Meet the mentee: Heather Storgarrd, Whisky Auctioneer
In the first of a new series, we sit down with senior marketing & communications officer at Whisky Auctioneer and former OurWhisky Foundation mentee, Heather Storgaard. She talks finding true meaning and re-writing whisky history.
“It would have been harder not to get into whisky, do you know what I mean?” As a small child, growing up in Speyside, Storgaard could see a distillery from her bedroom window. Whisky has, ever since, been a part of her life: “It was always there.”
Literature and history were interests for Storgaard from an early age. Her father, a lover of whisky himself, is an engineer. His way of bonding with his small daughter was reading Storgaard children's science encyclopedias, taking her to whisky distilleries, and visiting industrial heritage museums. She loved it. So much so, it’s informed her current role at Whisky Auctioneer as senior marketing & communications officer. “I’ve kind of smooshed all that together and ended up in an industry where you've got this amazing heritage and history, and an industrial edge. I love it.”
Being multilingual (she speaks English, German, Danish, Dutch, Icelandic and Swiss German) was Storgaard’s early footing in whisky. After a stint living oversees in various European countries as a child, Storgaard returned to Scotland to study and found herself working for Visit Scotland in the short-haul travel team, handling marketing, managing contacts in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (all markets sending tourists with a thirst for distilleries) and translating on the side.
Her passion for the whisky industry became apparent immediately. “My colleagues increasingly noticed that if they couldn't figure out how to do something with a distillery, they’d talk to me. I was in this slightly unique position of knowing Scotland a lot better than most of my colleagues.”
So when Whisky Auctioneer advertised a role for someone who could speak German, her skill sets aligned.
Finding meaning: Storgaard wants to contribute to whisky in a meaningful way (photo: Moa Reynolds)
Storgaard’s role spans writing, research, newsletters, website and social media, to name some of her key responsibilities, and with rum and wine arms of the business, she gets to learn about categories outside of whisky too.
Her favouite part of the job is writing articles about the lots that come through Whisky Auctioneer’s doors: last month a big collection of Springbank came in, so Storgaard spent a lot of time researching the Campbeltown distillery. She also has some freedom to pitch her own research too and run with it, like a small town in Germany she discovered has become an unlikely rum destination: “If I think it's interesting, and I have the time, then I have the freedom to run with it.”
The mentorship programme
Storgaard joined the OurWhisky Foundation Mentorship Programme in 2023. She came to the programme looking to deepen her knowledge and understanding of the industry. “I'd found myself in quite a niche part of the industry, as well being in the secondary market. We're still somewhat on the fringes of the whisky world despite the fact that you’re looking at every whisky distillery that exists - potentially every whisky distillery that has ever existed.
“It’s quite daunting at first to arrive to that and then learn what makes something collectible. The whisky world is so big - what can I do in it? How can I contribute to it?”
Being paired with Nick Morgan, Diageo’s former head of whisky outreach and now a whisky writer, author and historian, was the perfect match for Storgaard. “Nick was a really great mentor for me to be paired with because he's just so passionate about whisky history and its meaning - he really cares about the industry and how we got where we are today.”
Re-writing history: Storgaard’s keen eye for research has uncovered new truths (photo: Moa Reynolds)
The programme’s Power Room and the community built with the other mentees in her cohort were also incredibly valuable. “These are people I've never met in person, some where the time difference is nine hours, and yet I feel like I could go to them and talk to them. That's not something I've really ever experienced before.
“It's quite unique to this programme because we're kind of all coming from a similar mindset of wanting to engage wanting to work in the industry, but also wanting to value ourselves and kind of move forward in a way that makes sense.”
But it was using the Japanese concept of ‘ikigai’ that helped Storgaard realise how she really wanted to make a difference in whisky. “I found the exercises frustrating, but it also taught me how to value not just what I could do, but what I wanted to do. Sure, I’ve previously done lots of translation work because I speak lots of languages and it pays me - but I hate it, I don’t enjoy doing it. Ikigai encouraged me to think about that.”
Re-writing history
Since starting the programme Storgaard has made some incredible whisky memories too. She collaborated with another mentee (Ingjerd Sorsand) on an auction with Aurora Spirit which was ‘really lovely because we were kind of Power Rooming together and then we were working together’.
Bottle number one of the collection they were working on became the most expensive Norweigan distilled alcohol ever sold. It was a proud, shared moment between mentees: ”There were lots of people involved, but I felt very much like me and Ingjerd had done it together.”
Storgaard also bought a house during the programme, which happened to be the last remaining part of a lost distillery (one of six that went on to form Distillers Company Ltd). Morgan, who was mentoring Storgaard, was of course very excited. “The first call I had with him was from this house, so we were very geeky about it.”
They began working on a research project about the history of the distillery and Storgaard uncovered more than had ever been before - including that fact it’s 20 years older than official records show. It was a lightbulb moment: “It really taught me how much there still is out there to learn about the whisky industry. I really learned to be more skeptical… I bet this is not the only one where there's more to find out.”
‘Fallen on my feet’: Storgaard is grateful to work for a business where women are everywhere (photo: Moa Reynolds)
What she does with this research, we can’t wait to see. Big picture, Storgaard would love to do more long-form writing and has a dream of writing about whisky in German or Danish. “I'd love to work more with European markets. I think there's kind of a lot that can be done there because you can really connect with audiences when you’re talking in their language.”
When it comes to encouraging more women into the industry, Storgaard acknowledges her luck at Whisky Auctioneer where women aren’t the minority, while also being shocked at what she has heard from others.
“I’ve kind of fallen on my feet in terms of working at Whisky Auctioneer - there are women everywhere. When I started the mentorship and this was my only real whisky experience, I was really shocked to hear some horror stories and what was going on elsewhere in the industry.
“So I just feel very lucky with where I started out because there are women in warehouse teams, in finances, women at all levels. I feel like I've dodged some of these challenges that other people have experienced when they started out.”
Discover more about the OurWhisky Foundation’s Mentorship Programme.
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