What’s in a name? The words Bladnoch Distillery evoke a rich tradition of distilling that extends backwards in time over two centuries, when it was founded in the eponymous Lowlands village in 1817. The name Bladnoch is as much about the people who made the liquid as the liquid itself.
However, for a whisky producer of such estimable heritage, the company is also looking forward to the future and really digging into what a modern drinker wants from scotch, and that’s why Bladnoch shoulder-tapped Dr Nick Savage as its next captain.
After graduating with a PhD in engineering, Dr Savage worked as the technical lead in cask maturation for Diageo before becoming master distiller at The Macallan. In January 2019, following a meeting with Australian businessman David Prior, who had recently purchased the 200-year-old distillery, Savage became the master distiller at Bladnoch.
Nick Savage is a name that matters to me on a personal level, because it’s, er, also mine. So, it’s with a modicum of anticipation that I wait for Dr Nick Savage to walk through the doors at Quo Vadis, where I’m interviewing him.
When he finally does arrive, he’s a 6’6” giant carrying gifts, a Bladnoch tasting pack with the distillery’s Vinaya, Samsara and Liora expressions.
As we sniff and taste the whisky, we realise that we share more in common than a name…
Christopher Jeney
Square Mile: Have you met another Nick Savage before?
Dr Nick Savage: No, I was very excited.
SM: Me neither. It’s my first time.
NS: Surely the title of the interview must be Nick Savage speaks to Nick Savage. It’s a golden opportunity.
SM: I came across a podcast about you that was entitled ‘Master Distiller or Action Hero’. That made me feel really good about myself. How do people tend to respond when you say your name is Dr Savage?
NS: I don’t know how you feel, but it can be quite an aggressive name. However, when people meet you, they realise that you’re not aggressive. You know, we’re both tall. People are more taken aback by the size at first before the name. And then they realise that it’s actually a juxtaposition. It’s an aggressive name but with a really empathetic and smiley, happy person hanging out behind it.
SM: You’re a doctor named Nick Savage. I have to say that designation makes me feel slightly insecure as a run-of-the-mill Nick Savage. Can you tell us about what your doctorate was focused on?
NS: I studied at RMIT in Melbourne, Australia, and my PhD was in mechanical and structural engineering. My undergrad studies were in sports engineering in Sheffield, the town where I was born. I never left Sheffield until I was 22. And then I went to the other side of the world. So, if you’re going to do it, you may as well do it in style and go for it. My thesis focused on tennis racket vibrations, the study of shock, and how the racket affects the human arm. I never want to see another tennis racket again after that study.
Engineering was my entry point into scotch. They wanted somebody in Diageo to look at the engineering of casks, the strength of casks, and the movement of casks – reducing the angel’s share through design. We wanted to make them thinner for rejuvenation so that they could have a longer life cycle. There was a whole strength and maturation-loss bucket of work to be done, and they wanted an engineer to look at it rather than a chemical engineer. That was the bridge from tennis rackets to casks.
I shouldn’t say this, but there was some other inspiration, too. I was watching The Nutty Professor and there was this moment where you see Professor Klump’s name written on a credit card. And I was thinking to myself that it would be pretty cool to have Dr Nick Savage on there. As soon as I finished my PhD, the first thing I did was go to the bank and change my name, just so I could get it on a new credit card.
Pot stills at Bladnoch
Christopher Jeney
SM: Professor Nick Savage is way better than Professor Klump. So, was there an a-ha moment when you realised that that’s what you wanted to pursue? Were you playing a tennis match?
NS: There was no a-ha moment. I’m more focused on what the next adventure is – what the next thing is that I find interesting.
SM: Interestingly, that’s what quo vadis means [we’re chatting at Quo Vadis in Soho]. It means ‘Where are you going?’ in Latin. So, what’s next?
NS: I was looking for work, and I wanted a job that I found interesting. If you find a vocation interesting, then you’re going to enjoy it. And then you’re going to work harder. I don’t care about the money, the titles, all that will follow.
SM: Classic Nick Savage.
NS: It’s like looking in the mirror, right? So the a-ha moment for that particular adventure: I was 26 or 27, slightly hungover on a Sunday afternoon. We’d been drinking whisky, mainly bourbon at the time. And this job advert came up that said optimise a whisky cask, and that was it. My friends encouraged me to apply for the role because they thought that it would get us free whisky. Anyway, I applied for it, and that was the reason I went on this adventure. But once you’re in the whisky industry, it kind of pulls you along. You just follow your nose, and if you work hard, then people notice it, and you end up in situations like this.
SM: You worked at some heavy hitters: as master distiller at The Macallan, as well as at Diageo. What made you move to Bladnoch? Was it following your nose?
NS: Yep, I follow my nose. Never be afraid of listening to opportunities because you never know what will be said. Always be open, and never have an itchy bum; never be anxious to leave. I’ve never wanted to leave anywhere. It’s always been a pull. While you’re on the job, you have to work hard, commit to it and deliver for the right reasons. If you focus on that, then people will recognise talent.
