One of the chief aims of Spirit.Ed is to not only educate readers but also ourselves about all of the wizardry that happens in the world of adult beverages. We had the pleasure of speaking with Master Blender Andrew McKay about I.W. Harper‘s latest bourbon release, the science of blending, and more.
Andrew McKay is the master blender of all whisky brown spirits in the United States with adult beverages giant Diageo. I.W. Harper is part of Diageo’s vast portfolio and McKay’s decades of experience came into play in creating the brand’s latest expression, the Cabernet Cask Reserve.
But before we learned about the juice in the bottle, we dove into the early days of McKay’s journey into the world of spirits, including a humourous anecdote on how he got started.
“The funny answer is nepotism,” McKay said with a knowing chuckle. “My dad worked for Seagram and they offered a summer internship. I was doing a double major in geo-chem and I applied to work in the company’s chemistry department, a bunch of guys who were crazy funny.”
McKay adds that after exhausting the three-year limit of working at Seagram as an intern, the company hired him for a yearlong position in the same department. This would become the pivotal point where things would change in his career. In his final week and out of daily duties, McKay was invited into the blending lab for the former adult beverages giant.
However, the task wasn’t the alchemy that McKay would later perform as a profession. In fact, he was given the task of serving drinks to a bunch of Seagram bigwigs. But that grunt work landed McKay a full-time position in the blending lab where he learned what adult beverages should smell, taste, and even look like. Starting his position in 1998, McKay said he never looked back since that day.
“I’ve been doing this job for 25 years and I’m still learning, and I should say that I’m lucky to have this job,” a humble and grateful McKay said of his role with Diaego.
We then shifted the conversation to the reason for the call, which was the I.W. Harper Cabernet Cask Reserve expression. I.W. Harper, a famed brand that got its start in the late 1800s by German immigrant Isaac Wolfe (I.W.) Bernheim and currently produced by Diageo since 2015. Today, the brand’s core expressions are its Kentucky Straight, the premium 15-year expression, and the Cabernet Cask Reserve.
“When you get to the innovation side of making whiskies, we knew that the Cabernet Cask needed to look and taste a certain way,” McKay explains. “When the idea of a cabernet finish came along, you have to remember that doing a double finish or finishing a bourbon this way is complicated.”
As evidenced by his quarter of a century with the brand, McKay added that his experience in creating a number of unique finishes for Crown Royal aided him in this latest expression from I.W. Harper.
“The trick is to take this vanilla-forward, sweet bourbon and pair that against a cask that once held cabernet,” McKay added. “That’s what’s so exciting about us doing this because the variety of wines on the market and the finishing of bourbon in casks opens up our product to new possibilities. There is far more wine variety in stores in comparison to whiskies.”
In explaining the goal of the I.W. Harper Carbernet Cask Reserve expression, McKay said that he and the blending team wanted to capture the softness of brandy without losing components of bourbon. For this finish, McKay wanted to take some of the sharpness some might find in bourbon and mellow out the flavors.
From our experience tasting the whiskey, the team achieved their lofty goals. And as a cocktail base, which is why we started the SPIRIT.ED column in the first place, the whisky holds up well to anything you throw at it. Served neat, the whiskey shines in a glass and over a rock, beautiful flavors are unveiled.
McKay explains that the actual I.W. Harper distillery is no longer in existence and for years, the brand sourced its distillate and blended it to meet the standards of a premium whiskey brand, down to selecting the mash bill, yeast, and all finer points. Today, the whiskey is produced in Tullahoma, Tenn.
Another fascinating aspect of our conversation with McKay was the fact that I.W. Harper’s lineup isn’t comprised of high-proof bombs which has seen a resurgence in the industry, especially for those chasing the big flavors one can extract from new bourbon casks.
McKay explained that the trick is to match the sweet aromas of bourbon and get the proof right that the flavor matches. We’ll spare you the wonkier details but there is a vast world to blending we can’t wait to uncover in our coverage as the years roll on.
A charming storyteller with a wealth of knowledge, Andrew McKay completely captivated us and we easily could have spoken with him for hours. We’re excited to see what new magic he and his team will bring to the masses via Diageo. As McKay explained, the company is always looking ahead.
To learn more about I.W. Harper, please follow this link.
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Photo: I.W Harper
