Brendan McCarron

Master Distiller / Master blender at Large. . . . .

Port Ellen, Scotland, United Kingdom

About

Experience

  • Director at Brendan McCarron LTD
    May 2023 - Present · 3 yrs 3 mos

    Whisky and spirits consultant Master Distiller Master Blender Working from raw materials, distillation, maturation and whisky creation through to coaching new distilling teams and creating new brands.

  • Master Distiller at Distell
    Apr 2021 - May 2023 · 2 yrs 2 mos

    Master Distiller at Distell responsible for Bunnahabhain, Tobermory , Ledaig , Scottish Leader , Black Bottle and Tobermory Gin (among other things !)

  • Head of Maturing Whisky Stocks at The Glenmorangie Company
    Jun 2014 - Apr 2021 · 6 yrs 11 mos

    Working for Dr Bill Lumsden in a new role for the company as a member of the Whisky Creation Team. Responsibilities include:- - Learning from Dr Bill Lumsden how the Whisky Creation and Maturing Stocks department at Glenmorangie Company runs, with a particular emphasis on understanding the stocks laid down and developing new expressions of Glenmorangie and Ardbeg - Developing the Company warehousing strategy - Work with the teams based at the two distilleries and centrally to ensure we produce the right volumes each year while guaranteeing the spirit quality and purchasing enough wood for maturation. - Sensory analyisis ensuring that the new make spirit meets specification before filling into wood and that the mature samples are ready prior to bottling - Technical support to the distilleries for new equipment installations or operating techniques as well as helping to solve any processing issues that arise - Brand Ambassador for Glenmorangie and Ardbeg worldwide.

  • Diageo (7 yrs 10 mos)
    • Senior Site Manager - Islay group
      May 2011 - Jun 2014 · 3 yrs 2 mos

      Responsibility for the operations in Diageo's Islay group which is made up of Lagavulin Distillery, Caol Ila Distillery, Port Ellen Maltings, the Islay Engineering Centre and the brand home visitor centres at Lagavulin and Caol Ila distilleries.

    • Senior Site Manager - Oban Distillery
      Jun 2009 - May 2011 · 2 yrs

      Responsible for the Oban distillery and visitor centre as the senior manager.

    • Glass and PET Global project lead / Strategic Category Manager - Procurement
      Jun 2008 - Jun 2009 · 1 yr 1 mo

      Gobal project to create opportunities in the Glass and PET markets, as Diageo only had a small number of suppliers to negotiate with globally. Brought a new PET supplier to Diageo, who built Diageo's first ever onsite through the wall manufacturing unit, saving on transportation costs (as the bottles were blown through the wall from the production plant into our bottling hall) and saving inventory cost with Just in time manufacturing.

  • Chemical Process Engineer - Sterilisation validation team at GlaxoSmithKline
    Mar 2005 - Sep 2006 · 1 yr 7 mos