When asked about receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at Whisky Magazine’s Icons of Whisky dinner, he becomes quite bashful. “I should’ve known that something was afoot by the way that they manipulated me into going to the dinner. Our operations manager said that he was meant to be hosting a table and that he couldn’t go. When the guy started to talk about the award winner, I realised it was me. I became quite emotional – I even got a bit teary!” he recalls with a warm smile.
Ramsay entered the whisky industry in 1966, working in the laboratory at Strathclyde Distillery. In 1971 he was appointed as chief chemist with William (Wm) Lawson Distillers. A decade later he was promoted to the role of blender/chemist. In 1990 he joined Highland Distilleries as production controller before moving to Edrington in 1991 and assuming the position of master blender. Ramsay is also a member of The Incorporation of Coopers of The Trades House of Glasgow and a Keeper of the Quaich, an exclusive Scottish society made up of illustrious members of the Scotch whisky industry.
“I studied to be an industrial chemist,” says Ramsay. “Obviously, I then built up experience as a chemist. My next job was setting up a laboratory for a distillery. Part of the attraction there was that one of the guys who I would be working with was a master blender. So I had an opportunity to move from a scientific background to a more sensory field.”
Ramsay has since become one of the industry’s most distinguished personalities. He has travelled the world holding whisky “nosings” and tastings, and had journalists queuing to interview him when he recently arrived in South Africa for the launch of The Famous Grouse Black.
“You have to have a natural ability to distinguish between aromas. About 60 to 70 per cent of people have a basic skill. It’s then about learning the difference between different wood types,” he explains. “A lot of our work is done by the nose. Only after that do we ask people to actually consume the whisky.”
“I think what I like most about my job is that I have been in the industry for about 40 years and I’m still learning,” says Ramsay, who had his first glass of whisky at the age of 16. “When I find something exciting, like Black Grouse, I still get a buzz. What makes Famous Grouse whisky different is that it’s a sweet whisky. Black combines that sweetness with a bit of smokiness. It’s like getting dressed – you put on clothing, and then the jewellery adds something different. Whisky is different to vodka or gin in that it should have a texture. Part of the process is marrying the malt or grain with texture and flavour.”
When asked whether to add water to one’s whisky or not, Ramsay smiles. “It should be two parts whisky, and one part water,’ he says. ‘However, as the whisky gets older – and if I’ve done my job properly – then you should be able to drink it without water. With older whisky, the water breaks it up,” he says.
This is Ramsay’s first visit to South Africa. “I’m looking forward to going to Thorny Bush Game Reserve. This is the one overseas trip that my wife was quite envious about!” he laughs.
Details: www.thefamousgrouse.com
When you picture an award-winning whisky connoisseur, you might – for any number of reasons – imagine someone who could easily be a little arrogant. Edrington Group Whisky Quality Manager and Master Blender, John Ramsay, however, could not be less so. 
