Katie grew up just around the corner from the distillery Rutherglen and had a unique circular journey. She’d grown up with foreign exchange students staying in her home, so she developed a love of languages, so she spent a year of school in Malaga, Spain, and her go-to spot? The world-famous El Pipi bar. They do traditional Spanish wines and food and stacked to the ceiling with casks of sherry signed by celebrities.
That’s where she developed her love of sherry.
And sherry casks.
Go on one of her distillery tours and you’ll hear all about sherry casks and the unique characteristics they give to Scotch whisky.
There is something to mixing cultural influences in both whisky and language. That’s why she spent time teaching English in Ecuador.
So if you go to Equator, you might meet a business owner, radio host, or a nurse speaking English with a Scottish accent, who might also know how to dance a traditional Scottish dance.
Then off to France. Then back to Scotland, happily going through life as an estate agent, until she ordered a whisky cocktail one evening.
“A couple of drams of good Scotch whisky, a squeeze of fresh lime, and topped up with lemonade in a champagne flute. Looks like champaign, tastes like home.”
That’s when James Kean met her and invited her to a tasting for the new distillery that was just breaking ground.
She asked for a bottle to experiment with and ended up making a round of chocolate/whisky brownies, which were brought to the tasting in a traditional Scottish quaich, the toasting cup you’d find at the most special occasions.
The whisky was a hit. The whisky chocolates were a hit. And that’s when James Kean made the offer.
“Stay here and help us build a great distillery.”
She did.
And now she’s an integral part of Jackton Distilling and gives tours many days a week, sharing her love of her sherry casks and the amazing distillery she’s part of.
