Julieann Fernandes is Distell’s Master Blender, who formulates recipes for complex spirits from Scotland.
This year, the multinational distilling company and Distell group debuted the smooth and rich Scottish Leader Original whisky in India.
Fernandes makes her recipes in Scotland, at the East Killbride facility in the countryside. In a recent interview with Mint Lounge, she told how his work unfolds.
“I work out of the barrel room as well as laboratory. There is a corner in the laboratory which is like a kitchen from a countryside cottage. There are wooden cabinets, and some of the doors are always open because I’m not the tidiest worker. There’s glassware all over the worktops, sample bottles spread over the benches and nosing glasses everywhere. I like to look at it as organised chaos; to other people it might look untidy, but I know where everything is and why it’s there. It’s in a very quiet part of the building which I love.”
At his workplace in the Blending Room he gets to concentrate a lot because of the fact that there are no windows, because it’s an enclosed space, it feels like “It’s just me and my whiskies. I really enjoy that,” Fernandes says.
Here she has been able to develop reformulated blends and limited editions. Her recipe process can take as little time as it can take months.
“Although I love Scotland and we need the rain to make our wonderful whisky, hearing its noise every day can be hard. The only change I would like is to move to a slightly warmer country,” Fernandes concludes.
Don’t drink and drive. Enjoy responsibly.