McKechnie, who was appointed The Balvenie’s malt master last October, talks about her apprenticeship, mentor and carrying on the distillery’s heritage
Last October, The Balvenie malt master David C. Stewart MBE celebrated his six decades in the whisky industry with an anniversary dinner at St. Pancras Hotel Renaissance London. At the end of the meal, the brand’s global brand ambassador Charles MetCalfe announced that apprentice malt master Kelsey McKechnie would be taking over as the distillery’s new malt master, much to the applause of the guests who have become familiar with the expressions she and Stewart have released over the years.
It was a four-year journey for 30-year-old McKechnie, a science graduate who started her journey as a technical graduate at Girvan Distillery (its sister company) in 2014. She volunteered to be a part of the nosing panel to “measure the flavours I was analysing” and once she started picking up flavours, she was hooked. Her natural talent was spotted by Stewart, who appointed her as apprentice malt master in 2018.
With her new role, we caught up with McKechnie in London to chat about passing her probation to become The Balvenie’s malt master, what she thinks about trends in the whisky industry, and the lessons she learned from her mentor, Stewart—the longest-serving malt master in the Scotch whisky industry.
Read more: How The Balvenie’s David C. Stewart MBE celebrated 60 years in the whisky industry
How does one become a malt master? Do you need to have a talent for nosing and tasting or can it be taught?
Kelsey McKechnie (KM): 99 per cent of the time, the skills to become a malt master can be taught. I think anyone has the ability to learn over time what aromas are we looking for, how to describe them and use their nose (to pick up the flavours). It’s like learning another language; you just have to keep doing it to make sure you continue to grow, evolve, and learn about the flavours.
Being a malt master takes years of training. What was your apprenticeship like with David C. Stewart?
KM: Four years seem quite long on paper, but it feels like you need more time we learn more and more every year. We often talk about how whisky-making is such a slow process, but oddly enough, when you’re doing it, the years seem to pass by very quickly. Before we know it, we are already bottling the stocks from last year. But I feel fortunate that the whisky industry is interesting and to put it this way: it hasn’t felt like a slog.