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Interview
with The Famous Grouse Master Blender
Kirsteen Campbell.
Following the recent
The Famous Grouse ‘Masters of the Famous
Blend’ event which I attended in Glasgow I got the
opportunity to sit down with The Famous
Grouse Master Blender Kirsteen Campbell
and put a few questions to her about
what her job involves with Scotland's
favourite and the UK's best selling
Scotch
blended whisky.
William Morrison:
Can you tell me a little about your
background/qualifications and how did
you discover you had a nose to be a
master blender and what was your career
path to where you are now?
Kirsteen Campbell: Well my background is
in Food Science, I left Thurso back in
the 1990s to go to university in Glasgow
and study Food Science. I think back
then career wise I was looking to get
into either the food or drinks industry
and I was very fortunate that the first
job I went for, which was a temporary
job, I was successful and that was with
Diageo and it all started off from that.
In terms of realising that I had a sense
of smell, I don't think anyone does
until they have there nose tested,
people get there eyes and hearing
testing but how many people get there
sense of smell tested. That was one of
the things at Diageo, as well as working
in the lab doing chemical analysis I was
on the sensory panel as I had passed
that test and the sensory work evolved
from there.
What are your
day to day duties as The Famous Grouse
Master Blender, what kind of numbers of
samples would you nose in a day? Surely
you are not alone assessing samples for
a whisky as big as the Famous Grouse,
have you a team to assist you with
sampling?
At Edrington, the parent company for The
Famous Grouse, I am the Master Blender
who looks after blends, there is a
Master Whisky Maker who looks after
Highland Park Glenrothes and Glenturret
and a sensory analyst who does a lot of
the day to day nosing for us like today
when I am off site as well as that
Macallan up north have their own sensory
sample room and a team looking after The
Macallan range.
Basically there are 3 of us working on
the Famous Grouse in Glasgow.
How many
samples would you get through on average
in a day, 500 , 1000, more?
On a busy day in the sample room we
could get through 500 or 600 samples
across all the products that we blend,
also for The Famous Grouse we have guys
at the distilleries who can assess
casks, then it comes to us.
With the
Famous Grouse being one of the world’s
most popular Scotch blended whiskies it
will obviously be bottled in large
batches, can you give me some details
about what would go into a single batch
of The Famous Grouse such as the
percentage mix of grain and single malt,
number of barrels or litres that would
go into each batch? And is it more
difficult to keep consistency in a
larger batch bottling or is a larger
batch more forgiving?
In terms of volume and scale, we
calculated last year that we blend the
equivalent of an Olympic size swimming
pool every month of Famous Grouse, its
big volumes, lots of nosing of casks,
with 80,000 casks checked every year for
the Famous Grouse. Famous Grouse is a
blend of different malt whiskies and
different grain whiskies.
So the grain
whisky isn't just North British?
It is the main grain whisky we use in
the Famous Grouse but not the only one.
Obviously the
different grain mix will make a
difference, would you say the flavours
differ between different grain whiskies
you use?
Yes the grains do differ, you can get
different flavours coming through from
the different distillation columns. In
terms of malts in the Famous Grouse the
ones which I can tell you about is
Highland Park, The Macallan and
Glenturret.
Yes that is
the single malts we always hear
mentioned in regards to the Famous
Grouse but in reality how many malts
would go into a batch of The Famous
Grouse, 30, 40, 50 or does it vary
considerably?
It does vary, the malt/grain ration we
don't reveal, I don't think any master
blender for
a blend will tell you that, its one of
the closely kept secrets in the sample
room. In terms of numbers they do vary
and that's because when we put our
blends together they are awfully complex
and we have core grains and core malts
which we use in every blend as well as
that we have third parties which are
grouped according to flavour, so we
might for example say we need 10 casks
from that one flavour group we might
pick 10 different distilleries or we
might pick 10 casks from one distillery
and that is why the numbers vary from
batch to batch but the flavour is
constant.
The grain
whisky component in blended whisky
rarely gets a mention, it was once
considered by whisky drinkers to be a
neutral spirit but with the surging
popularity of all styles of whisky
including grain whisky, whisky drinkers
are now realising that it isn’t quite
the neutral spirit it was once thought
to be. Can you tell me a little about
the grain component in The Famous Grouse
blend?
You're right to raise that and for me
grain whisky is absolutely not neutral
in terms of flavour.
As far as the
grain whisky component in the Famous
Grouse is concerned, is it all matured
in Bourbon casks?
We have some grain whisky from sherry
casks as well. Every aspect of malt
whisky in the Famous Grouse is
replicated in the grain whisky, the
quality of the casks, age, we put as
much emphasise on all these factors for
the grains as we do the malts.
I know you
had Snow Grouse in the past but given
the increasing popularity of all styles
of whiskies have you any plans to add
any grain whiskies to the Famous Grouse
range once again?
