Meet the Maker: Myriam Mackenzie

Myriam Mackenzie, senior account manager and Cask Trade legend.

Myriam hails from the heart of Malt Whisky Country, having grown up within walking distance of five distilleries. It’s safe to say, she knows a delicious whisky when she sees it so of course, she was the natural choice to help us select which whisky to bottle to celebrate the Cask Trade Tartan.

Her career has taken her across the globe, so we sat down with Myriam to chat about how different ideas of craftmanship, tradition and storytelling have changed the way she thinks about Scotch.

Keira Watkins: Growing up in Speyside, you saw whiskey all around you from a young age. What was your perception of the whisky industry before you got into it yourself?

Myriam Mackenzie: “So, I always thought of it as quite a rural agricultural product. Speyside has 60 or more distilleries, so you would have distilleries everywhere. But I also understood that it was quite internationally recognized. My mum is French and my grandmother, who lived in France, always wanted a bottle of whisky when we came to visit her. So, I could see there was a lot of appeal not just from the French market, but going through the airport as well, you'd always see lots of different Scotch whiskies.”

KW: Did you feel like it was always an industry you wanted to be part of, or did that realisation happen more gradually?

MM: “It happened more gradually. I went to university in Edinburgh. I really enjoyed studying outside of the countryside, the Speyside countryside. But then I did quite a lot traveling and that's where I started to see Scotch whisky was really quite highly regarded and appreciated. So, that made me think, oh, maybe I could go back to Scotland, learn more about whisky and make this a career.”

KW: Your career has taken you through distilleries, brands, now into cask sales. How has your opinion of the industry been shaped and changed as you've moved through that journey?

MM: “I’ve been in whisky 12 years now and mainly in export sales. So, I've always had this element of travel and seeing what Scotch whiskies are out in different export markets. And I'd say that whether, I’ve been working in a traditional distillery or a modern independent brand, there's always demand for Scotch whisky. I found that working in it, it's a really welcoming place and it's very well received internationally.”

KW: Having worked across distilleries and independent brands, have you noticed the whisky industry becoming more open to new voices and new ways of doing things?

MM: “Yeah, I think it's definitely changed, even in the decade or so that I've worked in it. It's a tougher market now economically, so I think brands are adapting to more entry level products and also bringing in new consumers. I think there's some more focus on maybe the marketing of whisky towards these new consumers. Quite a good example of that is the Whisky Show London, held by the Whiskey Exchange. They have just launched a whisky event for novices. I think that's just a good example of the powerhouse retailers trying to bring in new consumers, new products and I see that as a positive thing. It’s just more variety, new faces to the industry and all together giving it a wider appeal.”

KW: This collaboration brings together different forms of Scottish craftsmanship through the whisky, through the tartan, through us at Cask Trade, bringing it together. Why was it important to you to get involved within the team with this collaboration?

MM: “So for me, a collaboration should be something that's kind of natural, organic, bringing together different backgrounds and experiences to create an engaging story for a wide audience. So, for me, it felt like it was something that went beyond just the whisky drinker. I think the collaboration between fashion and distillery and then, you know, a cask sales perspective really brings together something that's quite unique as a bottling, but also as bringing together very different backgrounds of people working in the industry.”

KW: Part of this collaboration involved picking the whisky that we bottled. We were sent some lovely samples by Nc’nean and you were pivotal in selecting the sample. What were you looking for in a liquid to make it worthy of being bottled for this collaboration?

MM: “I think predominantly I was looking for something that had a wide appeal. Also, you know, beyond the kind of typical whisky drinker, I wanted something that would be, I guess, a crowd pleaser, but also something that had an edge that was a little bit different.

So, when we think of Scotch whisky, traditionally we think of bourbon cask, sherry cask, peated whisky, those types of more standard ideas.

But tasting the range from Nc’nean, the samples were really varied. We had bourbon cask, we had STR red wine casks, we had Tokai and an oloroso sherry cask as well. Having tasted all of them, I landed on the STR red wine cask, an eight-year-old whisky and this one, for me, tasted delicious. It was very fruit forward, had a lot of depth to it, and I think also just the notion of STR red wine casks.

So, STR stands for Shaved, Toasted, Re-charred. This method is used to essentially accelerate the maturation of the whisky and then also give it more fruity flavors. Also, the STR method was invented by Scottish biologist and chemist Jim Swan, who I believe was instrumental in the creation of Nc’nean distillery. So, I think that gives it a really modern edge and really brings together the collaboration.”

KW: In your role working with global bottlers, has that changed your perspective about Scotch whisky and just the general whisky market outside of Scotland?

MM: “Yes, definitely. I think globally Scotch whisky is recognized on such a high level. You've got markets that are very well established, a mature like France and Japan that have been importing Scotch whisky for decades. Then you've got other markets that are emerging, markets that are continuing to explore more Scotch whisky and different brands like South Korea and Vietnam. So, there's always some level of appreciation for Scotch whisky. And there are certain markets which I'm embarrassed to say, have a better selection of Scotch whiskey than in Scotland. So, there's definitely a real sense of community and appreciation for Scotch whisky on a global level, which you can't see just living in Scotland. It's something that you've got to go out to the export markets and really experience and the number of whisky bars and different types of whisky available in the shops, for example, in Japan and Taiwan, is just beyond expectation.”

Kw: So, people outside of Scotland often associate Scottish heritage and whisky in a slightly old fashioned, stereotypical, cliché sense, but the industry itself is evolving quickly. What is your opinion on the evolving modern whiskey culture and environment at the moment?

MM: “I think it's really welcoming. I've seen over the last ten years there are certain brands that are marketing in quite a different way, but even just in terms of a wider appeal and not showing the typical old style heritage side of Scotch, I think there's a lot of whisky festivals and events that are really inclusive and attract tourism beyond the kind of traditional whisky drinker.

One example is Feis Ile, which is the whisky festival on the Isle of Islay. That's a festival I've been to a few times. I think it was founded in the 1980s with the principle of promoting Scottish culture and Gaelic heritage. Fast forward to today, each of the distilleries has an open day where they have tastings, they have music, they have cultural activities like family activities. It's really a celebration of Scottish culture in a modern way.

Then you've got other events like the Dramathon, which I've done a done in Speyside, which is essentially a whisky marathon, running through different distilleries and Speyside. That's been going for, I think, ten years, and that's attracting tourism on a different level. It's a modern Scotch whisky culture, but it's also, you know, expanding beyond the consumers and that's something that I see as really positive and very much the modern landscape of whisky today.”

KW: Finally, what kind of voices and stories do you want to see more of in the whisky market in the future?

MM: “I always enjoy hearing about the people and the stories behind the distilleries and the brands. I think it's important to get across the very varied background of different types of people that come to the whisky industry. It can be a chemistry background, it can be a sales background, a languages background, it's not about being in whisky to begin with. I think that's something that's really welcoming about whisky, and it's very much a community.

In terms of new voices and new expressions of whisky that I'd like to see, I think creativity is key and just inclusivity. Whether that's, people working in the warehouse or the cooperage or the sales side of things or blending the whiskies, I think there's room for everyone in whiskey. There's lots of great examples of the younger generation coming into whisky, learning from those that worked in the distilleries and those that worked for brands. It's very much a mix of different people and men and women working in the industry. I think it's important to continue to champion that.”

Learn more about the Cask Trade Tartan and limited edition bottling here.