An Afternoon with Jim McEwan
I want to be Jim when I grow up!
We had a rare opportunity to have a private tasting with one of the legends of the whisky world today. The “guy from Islay,” Jim McEwan, in his understated way, has created masterpieces to be shared around the world. Little did we know when we launched our business how much there was to learn. Jim has devoted his whole life to the spirit industry, and we gained a new appreciation of those efforts.
Jim was present when new distilleries were birthed and the new make spirit was flowing for the first time. He knows when the spirit is ready. Not many people in the world get to experience that feeling, that moment, that place in history.
The choice of the cask can make or break the final spirit. Jim’s experience as a cooper at Bowmore, plus the experimentation and introduction of the best French wine casks at Bruichladdich have played a big part in bringing new expressions to the consumer. The influences of the wine cask maturations in this tasting were beautiful. Bordeaux and Sauternes wine barrels impart so many different flavors that pair nicely with both the peated and unpeated whiskies. Our eyes have been opened!
Jim included everyone in the dialog that wanted to chat. He is such a gracious, easy-to-talk-to kind of guy. He listens to the consumer, and wants to hear from us. The relationship is obviously symbiotic: before a distillery spends millions of dollars on a product that won’t be finished for 10+ years, it needs to know if the product will be successful. One has to know the audience, know the market, and know what you do well and what you don’t.
The next time you have a dram, think about all of the people and all of the time and money that went into that bottle, and stop to appreciate the journey. That spirit probably came from barrels from one or two continents, spent a decade or more waiting to be bottled, and only when it was time was it sent on its way. Jim McEwan’s passion for whisky, and the creation and quality and art in the process is typical of many folks in the single malt whisky industry. For an island economy, the product is a livelihood that powers the economy, jobs, investments, and a future for the people. We are blessed to be an extremely small part of this industry, and hope to do it service with continuing to showcase the artwork in the best possible light!
Slàinté mhath!
