“It’s about the storytelling for us,” says new Balvenie ambassador, Joseph Chisholm

I’ve spoken to more than a few brand ambassadors on Drinks At Work before, and I’m friends with many of them. They have an interesting role: many of they occupy a space somewhere between the bar industry — more often than not they are former bartenders — and the world of distilled spirits. And while it’s certainly not their only responsibility, they tend to be important links for their brands to the bar trade and bartenders.

It’s a role many bartenders have an eye on — and that was true of Joseph Chisholm. Joey is the recently installed ambassador for The Balvenie in Australia and New Zealand and is my guest on this week’s episode of Drinks At Work.

Of course being a brand ambassador isn’t all parties and tastings and frequent flyer lounges, there’s a lot that goes into the role behind the scenes and it takes a certain kind of person. So in this episode we get know Joey a little bit, and find out how he went from being a bartender to an ambassador, and some of the very interesting career stops he has had along — including working, for a time, as a butler for a royal family.

This episode chat starts a little differently too — as this episode is sponsored by The Balvenie, Joey and I were tasting the flagship of The Balevnie, The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 and that’s how things kick off. We go onto talk about cask finishing, the legacy of David C. Stewart MBE, the current malt master Kelsey McKechnie, and how to taste and think about whisky more broadly.

Below, I’ve got a few key takeaways from the chat, but do give the full episode a listen.

“Before it was called Balvenie DoubleWood 12, it was called The Balvenie Classic; it was still finished in cask, but it wasn’t advertised like that — that wasn’t really what you spoke about.”

Gigs like the one Joey has taken don’t come around so often because they are desirable jobs — that’s thanks to the product you’re working with. I don’t think you’ll find a bartender who doesn’t appreciate the whiskies The Balvenie makes. We talk about legacy in this chat, too — Joey has taken over the role from Ross Blainey, and as he says, is “downloading” all the knowledge Ross accrued in the role at the time. But we also talk about the role of former malt master David C. Stewart MBE — known for creating the notion of cask finishing, which applies to the DoubleWood 12 but which has also been adopted by other distilleries — and the transition to the new malt master, Kelsey Mckechnie.

“Our malt master, Kelsey McKechnie, her skill is nosing and understanding the barrels, understanding the time of oak interaction and where it is in the warehouse — her ability to nose each spirit creates these beautiful, beautiful whiskeys.”

It’s an interesting way to interact with the world — as Joey says, very little actual tasting of whisky happens when it comes to blending and choosing the whiskies that will form the next release of The Balvenie; the real work is done by nosing, and is led by Kelsey McKechnie.

“That’s kind of what our brand is — it’s about the storytelling for us.”

This is a skill that the best brand ambassadors share — they know how to tell a story. What you taste, your perception of it, is all shaped by everything going on that is not in the glass: the time of day, where you are, but importantly, who you are with. After all, that’s the point, right? To share a whisky with someone, tell some stories — it’s the stuff that makes a good life.