It’s a pity Sam Simmons can’t find the time to update his well-respected blog Dr.Whisky, (he tweets instead). But as the global ambassador for The Balvenie Single Malt Scotch whisky (he’s pretty busy), he’s found many other ways to speak and spread the good word. Over a few drams, we asked him about how he started and how others should too.

So how does one go from brand ambassador in the US to global brand ambassador?

The first thing is, I lived in Scotland, that’s how I got into whisky. I lived in the UK from 2002-2008. In 2006 I moved to London, and because I didn’t know anybody, I sorta lost contact with the whisky people I had met up in Scotland. I started a website called Dr Whisky, and that’s really what helped bring me to the US.

There were maybe three English language whisky blogs at that time so it made me super visible, and then I was invited to the US to be a whisky ambassador for The Balvenie – I had no idea there was a job talking about whisky for a living!

So when I got to the US, they said to me, “Did you get your credit card? Did you get your laptop? Okay, all the best, bye!”

So I had to define, what’s the job, what’s a brand ambassador? It’s all different, there’s not one definition of what a brand ambassador is.

An evangelist.

That’s a good one. A whisky evangelist.

That’s what they do: They just love whiskies and they just want to tell you all about it.

That’s basically what I was doing before the job even, going online, telling people “whisky’s great!”, telling my dad “buy this”, telling my friends “buy that”, being excited – yeah, evangelist! So I worked in the US for two years and the Balvenie family, the brand asked me if I’d be keen to be the global ambassador.

“Yes please, that’s an honour.” And my wife and I moved back to the UK.

So how would one get into whisky, let’s say Whisky 101, what would you recommend as a first step?

I think today a lot of people forget, or dismiss, blended whisky. But I think without blended whisky you wouldn’t have single malts to talk about. When I was starting, if I was holding a tasting, or teaching people about whisky I’d always have a blend first.

I’d say, “This is what 90% of all Scotch sold in the world is – blends. Here’s a whisky, it’s a mixture of Glenrothes, Macallan, Glenfiddich, Balvenie, some grain whisky and Laphroaig. All the single malts you may have heard of, and they’re all needed to make this blend. Starting with a blend, you can begin to appreciate the wider whisky world, probably the best way to start.

Flavourwise, people like single malts as well, for the variety. You have super smoky styles, sweet styles, floral styles, spicy, there’s so much variation within a malt whisky.

How did you start?

For me, The Balvenie Double Wood was my ‘aha’ moment, it was the first bottle I ever bought, back in 2002, after a lot of field research, trying different whiskies in the good pubs, and at tastings. That first Christmas when I went home it was a Double Wood that I brought, mainly because of how it looks, the packaging looked cool, and I thought there was no way I could show my dad, he’d say, “what kind of wine is that?!”

But it’s easy, sweet, approachable, but it’s also rich when you have it the next time. So, how do you get into whisky? Understand the blends, understand the Speyside style, understand the lowland style, and Islay as well, the big peated style of whisky, to really see the spread.

For me, and many people, Scotch means Scotch, it’s one thing but it’s not – it’s thousands of different things.

What are some of your favourite Balvenies?

Double Wood… I’m very lucky in the job I can drink the 1401, 40-year-old, 30-year-old, but Double is still my favourite, partly because I have that nostalgic connection, being the first whisky that I loved.

David Stewart, the Malt Master (The Balvenie) has been given the freedom to create new whiskies, some of the things he’s created in the last five years have been amazing. The 1401 is brilliant, it’s like nothing else in whisky: Very old whisky from 66, it’s from 21-year-old whisky to 40-year-old whisky in one bottle, it’s just so rich and beautiful, a real treat.

 What about around Scotland then, not just Speyside whiskies, what else do you like?

That’s the fun thing bout whiskies, it’s really plays into your mood. When you read about crime, like in Ian Rankin’s detective novels, (Insp Rebus) he’s a tough guy so he drinks Laphroaig –

 – you think it’s reflective of your character?

Absolute, yeah, 100 percent. I think that if you had a rough day, sometimes you want a stronger whisky, higher strength. Sometimes you want an easy whisky, you want to engage, or something you don’t even notice, I think whisky is generous in that way with such variety. And authors use it as a character tool, again, Ian Rankin, or others too –

 – Iain Banks.

Yeah, he’s a huge whisky fan. There’s room, there’s so much personality in every distillery, there’s room to use that for every author, it’s a tool. I think we do too as drinkers, I think when you want something big and in your face you want cask strength Glenfarclas, a single barrel high strength Balvenie. Sometimes you want something sweet and light, you don’t want to be challenged, whisky offers all that.

Follow Sam Simons on Twitter

In dedication to the timeless art of craft-making, The Balvenie, brings to craft enthusiasts a series of exclusive workshops and craft market to the growing fans of craft in Singapore. Coined The Balvenie Connoisseurs of Craft, the initiative looks to promote craftsmanship in Southeast Asia through the establishment of a conducive ecosystem for creation, apprenticeship, and the advocacy of crafts on various platforms. 

The Balvenie Connoisseurs of Craft Public Workshops 2015 (Til Nov 28)

S$120, book at www.connoisseursofcraft.com 

Schedule:

24 Oct 2015 – Concrete Casting Master Class by Melvin Ong

14 Nov 2015 – Leathercraft Master Class by Tan Boon Hwee

28 Nov 2015 – Silversmithing Master Class by Daphne Tann

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