Diageo’s Keith Law believes the way to enjoy whisky is to understand it
Touted as an exclusive taste profiling experience, Johnnie Walker House Singapore, together with master blender Keith Law, hosted its inaugural Your Whisky Palate. The invite-only affair, which took place in March, was also a global first for the brand and was carried out at the company’s elegant private suite. Law guided a select group of whisky aficionados through a comprehensive tasting. The master blender, who was recently honoured with an induction to the “Keeper of the Quaich” society, was flown specially from Scotland for the event.
Head of Private Client Sales, James Mackay explained, “We set this up in response to requests from our private clients. There was a desire to have a deeper level of knowledge and understanding (of whisky). We have done this, in a way, with the Signature Blend experience and we could tell that people were fascinated by that, but this is the first time our VIP clients could understand a lot more about themselves and whisky in general.”
Law’s relationship with whisky had started when he was a child, when he used to visit his father and uncle at the distillery where they both worked. Though he briefly considered a career in science, he soon found himself working in the laboratory of the Caledonian Distillery in Edinburgh. Today, after almost 40 years in the industry, the sensory specialist is uniquely equipped to lead the guests through the nosing and tasting of the golden liquid. But the humble master blender shared: “Hopefully, the people sitting opposite me at the table will learn something from me, but I want to learn from them as well and find out the flavours they’re looking for in a scotch. That way, we can better understand them and offer them whiskies that they would find appealing. What I’d really like to do here in Singapore is give people a knowledge of the flavours and to help them dive deeper into whisky.”