That’s my general finding of the world in the whisky industry. So when Bladnoch owner David Prior phoned for a chat, we met in Glasgow for the first time. David only tends to have 15-to-20-minute meetings. Our first meeting was about three and a half hours long. We chatted about how we see whisky; about how we see a brand. Chatted about how we think whisky should be made, what his vision was, and the kind of foundations that we’d want for a distillery. I like to call it ‘a brand new 200-year-old distillery’, which is quite a unique position.
SM: How would you describe the character of Bladnoch whiskies?
NS: Lowlands. I think Lowlands is quite an untapped region. You have Speyside, you have Islay… they’re not saturated, but they’re all very well established and very good at telling their story. The Lowlands seems to be the next region that could do that. There are some amazing whiskies there; slightly undefined sometimes in their style.
With the Bladnoch Vinaya, you get floral, perfumed notes and sometimes fresh-cut grass. It’s a combination of bourbon and sherry casks in Vinaya. It has this floral, sweet, refreshing style, with a little bit of nutty creaminess. So, on a day like today, Vinaya is great. It’s a refreshing dram; you can have it in a highball. It’s quite accessible. Somebody who’s a gin or vodka drinker can quite easily have a Bladnoch Vinaya and think, ah, I could get into whisky.
I think as an industry, we have to educate and bring people along, and I think Bladnoch, especially Vinaya, has got this accessible, refreshing style to it.
Bladnoch Vinaya
Christopher Jeney
SM: How would you characterise the direction you’ve taken as Master Distiller at Bladnoch? How do you want to take the distillery into the future?
NS: Since I’ve joined, we’ve built a sustainable portfolio. So, the number one thing that I’ve put in there is the ethos of ‘taste first.’ Not many people understand what a 14-year-old Oloroso sherry cask is. What the majority of people will understand is flavours: floral, fruity, creamy. That’s what vanilla tastes like.
Once we communicate the flavour profile, the age and the cask type will be a footnote. Most people want to know what’s inside the bottle. I don’t want people getting caught out with, “I didn’t realise it was going to be spicy because it just said 19 on it.” Let’s make sure you get the right product.
That’s the idea. Straightforwardness. When you look at the packaging, we distil the taste into three words: floral, apples, and vanilla.
SM: What do you think the future holds for single malt scotch?
NS: I see some great things being done. We’re going to get better at communicating that. Bladnoch is not going to be the only one who is going to start talking flavour. When you have Google and smartphones, you can easily know as much about whisky as I do. It’s important to have transparency. It’s going to play a big role in scotch. That’s going to be key going forward.
SM: If you were to leave a stamp or legacy on Bladnoch, what would you like that to be?
NS: When I joined in 2019, we did six mashes a week for six months; about 600,000 litres. It was about a third of production, and we employed 14 people globally. Now, we’re doing 2.3 million litres, employing over 60 people. The impact on the community has been massive. So that’s what I’m most proud about. I think that it’s important to always remember the places where these things come from.
SM: If you had to choose one place to drink Bladnoch, where would it be?
NS: Whenever I’ve gone travelling around the world, it’s always very noisy. It’s non-stop. Very rarely do I ever just get a half-an-hour by myself with a single dram. I love drinking on the rooftop bars in Tokyo, but for me, it has to be summertime at the distillery, looking out across the garden at the Bladnoch Bridge.
It’s peaceful. You can hear the river and see and smell the casks. You’ve only got ten minutes but you feel like you could sit there forever. The best drams are always imbibed where the whisky’s made, just by yourself, catching five minutes… they’re the moments when I remember a whisky best.
Yes, the place – that always tends to be the hippocampus of memory creation.
SM: So, is it situational, subjective?
NS: Who you are with, what’s happening, how you feel, what’s happened to you. Have you had a shit day or a good day? What’s happening next? It’s all rolled up into that. You do you. I want you to enjoy it. Whatever form that takes, just not with Coca-Cola!
Sampling the spirit from the barrel with a whisky thief
Christopher Jeney
SM: Is there any nominative determinism in the name Nick Savage? Savage by name, savage by nature?
NS: I used to play basketball competitively. I got to semi-pro level and could have gone to college in America. But I thought I’ll never make it, so I’ll go get an education instead. When I played basketball, people would say there were two Nicks; the cuddly, smiley, empathetic guy off-court. But when on court they would say that there’s this other Nick that comes out. He wants to win, and he’s competitive and shouting and sometimes angry.
When you cross the line, it is game time. That’s what David Prior and I spoke about before I came on at Bladnoch. Once you cross the line, we’re going to go at it. And I think the Savage thing is there. It is applied when needed, if that makes sense.
When we need to be competitive, when we need to inspire people, when we need to lead, then okay, I’m going to go, “Guys, come on, we can do this. I’ve got you.”
For more information, see bladnoch.com
