Beam Suntory is Crafting the Spirits that Stir the World. Rooted in two centuries of family heritage, Beam Suntory has evolved into the world's third largest leading premium spirits company ... where each employee is treated like family and trusted with legacy. With our greatest assets - our premium spirits and our people - we're driving growth through impactful marketing, innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit. Beam Suntory is a place where you can come Unleash your Spirit by making an impact each and every day.

Whisky Blender  

What makes this a great opportunity?

Beam Suntory is ‘Crafting the Spirits that Stir the World’. Rooted in centuries of family heritage, Beam Suntory has evolved into one of the world's leading premium spirits companies where each employee is treated like family and trusted with a legacy. With our greatest assets - our premium spirits and our people – we are driving growth through impactful marketing, innovation, operational excellence and entrepreneurial spirit. Beam Suntory’s ambition is to become the most admired and fastest growing premium drinks company in the world.

Our five distilleries across Scotland produce spirit for some of the most recognized and admired brands within the Scotch whisky category. To ensure the spirit matures into the beautiful whisky that our brands are famous for, the spirit is matured under the careful supervision of the Chief Blender and only when the whisky is ready will it be realized for bottling. 

The role of the Whisky Blender / Creator is one where science meets artistry and where being creative, visionary and meticulous with detail is essential to balance the demands and long-term desires of the Brandhouse with the immediate capability of the distillery, maturation and production teams.

Role Responsibilities

The role holder will be accountable for the whisky quality and innovation of the Blended Whisky portfolio and tertiary malt whiskies including age profile, the blend recipes, cask assessment, reciprocal quality assessment, recipe management for to minimum COGs across the Blends, maturation cask section for the blended recipes and working in partnership with the Brand house and Suntory MBC labs on the brand quality aspirations.

Working with the Chief Blender, Scotch and also working closely with the following functions: Brandhouse, NPD, Distillery & Maturation teams, Suntory MBC labs, Supply planning, Processing & Bottling (including external co-packers) and external 3rd party reciprocal partners the role holder will develop and execute the plans to ensure the Whisky profile for brands, within the remit, are aligned with the long-term vision for the brands and that stocks are available to meet the sales forecast. This will include working with the distilleries on new volumes, cereal and yeast profiles, cask finish profiles, maturation durations and locations and a sample assessment program to ensure the whisky is of the highest quality. 

With +400,000 casks in maturation for the Blended portfolio and Tertiary malts, its essential that the role holder is both creative and analytical to ensure the spirit matures to the right quality and age.  As the role holder will work in partnership with the master Blende, Suntory and the Brand House its essential that the role holder is commercial astute, is creative in their thinking, has a desire to attain quality excellence and is a strong collaborator.

Qualifications & Experience

Education: Ideally educated to degree level in Chemical engineering / science or Brewing and Distilling,

Certifications/Licensure: Institute of Brewing and Distilling

Years of experience: +5 years in Blending and Whisky stocks category preferably within Scotch Whisky sector.

Level and type of experience:

1. Blender’s experience is essential, preferably overseeing the spirit quality of multiple premium brands. 
2. Experience in Whisky stocks management and Cask Quality assessment
3. Experienced in â€˜Operational & Distilling Excellence’ programs that drive best in class spirit quality is advantageous.
4. Inclusive and collaborative style - able to multi-task, connecting people and adopting best-practices.
5. Quality excellence mindset, driving high level of discipline and exceptional execution skills.

Industry experience:  Background in a Scotch Whisky, preferably working with premium Scotch whisky brands,