Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/26650
IN THE BIZ ike many who pursue careers in diplomacy, Charlotte Voisey racks up enough air-miles to rival George Clooney’s traveling corporate downsizer in the film Up in the Air. Of course, Voisey’s travels aren’t the result of brokering treaties so much as negotiating the convivial accord found betwixt clinking glasses. Voisey is a Portfolio Ambassador for William Grant & Sons and represents more than 12 spirits brands in promotions that find her hosting events across the continent, appearing on TV and, occasionally, chatting with a reporter and photographer, as she did recently at The Tipsy Pig in San Francisco, the city she calls home . . . a few hours a week. Charming and striking with a game sense of L humor, London-born Voisey is everything one would expect of a brand ambassador, or for that mat- ter, a secret agent—a notion she steadfastly denies despite her brief visitations to locales of intrigue and her Mona Lisa smile. “I think dynamic is the right word, because some people say, ‘Oh, it sounds very glamorous,’ and other times you think, ‘Oh, it’s so laborious.’ But dynamic kind of sets it in the middle, and reminds us that there are the highs and the lows,” reflects Voisey, who, only moments before, had arrived from Austin, where she introduced a bevy of Texans to the nuances of her products, which they systematically drained. “But it’s an exciting time in the liquor industry—and the cocktail niche specifically.” London Calling Her interest in cocktail culture was piqued around the turn of the century upon returning to London after a two-year sojourn in Argentina. Something of a cocktail explosion had begun in the Square Mile, which Voisey witnessed first-hand. ay “There were a few bars in London that really got it. Before then it was the Long Island Iced Teas, the Piña Coladas, everything that we grew up on,” laughs Voisey, whose tastes (at least now) are decidedly more refined. When one inquires about her favorite spirit, she is quick to answer “Hendrick’s Gin,” a proclivity that predates her professional relationship with the top-shelf gin, known for its unusual mix of botanicals, including cucumber and rose. “It’s the spirit I fell in love with. It was launched when I was still in London. My particular bar that I ran at the time was very Hendricksy, as that’s now an adjective,” she says wryly, then goes on to define the term: “Classic, beautiful, a little bit different, a little bit curious, very ornate and kind of Victorian in look and feel.” More to the point, it’s the key ingredient in her Martinis (raise the specter of vodka and her eyes nar- row as she says resolutely, “A Martini is a gin cocktail”). Building Brands Given the way that Voisey rhapsodizes about gin, one might conclude that her vocation is indeed glamorous. Then the alarm clock goes off. “A strong contender for my most vigorous day would be yesterday,” Voisey explains. She awoke at 6 a.m., threw herself onto the treadmill (her ritual cardiovascular complement to caffeine), prepared for the day and arrived to speak at a company meeting two hours later. There, she made a presentation to the marketing department, including the head of global marketing, and led a workshop for brand ambassa- dors, an elite league of 12 (one for each brand), which she oversees. “It’s become a really important tool in our marketing kit, if you will,” Voisey explains. Indeed, Voisey’s telegenic presence and burgeon- ing celebrity have proven a smart match for the portfolio, which has yielded mutual benefit to both parties. The notion suggests something of a “chicken and egg” question: Who benefits more, the emerg- ing personality brand “Charlotte Voisey,” or William Grant & Sons, the independent family distiller whose business spans three centuries? Diplomatic to the last, Voisey considers the query and answers without equivocation: “I truly believe it’s fifty-fifty. Half of the time I’m bringing great opportu- nities to our brands and our company because of my name, what I’ve done and the people that I know, but on the other hand sometimes it’s the brand that has this fantastic opportunity for me to be on television and it just fits well,” she said. “My position is very unique. There’s not a cookie-cutter career path or job description for what I do.” Time for Lunch? Moments after her three-hour workshop with the brass, Voisey departed to find a car waiting outside, which whisked her away to a 12:30 p.m. flight from JFK to Austin, where she will later launch the cocktail program she devised for the cutting-edge W Austin hotel, one of eight drinks menus she presently has active in the U.S. Time for lunch? Kind of. In the minutes before take- off, Voisey endeavors to return the 150 or more emails she’s received in the interim and perhaps file a report. “I don’t eat on the plane. I usually get a sandwich, but—another complication—I’ve recently turned vegetarian, which in airline food means ‘Good luck!’” She arrived in Austin at 4:30 p.m. (sadly, no driver bearing a “Charlotte” sign was there to greet her this time) and she arrives at the W to host an event at 5 p.m. sharp. Suffice it to say, she left the 300 or so Austinites in attendance thirsting for more, but by 1 a.m., Voisey threw in the bar towel. “There’s something about not having a routine at all that’s quite liberating and fun,” says Voisey, who admits that she occasionally has to ask herself in which city she’s awoken. “The scary thing is when I do that in my own apartment. I wake up and I panic and ask, ‘Where am I? Look at the curtains; do you recognize them? Is there a brand on the pillow?” “It’s kind of like Up in the Air. When Clooney finally gets back to the airport, it’s like, ‘I know where my newspaper is, where I like my water, my coffee’ and you just relax,” she said with a sigh. “It’s normal.” march 201 1 / the tasting panel / 67