Interview: Emma Walker, Johnnie Walker
Johnnie Walker’s new master blender, Emma Walker, is the first woman to take on the role in the brand’s 200-year history. We sat down to hear how she progressed into the role, what she does when she’s not working and her advice for women hoping to work in the whisky industry
“I’m always shocked when things go successfully.” Emma Walker is not one for self-aggrandisement. The chemist-turned-whisky blender joined drinks giant Diageo 14 years ago and has held positions from project scientist and quality business leader, to quality and technical specialist leading up to 2022. Now, she holds the keys to Johnnie Walker as its master blender – a position previously held by Dr Jim Beveridge OBE who had spent over 40 years with the Scotch whisky brand.
It’s a momentous step for Johnnie Walker – Emma’s the first woman in the role since its origin nearly 200 years ago. And like a lot of people who climb the ranks in the industry, whisky wasn’t necessarily where Emma thought she might find herself when she studied chemistry at university, even as she undertook her PhD. “I wanted to move back up to Scotland and was working as a jobbing chemist on contracts. I was looking for a permanent job thinking I should probably get a proper job and a pension and then I saw a job advertised with Diageo to be a project scientist.”
What followed was four years on the whisky team learning about flavour, understanding the inventory and getting to grips with the technical projects, as well as earning her Diploma in Distilling with the IBD. Science aside, it was a new way of working for Emma. “Coming from a chemistry background, you’re not allowed to smell anything – you’re reducing interaction with what you’re handling. So to go from that to describing what you’re smelling from a whisky was a really interesting difference.”
Outside the barrel
Emma has now been in her new headline role for three months, but how is she handling the pressure? “I’ve worked with Jim closely so it kind of felt like it was business as usual. Then I started to understand more the expectations that had been on Jim,” she admits. “You realise this is part of a chain, you’re part of history and there is a lot of expectation. You are looking after what has been done in the past, but you’re also making spirit today that won’t be touched for 10, 12, 25 years down the line.”
It’s not all about whisky though. “I really enjoy going to gigs and listening to music. One of the things Covid has brought is the expansion of our record collection. We’ve taken a lot of advice from people in the whisky industry, and that’s been something I really enjoy. I like gigs from smaller indie bands like Young Fathers – getting to see those gigs and seeing someone before they’re big stars is really interesting.”
Watching Edinburgh vs Glasgow at the rugby is another hobby, while Edinburgh Fringe festival is the ideal opportunity to take a couple of weeks off work and become a tourist in her own city. Food and restaurants have become another form of escape: “As I’m getting older I’m appreciating going to nice places to eat, nice bars – we’re very lucky in Edinburgh that we’re getting more diversity and seeing things pop up in places in the outer reaches of Scotland.” Travel is high on the agenda too, but with a caveat: “I’m hoping eventually to get some more travel in, but how do you travel ethically and in an environmentally sustainable way?”
Leading the way
While Emma has been a hugely recognisable name in Scotch whisky for years now, her new role and the visibility that comes with it makes her a natural source of advice for other people coming up the ranks and in her team. For Emma, this in itself comes with a mixture of responsibilities. “It’s that sudden realisation of, ‘Oh, people want to get advice and talk to me,’ and it is so nice to be asked questions, but you don’t want to say something that will put someone on the wrong foot.”
She’s also quick to mention that not only does she give advice and learnings, but she gets it in return too. “I don’t think people realise what they are bringing to the table, I’m learning as much as they are.”
So, what piece of advice would she give someone embarking on a career in the whisky industry? As well as attending tastings, and talking to bartenders and people who think about flavour, she says exploring the breadth of the industry is important. “It’s good to look at the industry and what roles there are. You’ve got the whisky team, engineers, IT experts, procurement, HR – there are a whole range of things. Look at your skill set and what roles they cross over into – there are so many roles people haven’t thought about.”
