Ahead of International Women’s Day, we celebrate three female Master Blenders, whose knowledge, expertise, experience, attention to detail and, well, noses have made them veritable celebrities in the world of scotch. After Stephanie MacLeod of Dewar’s and Glenglassaugh’s Rachel Barrie, we speak to Emma Walker, Master Blender at Johnnie Walker.
The role of Master Blender at Johnnie Walker is one of the most coveted in the industry, and it was only in 2021 when they finally hired, for the first time in their 200-year history, a female Master Blender.
Emma Walker (no relation to Johnnie Walker) took over from the legendary Dr. Jim Beveridge OBE, who retired three years ago after more than 40 years at Diageo, and leads a team of 12 expert whisky makers. “I am honoured to take on the title of Master Blender of Johnnie Walker,” she said when she took on the job, “and at an exciting time for the brand as we embark on the next step of our journey looking ahead to the next 200 years. I have learnt so much over my career working with Jim, whose knowledge and generosity of spirit is unsurpassed in the world of whisky.”
For 13 years since joining in 2008, Walker had worked in different areas of whisky production; gaining experience and understanding of how flavour develops in fermentation, distillation and maturation. She has spent several years working with Dr. Beveridge to develop an encyclopaedic understanding and knowledge of whisky. Eventually, she became a highly respected blender and started working extensively on Johnnie Walker in 2015 — a great turning point for the brand, as she would go on to blend the Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ghost and Rare series and Jane Walker by Johnnie Walker.
It’s testament to her innovative spirit. She says, “I love experimenting and innovating with flavour and we’ll be working hard to not only continue to deliver the unrivalled quality that we are renowned for, but also introducing blends to appeal to a new generation of Scotch Whisky fans.”
What we love about Walker is her deep intellect — her erudition aligns with the Johnnie Walker brand, and makes her deeply respected in the industry. She told Forbes magazine in 2021, “For me, a scientific background and analytical mindset are valuable tools for a Scotch whisky blender to have, but a deep passion for flavour underpins everything and is something that’s universal to everyone on our team In bringing together different flavours, characters and textures of different whiskies; blending begins to unlock hidden depths in all of the individual whiskies. What we do is understand individual whiskies, their character and individual impact, and how these whiskies combine, creating additional character with layers of flavour which we can’t achieve from a single whisky.”
