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A belated Happy New Year to you all. After the excitement of the Installationceremony and dinner I had a sense of whatthe year was going to be like when I donnedmy kilt again the following evening to attendthe Mansion House as a guest of the MasterCooper of the Worshipful Company ofCoopers. This was quickly followed by alovely concert and supper hosted by theMercers’ Company and yet another banquetat the Pattenmakers. The following week, Irepresented the Company at the IWSCawards presentation and banquet, and alsoattended the installation of the Master of theGlass Sellers’ Company. The Distillers’ CarolConcert heralded the start of the Christmas

The Annual WSET Awards and Graduationceremony took place at the Guildhall onMonday 18th January in front of an audience ofmore than 500 people comprising WSET grad-uates, their guests, scholarship winners and thekey personalities of the industry. The 47 WSETscholarships included the Worshipful Companyof Distillers’ Award – for the top student in thespirits unit of the WSET Diploma – presentedby IPM Allan Cheesman to Alexander Robinsonof ‘The Good Wine Shop’ in Richmond. Theceremony was compered by WSET Chief Exec-utive Ian Harris, with Gerard Basset (HonoraryPresident of WSET) welcoming each of thewinners and Diploma graduates. The ceremonyincluded the presentation of a LifetimeAchievement Award – for services to educationand to WSET – to Liveryman Richard Patersonof Whyte & Mackay.Ian HarrisCEO – WSET

The first 60 days

WSET Honours Scholarship Winners

Newsletter | February 2016

Richard Paterson & Gerard Basset

Craft SpiritsFriend or Foe?

“A Master’s Life”

Don’t forget the May 12th debateGlobal brands will be represented by LaurentLacassagne the CEO of Chivas Brothers, themain spirits division of Pernod Ricard, andLawson Whiting, Exec VP and head of Strategyand Brands at Brown-Forman. Do they seecraft as friend or foe? The picture is not quite

Allen Cheeseman, Alexander Robinson & Gerard Basset

The Master

as black and white as it may seem. Craft spiritsin the UK almost equal the scale of the gincategory and are mostly made up of bought-inspirit, whereas craft whiskey in the USA istwice the size of white spirits and is frequentlya fully integrated operation from corn tobottle. Is craft a reality or a perception? Hostedby Bank of America Merrill Lynch in theirmagnificent King Edward Hall, the line up iscompleted by a craft distiller with a real trackrecord, an analyst from Nomura Investment

Bank and Liveryman Ian Buxton – a commen-tator steeped in the world of craft spirits – inthe chair. Don’t miss this exciting debate onMay 12th. Will it be a global clash or a craftyparty? Either way, there will be craft and globalbrands to sample afterwards! It will provide agreat conclusion to a fascinating day for thosewho are attending the Gin Guild’s Ginposiumearlier in the day.Past MasterDavid Grant

festivities and the Mistress and I werepleased to see a good attendance, with theChaplain commenting (favourably!) on thesinging of the assembled multitude; this wasfollowed by an excellent supper in thechurch. The golf year ended with the ‘Icicle’golf day, which proved to be anything but –however, after so many dinners, the hillycourse certainly took its toll on me! 2016looks like maintaining the same pace, withmeetings in January of the Master & Wardens’Committee, the granting of the Freedom ofthe Company to two new candidates, dinnerat The Upholders as guest of Past MasterChristopher Hayman, and planning the BurnsNight supper on 29th January. I just wonderif there is still going to be an overlap on mykilt at the end of my time in office!Douglas MortonMaster

Ginposium

IPM Alan Cheesmangoes out with a bang

Don’t forget May 12thThe Gin Guild is once again delighted topresent their one-day advanced seminar ongin for the trade. Full details are available viathe Gin Guild website at www.theginguild.comand on-line booking is now open. Some of theworld’s most respected personalities andexperts from the drinks and gin trade will joinforces on 12th May 2016 to share theirknowledge and expertise on all things gin. Inthis, the third annual Gin Guild Ginposium,

New Communications TeamGetting the message out to Liverymen is

vitally important in making the most of theirmembership. We are already extremelyfortunate to have two very skilled communi-cators in Paul Finch and Damian Riley-Smith,both of whom have put in immense amountsof time and effort to improve our magazine,the Distillate and to introduce thesenewsletters. I hope you like the results. Pauland Damian are now being joined by Julia Thorold,recently retiredfrom the Keepers ofthe Quaich, and who will be organ-ising our photog-raphy, and by Karen Bennett who runs Keysmith, a Communicationsagency, who will besupporting theeffort to publicisethe City Debate andthe IWSC tasting.Both of theseLiverymen areconsummate profes-

