The Famous Grouse recipe to be passed on to the next generationJohn Ramsay, Master Blender for The Edrington Group has announced that he will be retiring from his position on 31 July 2009. Following a two and half year handover, Gordon Motion, will take over as the company’s new Master Blender.
The position of Master Blender is unquestionably one of the most important and complex roles held in the whisky industry, highlighted by the fact that only six such positions exist across all of the major Scottish distillers.
Master blenders are most well-known for their unique skill in the fine art of nosing whisky. In any one day John can nose up to 600 samples to check their quality and consistency. This requires a very acute sense of smell, and means that the Master Blender has to make some personal sacrifices – namely not wearing aftershave or eating garlic as they impair the senses and taking every measure possible not to get a cold!
