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In the Studio: Rachel Barrie: Master whisky blender

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Rachel Barrie: Master whisky blender

22/12/2020 GMT

BBC World Service - In the Studio, Rachel Barrie: Master whisky blender

A three-year journey to create a new range of whiskies for a Scottish distillery

Master whisky blender Rachel Barrie creates a new range for a Scottish distillery.

Nick Low follows master whisky blender Dr Rachel Barrie on the final year of a three-year journey, as the launch date looms for her new range of whiskies from the Benriach Distillery in the north of Scotland. Her reputation is on the line as she comes up with 10 new whiskies for a range that includes some whiskies which have matured for up to 30 years.

With whisky containing three basic ingredients of water, malted barley and yeast, Rachel explains the process and skill that goes into making her whiskies world-beating, with expressions containing a myriad of flavours. With her own background being in chemistry, we join Rachel in her whisky lab, as she reveals how she puts scientific theories to work on the ancient art of whisky making and the blending of these natural ingredients. She describes the wooden casks and blends of whiskies she uses in the process like a painter’s palette, fine-tuning the flavours, as this precious liquid, stamped with her name, is bottled up and sent to whisky connoisseurs around the world.

Having personally tasted and “nosed” over 150,000 whiskies in her professional life, and become a judge at the World Whisky Competitions, Rachel is one of the most respected blenders in the business. She will give a lesson in whisky tasting with tips of what to look for and how to get all the spectrum of flavours from a sip of “the water of life”.

Image: Rachel Barrie (Credit: Nick Low)

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