Dave HughesMany of you will know

of Dave Hughes a well-loved and respectedLiveryman, member ofthe South African Wineindustry and author ofmany books on drinks

In the penultimate week of his year asMaster, Allan Cheesman (then) Upper Warden,Douglas Morton and I had the pleasure ofattending the Taranto Night mess dinner atRNAS Yeovilton, as guests of 825 NASSquadron and their Commanding Officer,Commander Glyn Owen. We were honoured tomeet HRH The Duke of York before feasting,celebrating and remembering the heroics ofthe Fleet Air Arm. Taranto was one of the mostremarkable military successes of The SecondWorld War. On the night of 11th/12thNovember 1940, the brave pilots of the FleetAir Arm flying impossibly quaint Swordfishaircraft cut the Italian fleet in half in Taranto harbour. The tradition is to re-enact the battleand to create as much noise and to use asmany fireworks in a mess hall as is possible.No one was disappointed by the spectacle andfortunately, the fire brigade was on hand todeal with the problems caused by the enthu-siastic use of fireworks and to silence thealarms, allowing our Master to catch up on hisbeauty sleep. The evening was trulyremarkable and the friendship and hospitalityextended to us by RNAS 825 unforgettable.Euan Lacey825 NAS Liaison Officer

The Scottish Committeemakes history

History was made on Monday 25thJanuary when under the new streamlinedprocedures, the first Freedom of theCompany was granted in Scotland. At aceremony at The Royal Perth Club andattended by the whole of The ScottishCommittee, Gordon Doctor and MikeYounger (both of Ian McLeod Distillers) wereadmitted to The Freedom. Past Master BrianMorrison welcomed the candidates anddirected them to The Guildhall for the nextstep. Kenny MacKay (Scottish Chairman)taking on the role of The Clerk for theceremony. Kenny MackayScottish Chairman

Botanicals

seminar speakers will include a number ofluminaries and experts from the world of gin and craft spirits, namely Emma Hibbertfrom Adnams, Mark Gamble from UnionDistillers, Professor Katherine Smart fromSABMiller PLC, as well as Dr. Anne Brockfrom the Bermondsey Distillery, Miles Bealefrom the Wine & Spirit Trade Association,and Valentine Warner from BBC’s ‘What toEat Now’, who aside from being a chef andwriter, has also now become a gin brandowner. Topics include; launching andmarketing a new product; exporting gin; theinfluences of different base spirits on gin: theimportance of the designer bottle in thepromotion and sale of a designer gin, andvarious tutored tastings. We will also beasking the questions; Terroir, does it matter?The effect of different botanical fixatives, hitor myth? And UK and EU legislation, whatdoes the future hold and what are the chal-lenges and opportunities for gin? Delegateswill also be invited to join the WCD CitySpirits Debate in the evening. The seminarwill be held at the London TransportMuseum in Covent Garden. See details abovefor the spirits debate.Nicholas CookCEO - The Gin Guild

sionals and will really strengthen the team intwo key areas. A warm welcome and thanksto Julia and Karen. We are also seeking addi-tional website skills to progress this vital part of our communications. If you can helpus in this role please do get in touch with me to find out more details at: richardwatling@gmail.com Richard WatlingUpper Warden

The Swordfish is full flight

NEWSLETTER | February 2016 THE WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF DISTILLERS

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and allied subjects. He is a distiller, winemaker, wine auctioneer, international wine andspirit judge and founder of the Cape WineAcademy. Dave has not been well recentlyhaving suffered a stroke and then falling andbreaking two ribs. Everyone in the Liverywishes you a speedy recovery Dave!Past MasterCharles Maxwell

Hon Alex Bruce, Mike Younger, Past Master Brian Morrison,Gordon Doctor, Michael Urquhart, Ken Robertson

We remember Ian BeithI had dinner with Ian, a dear friend of 43

years and his wife Annette on November 23rd2015 and the following Monday we played golftogether at West Kent Golf Club. Two dayslater, Ian was in hospital following a seriousstroke that put him in a coma, from which,sadly, he never recovered. His sudden andunexpected death was a huge shock to all hisfriends and family. Ian was a quantity surveyorby profession and became the senior partner

Jonathan Driver

Jonathan Driver,the Livery Company’sChairman of theIndustry Committeehas been appointedas Whyte & Mackay’srare whisky director.Jonathan has over 27

years experience in the Scotch whisky industryparticularly in the field of luxury brands. Youol’ smoothy!!The Editor

Distillers Car Club

Fifteen members of the Livery will be visitingthe BMW Mini assembly plant on March 11.

