In this one we chat to Torie aka Whisky Tee, who is presently one of the most influential women in the whisky community. She graciously responded to a few personal and controversial questions for my Q&A series.

Torie Barker drinking whisky — Torie Barker aka (Whisky Tee)

We already follow each other on Instagram, but for those who don't know you. Could you tell us a little bit about what you do and how you became a whisky influencer?

I’ve been interest in whisky for about 7 years; buying and collecting bottles, as well as obviously drinking but it wasn’t until New Year day 2020 after some encouragement, that I actually set up my Instagram page. It started just as a place that I could share pictures of the whisky adventures I’d been on and bottles from my collection. I didn’t know whisky influencing was a thing! I think I had a few hundred follows when I first received a message from a distillery asking if Id like to try some of their whisky. At first I thought it was a fake message, so I emailed the distillery directly to see if it was genuine!

A few months into having my page was the start of Covid and lockdown but I think this really worked in my favour, as there was a big wave of invites to online tastings and this gave me the opportunity to new drams and connect with others from the whisky community. Everyone is so friendly and supportive and I feel I’ve been really championed by the people I have met online.

I think things really took off earlier this year, when I was named one of the Top 5 Women making waves in whisky by Luxury Lifestyle Magazine. I’m still not sure how I got that accolade but I am so very grateful.

What was your first whisky, and do you still drink it?

My first whisky was a 2015 bottling of Glendronach Allardice . I’ve not had it for a while but it remains a solid favourite and I’ve an unopened 2019 bottle on the shelf that I may have to re-visit soon.

You do frequent malt chats with our friend (Hayley - Red Whisky Girl) on Instagram. What was the thinking behind this and has it been a success?

Open malt night came about as I wanted a space in which anyone from the whisky community could join us for a dram and a chat; be it an amateur whisky lover like myself or an industry professional. I wanted it to be no- frills platform with honest discussions, reviews and general chit chat with like minded people …And who better to join me than the lovely Hayley. It was Hayley that actually gave me the kick up the bum and said lets do it! Without her I’d have still been talking about wanting to do it haha.

The night in my eyes it was a success, we had some great guests that joined us from various backgrounds with some special guests such as Billy Abbott - Whisky Exchange Brand Ambassador, and Barry Distillery Manger of Laphroaig to made but a few. Unfortunately we had to put things on hold as Hayley moved back to Berlin and was traveling a lot with her new job but we will be looking to make our come back this October!

Can you describe your best distillery experience and why?

Wow its hard to pick just 1…

One of the best distillery experiences was an invite I had from Bunnahabain to visit their brand new biomass center and preview their upcoming 2022 Feis Ile releases. The experience as a whole was phenomenal; touring their distillery, sampling incredible whiskies, including a warehouse and chocolate pairing, eating fine food and being in great company but the most valuable part was the time I had speaking with Brendan McCarron (Master Distiller) and Julieann Fernandez (Master Blender), who by the way are the most lovely and funniest people I’ve met but also extremely knowledgeable. I learnt so much!

How difficult is it to keep up with trends and write interesting whisky reviews that will still be relevant past 2022?

I think it can be very difficult to keep up with trends if you are not constantly on the pulse and seeing and listening to what is going on around you. This year I have been incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to interview some extremely knowledgeable key figures within the industry, such as previously mentioned Brendan and Juileann but also Sandy Hyslop – Matser Blender and Director of Blending & Inventory at Chivas Brothers, Royal Salute and Balentine’s. He was very influential in how I now approach tasting whisky and to try make it more personal to me; Linking flavours and smells from childhood memories or moments in time, which when applied can lead to more creative and interesting reviews that are more personable to the reader and last the test of time.

Could you detail your thoughts on bottle flippers and whisky investors in general?

I collected bottles way before I knew there was any investment value in them. I like having them on my shelf like people like to display art. Now I know their value, I like the bonus of having a retirement fund or emergency fund should I ever need. I have recently put a few bottles up for auction to create funding to buy other more expensive bottles I have on my wish list, although I found it hard to pick which ones I could bare to be parted from.

I can see why people flip bottles but if you’re not the flipper, its flipping annoying to miss out on a bottle at RRP and have to pay double or sometimes far more at auction.

That said, if people didn’t flip you may never get the opportunity of owning a bottle you so desperately want.

Can you elaborate on the importance of whisky to you and the relationships that you have built with your followers?

Whisky is hugely important to me as its almost part of my identity. Friends, family even work colleagues all know me for being a whisky nut and I get a lot of pleasure talking to people about whisky. Having my Instagram page and connecting with likeminded people is such a rewarding and positive experience. The whisky community on Insta is a great social hub with people willing to help others; whether it be trouble shooting a camera problem, trying to locate a bottle you want or just sharing and promoting your page. There’s so many great people to connect with and I have made some true friends and very lucky to have so many cool, creative and lovely followers. I’m extremely grateful.

There's still a concerning amount of sexism in the whisky community. Do you have any thoughts on this?

9% of my followers are female, the rest are male and in all honestly, I’ve received nothing but support and respect with only the odd idiot. Any community or even industry that is predominantly male orientated have these idiots but times are changing and this is a minority group that is slowing dying of death and people just aren’t entertaining these dark age, dated attitudes.

Its just stupid considering some of the best master blenders in the whisky industry are women!

When you're not posting or hosting Instagram lives, how do you unwind? Do you have any interests that aren't related to alcohol?

I love history, all sorts of history like Tudors and Neanderthals. I’m also really interested extreme weather and natural disasters like Tsunami’s, Volcanoes, Tornados, etc so I watch a lot of documentaries and like to go and visit sites of interest. I’m pretty geeky on the quiet.

I’d like to thank Torie for devoting her valuable time, and for allowing us to learn more about Whisky Tee in this fantastic interview.

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