conference. As a result of acquiring US-Based Beam Inc. in 2014, Suntory has now transformed into a truly global whisky company that not only owns Japanese whisky brands but a wide variety of Scotch, Irish, Bourbon, and Canadian whisky brands as well.

“In accordance to the conference’s theme, I would like to speak about how to develop the making of whisky globally while still being mindful of our local roots.”

Another  draw of the conference, the organisers say, is its technical tour programme which this year includes visits to Glenmorangie’s Alba bottling site and Glen Turner’s Starlaw grain distillery. Both these visits are within easy reach of Glasgow and attendees at the conference are advised to sign up early if they would like to take part.

AWDSC chairman lan Kennedy said: “Next year’s event is shaping up to be better than ever before. We’re delighted to be attracting high-profile speakers from across the globe, such as Shinji Fukuyo who will share his in-depth expertise of the sprits industry. And we were pleased to receive more than 100 abstracts from people looking to actively participate in the conference.

“Our technical tours always prove popular with conference delegates looking to see the distilling industry in Scotland first hand.”