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News
New appointments at Glenlivet as Alan Winchester retires
Former master distiller of The Glenlivet Alan Winchester has retired after 48 years in whisky, and a new team of whisky makers have been appointed to continue his work.
Winchester officially retired as master distiller of The Glenlivet in 2018 when he moved into an ambassador role for the single malt brand.
Coinciding with Winchester’s retirement, Lisa Glen has been appointed as the new distillery manager at The Glenlivet. She will oversee a new team of whisky makers, working alongside lead distiller Kevin Reid and Chivas Brothers cask expert Kevin Balmforth.
Glen began her career as an engineer in the Merchant Navy before becoming a distillery operations technician at The Glenlivet.
She later became a team leader at the distillery, where she oversaw the operations and processes of the plant for eight years.
Glen, Reid and Balmforth boast 53 years of whisky experience collectively.
Commenting on his retirement, Winchester said: “Taking on the role of master distiller of The Glenlivet was truly an honour. Representing such a revered, quintessential single malt has been nothing short of a privilege.
“It has been a real joy to promote Scotch around the world, especially to a new generation of drinkers who have enabled us to broaden the boundaries of what Scotch whisky can be.
“Our audience is constantly evolving their ideas and attitudes, which in turn pushes the industry to diversify and innovate the craft in new and interesting ways. The future of Scotch is very bright and I look forward to watching what happens next – with a dram in hand of course.”
Winchester joined the whisky industry in 1975 as a distillery guide at the Glenfarclas Distillery in Scotland. He has also spent time working at Strathisla, Glen Keith, Aberlour, and more.
In 2002, he was promoted to distillery manager at Chivas Brothers, before becoming master distiller of The Glenlivet in 2009.
In other news, Scotch whisky veteran Billy Walker recently celebrated 50 years in the whisky world with a limited edition series of GlenAllachie single malts.