Andrew Derbidge

Achieving a PB

The drudgery and monotony of lockdown life enjoyed some partial relief recently with the Tokyo Olympics, followed by the Paralympics. As is the case with every Olympics, throughout the games we heard amazing stories of athletes who’ve overcome obstacles, setbacks and challenges to achieve incredible feats. Focus tends to gravitate to the medal dais and the placegetters, but did you witness the joy and sense of achievement visible in so many athletes who were happy just to get there and compete? Or, more poignantly, those who – even though they didn’t finish with a gong around their neck – achieved a PB (personal best) and were thrilled that they performed their best ever on the world’s biggest stage. Needless to say, it was inspirational stuff, and I won’t deny having a lump in my throat and swelling with vicarious pride when athletes broke through the pain barrier and crossed the line.

I reflected recently that there are some parallels between the Olympics and whisky. I scribbled down a few examples: • There are some whiskies that I only pay attention to every four years or so. • There are some whiskies that are a bit like the opening ceremony – long, colourful, yet need a lot of interpretation. • There are some whiskies that are a bit like dressage – I don’t think I’ll ever understand them. • Courtesy of sulphur taint, some sherried whiskies have a false start and should be disqualified. • Sometimes, you’ll encounter a whisky in a line-up that is a bit like skateboarding at the

Olympics…you wonder if it should really be there? • Judging and scoring whisky is a lot like some events in the track and field: The sentimental favourite doesn’t always win. Continuing the analogy, it’s my opinion that a lot of whisky producers right now are intent on sending large teams to the Olympics, but few are striving to achieve a PB. The portfolio of many distilleries / brands is rapidly expanding with new age statements (or lack thereof), or special finishes, or releases with unique barley/yeast/ cask variations, etc. Some brands are flooding

the shelves with new releases and a growing corerange, giving the impression of diversity, volume, and strength. But, as we all know, sending a large team to the Olympics is no guarantee of success – there’s actually got to be world-beating talent amongst your ranks if your representatives are to stand on the medal dais. Quantity and quality are not necessarily related, and I think a lot of whisky producers are intent on showcasing presence, colour, and fanfare, rather than producing talent or achieving a PB. Sometimes, an unsung minnow country can produce the champion that takes out the field. Rounding out this analogy, there are obvious parallels with Society casks. Whilst size and reputation guarantee that cask numbers starting with 1, 3, 4, 24, 27, 29, 33, 53, 125, etc, etc, get the focus and attention when they appear in an Outturn, it is often the lesser-known codes that take out line honours or achieve a PB. As long-term members of the Australian branch will recall, our Local Tasting Panel used to score all the casks we imported and we would declare which cask was the “Top scoring dram” in each Outturn. More often than not, the TSD was from a lesser-known distillery, and often just a humble ex-bourbon cask at that. Great whisky doesn’t necessarily need a strong training regime, a celebrated pedigree, or careful use of

Great whisky doesn’t necessarily need a strong training regime, a celebrated pedigree, or careful use of supplements…. sometimes, you just compete with raw talent

supplements….sometimes, you just compete with raw talent. So next time you’ve got a truly delicious dram in your glass, consider that the distillery might just have achieved a PB. Be sure to give it due applause. Cheers,

Andrew Derbidge ~ Director, Cellarmaster & NSW Manager