Ross Blainey's guest appearances

Ross Blainey

Living Proof: Conversations for Bartenders

Drinks At Work

Jason Williams

Philip Duff

Brad Thomas Parsons

Joseph Ehrmann

Alex Ross

Steve Schneider

John Roberts

Sam Ross

Jim Meehan

Dale DeGroff

Dan Gregory

Matt Pietrek

Eugene Lee

Jeffrey Morgenthaler

Sean Baxter

OwlTail

Today’s guest on the podcast is Ross Blainey. He’s the ambassador for The Balvenie and Glenfiddich, and not shy of a real discussion about the whisky world. This is actually a conversation I had with Ross for an online Boothby.Talks event during lockdown in October 2020, called How Whisky Works — you can watch the video here.The idea behind the talk was to get at a broader look at how the whisky world operates. It’s not a chat about how whisky as a liquid is made — there’s no chat about the size of stills here — and nor is it about the brands that Blainey represents. It’s more a talk about how Ross came to be a brand ambassador, what his role entails, and how whisky goes from idea to execution. It’s a wide-ranging discussion with Ross, and he’s a great storyteller — I think there’s a lot to get out of this conversation.

Today’s guest on the podcast is Ross Blainey. He’s the ambassador for The Balvenie and Glenfiddich, and not shy of a real discussion about the whisky world. This is actually a conversation I had with Ross for an online Boothby.Talks event during lockdown in October 2020, called How Whisky Works — <a href="https://www.boothby.com.au/boothby-talks-how-whisky-works-with-ross-blainey/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">you can watch the video here.</a> The idea behind the talk was to get at a broader look at how the whisky world operates. It’s not a chat about how whisky as a liquid is made — there’s no chat about the size of stills here — and nor is it about the brands that Blainey represents. It’s more a talk about how Ross came to be a brand ambassador, what his role entails, and how whisky goes from idea to execution. It’s a wide-ranging discussion with Ross, and he’s a great storyteller — I think there’s a lot to get out of this conversation.

Whisky ambassador Ross Blainey knows the power of a good story

Ross Blainey is William Grant &amp; Sons’ The Balvenie Brand Ambassador for Australia and New Zealand. His job, as he puts it, is to bring the stories from the 126-year-old Speyside distillery to those who haven’t been able to get there. Some of those tales are also behind the company’s new ‘The Balvenie Stories’ range of whiskys. Ross’ first encounter with The Balvenie’s Single Malts was as a teenager, when he was tasked with building the whisky range at the Dufftown pub where he was working. He grew the bar’s range of single malts from under 10 to almost 200, yet found that he kept coming back to The Balvenie 12 DoubleWood as his go-to dram. We ask Ross about the process to becoming a Brand Ambassador, the qualities that bode well for success in the role and what goes into developing brilliant tasting events.  "It's about passion and communication."  Then, we explore what's next for the category of whisky, as well as some food pairing tips, with some classic stories from the Distillery interspersed throughout. Key points  05:14 Getting into Whisky 07:05 Ross’ go-to dram 11:08 Becoming a Brand Ambassador 16:09 Tasting events 19:00 The weirdest tasting note he’s encountered 20:40 The Balvenie Stories 27:27 What next for the category of Whisky? 34:12 Translating the Scottish accent 36:34 Food pairings See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ross Blainey is William Grant &amp; Sons’ The Balvenie Brand Ambassador for Australia and New Zealand. His job, as he puts it, is to bring the stories from the 126-year-old Speyside distillery to those who haven’t been able to get there. Some of those tales are also behind the company’s new ‘The Balvenie Stories’ range of whiskys. Ross’ first encounter with The Balvenie’s Single Malts was as a teenager, when he was tasked with building the whisky range at the Dufftown pub where he was working. He grew the bar’s range of single malts from under 10 to almost 200, yet found that he kept coming back to The Balvenie 12 DoubleWood as his go-to dram. We ask Ross about the process to becoming a Brand Ambassador, the qualities that bode well for success in the role and what goes into developing brilliant tasting events. <blockquote> "It's about passion and communication." </blockquote> Then, we explore what's next for the category of whisky, as well as some food pairing tips, with some classic stories from the Distillery interspersed throughout. Key points <ul> <li>05:14 Getting into Whisky</li> <li>07:05 Ross’ go-to dram</li> <li>11:08 Becoming a Brand Ambassador</li> <li>16:09 Tasting events</li> <li>19:00 The weirdest tasting note he’s encountered</li> <li>20:40 The Balvenie Stories</li> <li>27:27 What next for the category of Whisky?</li> <li>34:12 Translating the Scottish accent</li> <li>36:34 Food pairings</li> </ul>See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.

#26 | Stories of The Balvenie with Ross Blainey