How many whisky-stained hats can one passionate ambassador wear?

As a leading Scotch communicator, he was named Whisky Magazine UK’s Best Whisky Communicator in 2019, spent many years as WSET’s NSW whisky lecturer, and has been leading the Scotch Malt Whisky Society events as the Australian Director and Chairman since 2025.

In this last role at the SMWS, along with at The Gillies Club, the world’s oldest single malt appreciation club, he has also been in charge of sourcing and planning the exclusive cask releases for many years, working with Scotland’s top distilleries to bring unique (and more-often-than-not, often surprising) single-cask bottlings to their respective audiences. 

Add to this his time spent as a brand ambassador for all the major drinks companies and whisky brands (and yes, we mean all) and you start to get the picture. 

Andrew is a man that lives and breathes Scotch whisky daily, and has done so for the past quarter of a century, all while juggling his own business in a completely different industry as a structural engineer. 

How does he do it? By not sleeping very much, he jokes.

“I like being busy. I'm not very good at sitting still and twiddling my thumbs, much to my wife's annoyance,” Derbidge tells Whisky Magazine. 

“It's very common for me to be at my desk at 1/1.30 most mornings and then up at 6.30 the next day to do it all again.” 

Why does he do it? Partly for the love of whisky and sharing its stories. Partly for the exploration and experiences the world of malt has to offer. And partly for the community that surrounds it and gives it the magic we all love. 

As he puts it, “whisky brings people together. You can solve a lot of the world's problems over a glass of whisky.”

Andrew’s ‘aha’ dram: 

For Andrew, whisky was never meant to be his career and instead was something he fell into while at uni. 

“The aha moment for me was in 1995 when the man who would become my father-in-law came back from Scotland with a bottle of Lagavulin 16 year-old, and it was the first time I'd ever tasted a single malt and it was the first time I'd tasted something that was so smoky, and it just blew me away,” he said. 

“That's what really set a fire underneath me and ignited the passion for scotch whisky.” 

Since then, this passion has prompted constant and steady self-taught education, starting as a consumer at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. 

“They invited me to take on the role of New South Wales State Manager,” said Andrew. “Almost immediately after that I was asked to join the board as a director and take on the role of being the Society's Cellar Master, and my role, which I then had for the next 15 years after that, was being the guy who would taste, choose and select which casks the Australian branch of the Society would bring into Australia. 

“I hosted my first whiskey event 26 years ago and I still get a kick out of talking to people and being in the front of a room and telling them about whisky. It's a lot of fun.” 

Andrew is also a Keeper of the Quaich

How has Scotch evolved in Australia? 

Over the past 25 years, Andrew Derbidge’s approach to educating has evolved massively, and for a number of reasons, with one being the higher level of knowledge among you – the Australian whisky enthusiasts. 

“I remember in those early days, you'd start a tasting and have to spend the first 15 minutes just explaining and educating.I don't think I've done that now for about 10 years,” he explains. 

“[Of course,] there'll always be questions – you'll be saying something and someone will stick their hand up and ask a question because they've never heard the term chill filtered or whatever, and you answer on the spot – so that education still takes place, but it's prompted by questions rather than having to do it.” 

He has also witnessed the category itself evolve dramatically over this period, both within Australia, in Scotland and globally. 

Reflecting on this, and specifically on whether whisky quality has improved, Andrew Derbidge said this: “Have they actually improved the product in response [to greater competition]? No, I don't think so. I think there's arguably a bit more consistency now, but what the producers have done, and there's no denying this, is that they have expanded their portfolio because you've got a consumer base now that always wants to try something and then move on to the next."

What is it that sets Scotch apart?

Over the past 25 years, competition from producers all over the world, including in Australia, has continued to increase. Although still the benchmark, long gone are the days where Scotch was the only whisky worth getting excited about. 

Despite this, Andrew’s affinity for the spirit is palpable: 

“The rules of the Scotch Whisky Association are quite strict, and there's only so many levers you can pull as a whisky producer and maker to change flavours and styles, and that might be why other countries and categories and styles of whisky maybe gone off and done more interesting things of late. But that said, the diversity and spectrum of flavour still produced in the Scotch Whisky Association is enormous. 

“Scotch can still produce something that's incredibly light and floral and fruity, it can come up with something that is spicy and dry, it can come up with something that is peaty and smoky, and then every combination in between.”

What is the Scotch Malt Whisky Society?

The SMWS has regular events all around Australia and, as Andrew puts it, “is for anyone who likes to drink whisky.” 

To learn more about the Society, its exclusive bottlings, and whether it’s the right fit for you visit its website here. 

Alternatively you can learn more from Andrew Derbidge at his World Whiskies trophy-winning blog, Whisky & Wisdom.