Bottling light and dark with whisky’s ‘mad scientist' – Dr Bill Lumsden

This isn’t only me, the journalist, waxing lyrical. 

“I am a scientist by training, but I think you have to be careful and not let science rule what you do – it's more an art and craft than a science,” LVMH's Director of Distilling, Whisky Creation & Whisky tells Whisky Magazine Australia.

Despite his science background, which includes a PhD in physiology and fermentation, Dr Bill Lumsden's approach to distilling is much more closely tied to instinct and artistic "feeling" rather than scientific method, although he's quick to flag his love of experimenting as a possible exception.

“Sometimes it's difficult to explain this to people, but I've been in the industry for 40 years – I'm almost not even thinking about what I'm doing, I'm feeling it more. That sounds a bit marketing BS, but I just immediately know if something is right or if it's going to work; I'm very intuitive.” 

Despite now being one of, if not the most famous whisky distiller in the world today, the moment that kickstarted these four decades – including the past 31 years at The Glenmorangie Company – can largely be put down to a chance encounter at a party while studying for his PhD. 

This encounter wasn’t with a person but with a liquid and category; Glenmorangie Original, back then still a 10 year old and the first single malt Scotch whisky to touch Lumsden’s lips. 

“I remember everything about the evening: where it was, what was playing, etc, and I tasted it and I thought, ‘oh I really like this’,” he said. “That's what kicked it all off for me. I started to become passionately interested in single malt Scotch and then started trying different things.” 

Following this, his decision to pursue a career in whisky came naturally:

“Obviously as a Scotsman it is expected; it's your birthright if you like to be drinking Scotch whisky. My late father and mother were both big consumers and my dad always knew that, at some stage, I would like whisky."

Bill Lumsden was proud to share with me that both his passion and talent for whisky have been passed down to his two children, with his son Daniel the Head of Malt Distilleries at Chivas Brothers and his daughter Alexandra an Assistant Whisky Maker at The Macallan. 

“I'm quite excited about the careers of my two children,” he notes. “The Scotch whisky industry is huge globally, but actually our production level is very small and we all know each other and we meet with each other, sit in various committees, so that's exciting me.” 



Dr Bill Lumsden is the Director of Distilling, Whisky Creation & Whisky at The Glenmorangie Company

Exploring light and dark

One of the more impressive elements of Dr Bill Lumsden’s liquid resume is the consistency of quality year after year across Glenmorangie and Ardbeg – two very different distilleries in regards to not only style but also brand personality and target audience. 

Whereas Glenmarangie is a Highland distillery known for its light, elegant and fruity profile, achieved in part thanks to Scotland’s tallest stills, Ardbeg embodies the island of Islay, delivering peated whisky with intensity of flavour and balance, alongside a fresh approach to innovation. 

When asked if he approaches the two differently he says yes – “very differently indeed.” 

“They're so different in terms of taste profile that the approach to whisky creation has to be a bit different for each of them. Glenmorangie has a very delicate house style, and I always try and maintain elements of that, whereas Ardbeg is unexpected. 

“If I'm honest, I'm probably a lot more controlled about some of the things I do for Glenmorangie; whereas with Ardbeg, I tend to throw caution to the winds a bit more and sometimes just see what happens.”

These different mentalities translate into his approach to developing new drams for market. 

He uses Ardbeg Dolce and Glenmorangie The Altus 25 Year Old, the two whiskies he was in Sydney to promote, as examples of this, describing the 25 year old as “not necessarily a hugely innovative product” but the Dolce as “something completely new/completely different.” 

Glenmorangie The Altus and Ardbeg Dolce are both available now

What’s next for whisky? 

The man accredited with pioneering wood management in the ‘90s remains at the forefront of innovation today, with his sights firmly set on what he believes will be the next phase of innovation in single malt whisky: 

“My current focus, particularly at Glenmorangie, is still doing stuff with wood, but I'm focusing much more on primary production – barley varieties and in particular fermentation profiles.”

Curiously, this is also something that some Australian distilleries have been experimenting with over recent years – Archie Rose’s patented ‘individual malt stream’ process is one example. 

But Dr Bill Lumsden, who was understandably tight-lipped on the subject, isn’t looking to other distilleries for inspiration in this space.

“I'm a big fan of wine, and a typical wine fermentation is quite different from a whisky fermentation, so I'm looking at some learnings from that – but I can't be too specific here,” he said.

The Rockstar of Scotch

I started this piece by calling Dr Bill Lumsden a rockstar of Scotch. This is a term I have used before, and perhaps correctly, but Lumsden embodies it to a different level, with anecdotes of encounters with King Charles and Paul McCartney coming up as casual asides when relevant to the conversation. 

After I’d pressed record and we were formally talking on the record he spoke to Glenmorangie's campaign with Harrison Ford last year. 

“It was absolutely an amazing experience,” he said. “If you'd asked me 10 years ago, ‘Bill, are you going to be working with Beyonce/working with Harrison Ford?’ I'd say, ‘are you nuts?’ But it was great because Harrison is a lover of single malt Scotch whisky … Don't get me wrong, it was challenging to try and create a whisky to suit his taste profile more than my own but it was a fun challenge.” 

Harrison Ford supported the launch of Altus 25 Year Old

This prompted a question about who he makes whisky for: the consumer. 

“I consider myself to be the number one consumer of Glenmorangie – It's my first love of whisky and I find it hard to believe that anyone would be as passionate about Glenmorangie as I am – but I have to understand that there are consumers out there. Ardbeg is a little bit different because there's such a range of different types of consumers out there.” 

I concluded the chat by asking what it is that the mad scientist of whisky loves most about his job.

“I love the fact that I have the capability to put a smile on people's faces and whether it's through tasting the whisky or just hearing some of my stories or jokes or whatever. Some people say, ‘Are you proud of all the awards you've won?’ and I'm not not proud, but it's bringing joy to customers – that's the biggest thing.”