Stephanie Macleod: I’ve seen a lot of changes in my 26 years in whisky
Now director of blending, Scotch whisky, at Bacardi, Stephanie Macleod had never considered the whisky industry as a viable place to work. Why? Because she never saw the women who worked in it. Twenty-six years later and she’s one of its greatest advocates.
It all began with Irn Bru. When Stephanie Macleod left the University of Strathclyde with her degree in Food Science in the early 1990s, she began working for Scotland’s other national drink. It was her first job since graduating, and she enjoyed working there, but nine months later her old uni supervisor came to her with an offer that - little did she know - would change her life.
“He phoned me and asked if I’d like to join his research group, looking mostly at whisky and the flavour of Scottish whisky and why it tastes the way it does. I thought it sounded quite interesting, so I joined them,” she explains, beginning work in the sensory department.
Frankly, Macleod had no interest in whisky. She didn’t think she even liked it. But that all quickly changed when she started to work with it. “I was just fascinated by it. We were sponsored by Chivas at the time, so they would take us around to distilleries and all sorts of conferences, and I just fell in love with whisky.”
It’s safe to say that Macleod’s supervisor was right when he saw something special in his former student. Currently the director of blending, Scotch whisky, for Bacardi’s vast portfolio - including Dewar’s, Aberfeldy, Aultmore, Craigellachie, Royal Brackla and The Deveron - Macleod has now been in the industry for 26 years.
Aberfeldy distillery: sat at the foot of the Highlands since 1898
She’s achieved many firsts in her career, from being Dewar’s first female master blender in 2006, to being the first woman to the win the International Whisky Competition’s Master Blender of the Year award in 2019.
When she first joined Dewar’s in 2006 it was an huge time of growth for the brand. “We went from one distillery to five distilleries. The company increased five-fold between my interview and actually starting. So that was an exciting period of time to join.”
Macleod started in the quality department before taking over the lab, and then fortuitously was asked if she’d like to train to be the master blender. She didn’t hesitate in grabbing the opportunity with both hands: “I said, ‘Absolutely, I'd love to.’ And that really was it.”
Nowadays, Macleod’s main focus is on inventory: ensuring there is enough whisky and it’s all the correct quality. She’s constantly looking at three years, 12 years, 50 years down the line, laying down spirit to satisfy market demand going forward. “It’s a bit like a Rubik's Cube,” she laughs. “You might manage to get the classes correct, all the different styles, but for blending have you got the wood profile there to match? It can be quite tricky at times to manage.”
Witnessing change
To think her illustrious career may never have happened isn’t worth thinking about. “I didn't give the whisky industry much thought as I didn't even see it as being a viable place to to work,” she admits. “I saw it as being beige, traditional, male dominated. I didn't see the whisky industry as being somewhere that I could work was because I didn't see any women like me, certainly women that were in any way spotlighted.”
It wasn’t until she got into the industry that she realised it was open to change, but mainly in other ways. “It was higher tech than I’d anticipated, although still traditional, it didn't reject advances in technology – if it was to the betterment of the spirit quality, efficiency or sustainability then it would be it will be embraced.”
Thankfully in her 26 years she has seen a lot of changes. “I think there are lots of role models now for young people to look at and say, ‘Ah, that's not what I expected, maybe the whisky industry is for me.
“I also tell people all the time that it's not just about blenders or distillers. It's people in finance, it’s marketing, it's engineers. Every job you can think of can be found in the whisky industry, so I recommend it to anyone that I speak to - there's probably something for them in whisky.”
Aberfeldy 40 Year Old: The distillery’s oldest whisky to date is in the Demeter Collection
Macleod is also seeing more promising women blenders coming up the ranks: “They want to make their mark in the whisky industry, and a lot are already starting to do that.”
Her success and visbility in the industry is no doubt part of the reason why some of these women have felt they belong in whisky. For Macleod, despite her initial perception of the industry, it’s one she is proud to have been a part of at Bacardi for a quarter of a century: “People ask me, ‘why have you been here so long?’ and I say that the whisky industry is so unique, it's just a privilege to be a part of it.”
The Demeter Collection
While working as a sensory analyst at the University of Strathclyde, Macleod worked on a project which focused around unlocking the maturation secrets of Scotch whisky. So her choice to enter Aberfeldy 40 Year Old - the distillery’s oldest release to date - to the Demeter Collection, feels like a full-circle moment.
“We came across these really wonderful 40 year olds and parcels that we just thought were really special,” she says excitedly. “I would hate to release an old whisky that I didn't actually believe was a good whisky… but we sampled them and we love them. We didn't really do anything to them either, finishing them in something or other, they really are pretty much as nature intended.”
Aberfeldy 40 Year Old was released in three single cask editions in 2019, with a single, signed bottle drawn from cask #5030 donated to the Demeter Collection. All three editions were filled on 22 August 1978 into American oak, ex-Bourbon hogsheads. Macleod describes ‘lovely fresh honeysuckle and grassy notes, with the distillery’s typical honey notes coming through as well’.
The winner of the lot will also be treated to a VIP invite to visit the distillery and enjoy an exclusive private tasting with Macleod herself.
‘It’s a privilege to be part of it’: Macleod on working in the whisky industry
For Macleod, supporting the OurWhisky Foundation means bringing more women into an industry she loves very much. “It’s a voice that people are looking to when it comes to bringing women into the whisky industry - it’s so important,” she says emphatically.
She also advocates for the importance more generally of diversity in the workplace. “I think all companies have discovered that if you have a diverse workforce, and indeed a diverse leadership, then you will make decisions that will attract the same people into your brand.
“It makes absolute financial sense, but it's also just so rewarding working in a diverse group… It gives you all these different perspectives on life and on working in whisky, and it just makes for a richer working and creative environment.”
The Demeter Collection auction will run 29 March - 8 April 2024 at whiskyauctioneer.com.
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