Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/8594
DEPARTMENT HeADeR SPECIAL REPORT: WHisk(e)y Master Blender Richard Paterson (left) looks on as author Ian Buxton noses a dram of The Dalmore. The Dalmore Richard Paterson, Whyte & Mackay’s Legendary Master Blender, Is Allowed to Shine with by ian Buxton It’s very tricky interviewing Richard Paterson. For one thing, he’s a total jack-in-the-box, fi ring off dates, ideas and state- ments on all sorts of subjects, faster than you can take them in, let alone write them down. Secondly, you never know what he’s going to do next: let off a large party popper in the middle of his sample room; pour some old and very valuable whisky; throw ice rather theatrically about the place; or break off to show you archive letters from his long-dead predecessors (whom he clearly thinks of as old friends). But it’s a measure of the man that, after a distinguished career and 44 years in the whisky industry, he’s still excited by Scotch whisky, and his energy and passion (an over-used word, but justi- fi ed here) spill over because he wants you to be excited as well. Richard Paterson is Whyte & Mackay’s Master Blender and a legend in Scotch whisky. If there was an Oscar for whisky, he would win it. Every year. To list his awards and distinctions would fi ll this article, so take it from me he’s the daddy—whis- ky’s Elvis Presley. Except very much still alive. And today he’s especially excited. Not just because he gets to meet me (though that’s clearly a thrill), but because it’s an opportunity to showcase his work at The Dalmore, Whyte & Mackay’s fl agship single malt. And what a lot there is to see and try. The Dalmore Selene, named for a moon goddess, is a 58-year- old whisky with celestial fl avors. 36 / the tasting panel / april 2010 PHOTO COURTESY OF WHYTE & MACKAY