‘It’s a great life’
SONAM JAIN
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Master blender Robert Hicks on how he sniffs out that perfect blend of scotch.
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The only way to train the nose is to smell whiskies every day of your working life
It’s got the right smell: Robert Hicks
Few others can claim to be in Robert Hicks’ league when it comes to blending. He was awarded the first-ever Distiller of the Year by the International Spirits Challenge in 1998, which he says was the highlight of his career. But subsequently he
won the award again in 1999 and 2003. After his retirement, he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award in London in March 2006. With many more accolades to his credit, he has been a Scotch Whisky blender for the past 40 years and the Teachers’ master blender for 23 years. Excerpts from a conversation:
Are whisky blenders born or trained?
Everybody’s born with a sense of smell but most people never use it to any extent… so I would say that blenders are trained and the only way to train the nose is to smell whiskies every day of your working life.
How did you learn the trade?
I started in 1964 as a clerk in a whisky company. After six months the master blender asked me if I wanted to learn the nose whiskies; I quickly agreed. I found that I wasn’t just to learn about nosing but all other aspects of the industry, from distilling all the way through to marketing.
What’s a typical day in Robert Hicks’ life?
If you love the smell of whisky, it’s a great life… As your sense of smell is the acute early in the morning I do all the previous days’ samples of blends and bottling production to make certain that they maintain the required flavour profile. During the rest of the day I test all the casks required to be emptied to make that day’s blends, usually up to 500 casks at one time.
I also test all the new spirit samples that have been sent in, work on formulating a new brand or possibly run some trials of new products. On an average day I could nose maybe 400 to 500 samples of whisky; on a busy day I’ve known the total to reach 1400 samples but that’s the exception.
How is whisky tasting different from tasting wine?
I suppose that big difference is that I don’t taste every sample as wine tasters do, they smell and taste every sample. I do have to taste samples now but it’s no more than 10 or 20 a day and not every day, usually only once or twice a week. One of the reasons for just smelling is that I test whiskies at around 20 to 22 per cent alcohol; if I tasted even half of the samples I do every day I’d most likely be unable to work by 10.00 a.m. Experts say that the sense of smell is 10,000 times more acute than the sense of taste. That’s why blenders rely on their sense of smell.
Where does India stand as far as making quality whisky is concerned?
Due to Teachers Highland Cream being bottled in India, I’ve been involved with Indian made whisky and learned about them over the past 15 or so years. To my mind, they are different today from what they were 15 years ago and are starting to be whiskies to be proud of.
I remember talking to a well respected Japanese blender in the early 1970s. They were using Scotch Malt in their blends as well as Japanese whiskies and saying that they should be proud of their own style of whisky rather than to try and copy Scotch Whisky.
I feel the same about Indian whisky; it’s something to be proud of. It will never be Scotch whisky but do you really want to it to be? I know if it was me I’d rather say this is my whisky and I’m proud of it. Whisky has been and is distilled in more than 40 countries, so there are many different flavours and they are all different to each other.
The only concern right now is consistency and quality standards. Scotch — whether we like it or not — has developed strict standards on the type and use of natural ingredients, maturation and production process. I’m not sure this is quite the case for all Indian whiskies as yet.”
They say that a person’s preference for a particular brand or type of whisky speaks volumes about his personality. Is that true?
A stock answer is that it really depends on the person and what they like. I’ve never believed you can tell anything from the whisky a person orders; all you can tell is whether he appreciates whisky or not. In a way it’s similar to one I’ve been asked many times over the years: “what’s the best whisky” and my answer is always “the one you like; not the one someone says you should like”.
It’s the same when I’m asked how to drink whisky — with water, without, with ice or without — I always say drink it the way that you like it. If you like it with ice or soda I really don’t mind as long as you like it. Yes, it would be nice if you drank it with a touch of water to appreciate all the flavours but everyone’s taste is different.
What is your favourite whisky?
As a Scotsman I would have to say it’s the one that someone buys for me but it’s not true. It depends on three things: the time of day, where I am and who I’m with. At 8.00 a.m., it’s difficult for me to drink Laphroaig, so I would choose Teachers. But in the evening Laphroaig’s ideal. As to what my other favourite is, it would be Jim Beam Black with Coke.
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