I think grain whisky is massively
underrated, everyone talks about malts
and when they talk about blends its
about what malts are in their but the
grain is so important and I think it is
a good thing that we are beginning to
see such interest in grain whisky.
I know that
it is the cask that makes the whisky and
there is so much you can do with a grain
whisky.
Exactly the quality of the cask and I
have tasted some exceptional aged
grains.
Was the Snow
Grouse in your time at The Famous Grouse?
Yes , and it is still available in
global travel retail.
I understand
why E150a caramel colouring is used in
the big selling blended whiskies which
are not presented in a box or tube and I
realise consumers would question why
their favourite whisky was a different
colour every time they made a purchase.
It is very much a consistency thing, it
is so that when the consumer looks at
the whisky on the shelve and doesn't
wonder why the batches are different.
In your
honest opinion does E150a caramel
colouring add any flavour at all to a
whisky as some whisky drinkers believe
it is used as an additive to obtain
flavour consistency as well as colour
consistency in not only blended whiskies
but single malt whiskies. What is your
opinion on the use of E150a caramel
colourings and do you think E150a
caramel colourings adds even the
slightest hint of flavour to a whisky?
It is very concentrated and if you were
to taste it, it is very bitter not
caramel flavouring, caramel colouring
doesn't add caramel flavour
I have seen
demonstrations where caramel colouring
has been added to water and there is an
odour, admittedly the demonstrator who
was trying to promote their natural
coloured single malt had been heavy
handed with the colouring in the water
but there was definitely an odour?
But the odour is not like caramel and it
would have been concentrated were we are
adding small amounts which would not
impact the flavour at all. That is why
it is permitted as it is not an
additive.
I for one
miss the more premium age statement
bottlings that used to be available in
the Famous Grouse range such as the
excellent Famous Grouse Gold Reserve 12
year old blend and the 10, 15, 18, 21
and 30 year old blended malts and the
limited releases such as the outstanding
Famous Grouse Scottish Oak Finish as
well as a few other older age statement
whiskies. Do you work on new product
development and are we likely to see any
premium additions to The Famous Grouse
range in the near future?
Famous Grouse Gold Reserve 12 year old
is still available in travel retail
(William: although not at Glasgow
airport). In terms of blended malts we
are not doing blended malts anymore. We
are always looking at opportunities and
new innovations but there is nothing that
I can say right now, I cant give you a
big reveal, I would love to but it was
worth a try though.
How much time
do you spend on development of new
products, do you get much time for that?
Are you asked to look into that?
I am looking at some things at the
moment, I would love more time at the
bench, it would be great to be
constantly looking.
Are you
handed down a request to develop a
whisky to sell in a particular market?
You can be, perhaps for a particular
market or a particular flavour style,
that s the interesting part of the job
Out of all
the whiskies you have created or had a
hand in which one are you most proud of
and can you explain what makes it such a
special whisky?
I am going to have to go off brand at
the moment as I have been involved but
cant claim any of the Grouse range,
there were a few with Cutty Sark such as
the Cutty Sark 33 and Tam O'Shanter 25
year old, these were really special
blends but I think probably Cutty Sark
Prohibition because that was a tough one
to create because it was high strength
and the idea behind the Prohibition was
high strength but smooth and that was a
challenge and the one I am proud of from
the general feedback I receive.
I have to
admit that I have never actually had the
Cutty Sark Prohibition but I have heard
good things about it?
Its one to try and give me your
feedback.
Do you have a
personal favourite from The Famous
Grouse range or is that like asking a
parent to say which one of their
children is their favourite?
You know I always go for the the Famous
Grouse Finest if I am out, I like the
Famous Grouse Gold Reserve 12 year old,
that is a good one to have in the
cabinet
Do you work
on any of the Edrington single malts at
all?
I would be there for cover but I am not
responsible for them, as I have said
there is a team of 3 of us here in
Glasgow and we have all got to be able
to blend and make all of the products
and I am familiar with the entire
Edrington portfolio.
When relaxing
at home what is most likely to be the
dram in your glass?
Right now I have got a Famous Grouse 16
year old special edition which is
available at the Glenturret distillery
at The Famous Grouse Experience but I
haven't cracked it open yet, that is
what I am hoping to crack open if we
beat England at the rugby on Saturday.
(sadly I am guessing the seal didn't get
broken unless Kirsteen decided to drown
her sorrows with a few drams on
Saturday)
Many Thanks
To Kirsteen.
Many thanks to Kirsteen for taking the
time to chat with me and for giving us
an insight into the world of the Master
Blender for Scotland's favourite blended
whisky and the UK's best selling blended
whisky.
You will find the current range of The
Famous Grouse available from specialist online
whisky retailers such as
Master of Malt
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