HMS MontroseIn September 2014 HMS Montrose started

her second refit period. In this multimillion-pound maintenance period (which hascontinued into 2016), she will be dry-docking inDevonport, Plymouth for a series of machineryand sensor upgrades, structural repairs andextensive maintenance not possible while theship is in water. Since July 2012 the ship hasvisited 24 foreign ports in 13 different countriescovering nearly 65,000 milesThe Editor

Captain James ParkinWe are delighted to announce that

Liveryman Captain James Parkin RN has beenpromoted and is now Captain of the FleetAmphibious Flagship HMS Bulwark. He joinedthe Royal Navy as a Warfare Officer in 1997and has served in HM Ships Berkeley,Manchester and Somerset. He commandedHMS Montrose from 2012 to 2014 and workedin the Ministry of Defence from 2014 to 2015.James is a trustee of the Royal Navy and RoyalMarines Charity and the Royal Navy Officers’Charity, and a Council member of the Associ-ation of Royal Navy Officers. CongratulationsJames from all your friends at the Distillers.The Editor

Waddesdon ManorThe Livery plans a visit to this famous

Victorian, château-inspired, mansion and NationalTrust property on Saturday July 2nd. It was origi-nally built for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild in1874 and is filled with fine art and is famed for itswine cellar of course! It is planned that membersand non-members of the Distillers’ Car Club mightbring out their cars for a special drive and photocall in front of the houseThe Editor

of Fuller Peiser, a well-known propertycompany based at Holborn Circus. Ian joinedthe Distillers’ Livery in 1992 and his love of finewines and good food soon saw him leading thefield as one of the most consistent attendersof livery functions. His knowledge of wine wascomprehensive and his friends when organ-ising a dinner party often sought his advice.With his love of good food complemented byfine wines, Ian excelled as the perfect host.When members of the Distillers’ Court lookedinto purchasing their own livery hall, Ian wascalled in as an adviser. Following his advicethe Company determined that owning theirown property would incur very large over-heads and so it was decided not to take on thisliability. Ian was a keen golfer, alwayssupporting the Livery’s annual golf day, origi-nally at Burr Hill Golf Club, but more recentlyat West Kent Golf Club where he was an activeand much loved member. Our deepestsympathy goes to Ian’s wife Annette and to hisfamily at this very sad time.Past MasterRobert Hobson

Diary DatesThursday, 21 April 2016Court meeting and Livery Dinner,Vintners' HallThursday, 12 May 2016City DebateWednesday, 18 May 2016Inter livery Clay Shoot at The Holland & Holland Shooting GroundsThursday, 26 May 2016Gin Industry Annual Dinner & Gin Guild spring installation Wednesday, 15 June 2016Liveryman’s Evening at the Carlton Club Wednesday, 22 June 2016Court meeting and Lunch (Court Members only), Innholders' HallSaturday, 2 July 2016Visit to Waddesdon ManorWednesday, 27 July 2016IWSC Spirits Tasting at Vintners’ HallThursday, 8 September 2016Scottish DinnerWednesday, 19 September 2016Out of Towners Lunch at Ironmongers HallFriday, 7 October 2016Livery Banquet, Mansion HouseThursday, 17 November 2016Installation Court meeting& Livery Dinner, Vintners' Hall

For details on any events please contact the Assistant Clerk, Kim Lyons at KLyons@lbmw.com or 020 7960 7173Submit any articles and photographs with captions for forthcoming newsletters to Paul Finch at finchpj@btinternet.com

Published by Paragraph Publishing, Damian Riley-Smith, damian@paragraphpublishing.com

visit BMW Mini

“Rare but not aged”

Annette & Ian Beith

The grounds of Waddesdon

BMW assembly plant worker

HMS Bulwark

Captain James Parkin

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NEWSLETTER | February 2016 THE WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF DISTILLERS