Is fortune favouring the Brave? - Wolfburn’s Mark Westmorland: Interviewed
In this much anticipated interview, Wolfburn's Global Brand Ambassador, Mark Westmorland, answers questions about his personal life and discusses the distillery's operations, core range and more.
For those who aren't familiar with you. Could you please tell us a little bit about what you do and how you came to work with Wolfburn?
Born and bred in Thurso where the distillery is, I had a brilliant upbringing. The sea and river was on my doorstep and there were adventures abound. That adventure continues. In 2016, when Wolfburn Whisky hit the shelves, I was asked to help out at some shows and festivals by my good friend Charlie, our now Tour Manager. Having served 30 years in the Scottish Police Service, talking to people in all scenarios came easy to me and I used these skills to spread the love of Wolfburn to the masses. My passion is easy to see, I am told and I am humbled, being a local lad on a global stage getting our liquid to the lips. I am but a mere guardian of our spirit.
What qualities do you feel are required to become a Global Brand Ambassador, and do you have any tips for any aspiring Ambassadors?
Be yourself, bring your own experience to the role. Have confidence in your knowledge of the product and have a bit of spunk about you. Don't be a beige salesperson, plenty of them about. Be memorable, create relationships and friendships with both the distributor and consumer. Tell stories, entertain and never bullshit. We are social animals us humans, we want to feel part of a pack, - The Wolfpack!, accepted, valued, respected and loved. Experiencing things together. Like at a tasting or festival. Be open and honest and if you can have some fun doing it.
There's now a large movement focused on climate change. What efforts are Wolfburn taking to become more eco-friendly and sustainable?
As a responsible business, we are continually evaluating what we need and where we get our products to run a successful and sustainable company. Some aspects are beyond our control, but we make sure the suppliers we deal with have that alignment in our wishes and wants, whether it be glass, paper, packaging or corkage, the list goes on. The green credential can be an important draw for the consumer. I think when we get opportunities to change , we evaluate them, not only on cost but if that change is sustainable and better for the environment. Our draff is picked up by a local farmer for cattle feed and he also takes our effluent away too, a good quid pro quo. I think it is a good question though and an important one to constantly consider when growing a business.
Can you perhaps list some of the locations in which Wolfburn sells well, other from the obvious one, the United Kingdom?
Wolfburn is strong throughout Europe, Germany at the moment, our biggest market there. We have ultra fans in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Sweden, I could keep naming countries, we are in around 40 places now, worldwide. Our Asian markets are ever increasing too. Our name is being recognised more and more and next year we will be 10 years in operation, a huge milestone for the company. Some have even got our motif The Sea Wolf as a tattoo. That's devotion.
Many people are put off by Wolfburn's young NAS whiskies. Why do you feel people are turned off by this, and what can you say to convince them to try it?
If you want to express an opinion on something, best to try it yourself, then you can make up your mind. There has been some misconception that young whiskies are less flavoursome than old. In my honest opinion it is all about personal preference. We concentrate on producing the best whisky we can, blood, sweat and tears goes into making it, but that wouldn't taste nice in a glass so that's why we have to produce a phenomenal dram, but remember, I am completely biased. lol. We are traditional whisky makers using modern day efficient methods, storing everything on site, in traditional dunnage warehouses, hand bottling and supplying the world from the stills. As we say - Fortune Favours The Brave, nothing comes to you in life unless you put the effort in, we certainly do that in every part of our process.
How many bottles do Wolfburn normally release each year, and how do you keep up with all of their many maturation types, ABVs, and other details?
We are lucky in that our DNA, the essence of Wolfburn has an immense taste and characteristic already. One of the team at Forsyths that built the distillery said it was the best new make spirit he had tasted and he had tasted a few! Please drink responsibly. lol. What we want with our wood management policy is for the maturation to proclaim our spirit, not overwhelm it. Like scoring the winning goal at the world cup. You want your team mates to raise you on their shoulders and parade you to the applause of the crowd. Different types will impart different tastes and flavours but our rich fruity floral notes are vibrant and light in everything we do. The accolade is when someone picks up the glass and says that's a Wolfburn, that is what every distilley wants. That unique characteristic. We have been lucky in selecting some cracking casks over the years, Rum, Port, Madeira, cracking Sherry and Bourbon casks of all shapes and sizes. That is the exciting part of the business, waiting on these choices to come to fruition, some will stay for a lot longer yet but hopefully I will get a chance to taste them as our journey continues.
Can you walk us through the core range and tell us about your favourite expression from it?
The backbone of the brand, the firm foundations that allow us to build upon. The core of the brand, never our standard range as nothing is standard at Wolfburn. Traditional tastes are important especially as a young business. We have to appeal to the masses, tried and tested tastes that sell. An honest answer and that is what our core does, Northland, a non peated spirit but matured in peated quarter casks, our Aurora, our sherry aged, our Morven, lightly peated, and our Langskip, near cask strength a great choice which allows the consumer to experiment with our spirt. For me, the Northland will always be my favourite. A bottle when it came out in 2016 as the first commercial expression was bought for me by my mum. A cherished possession. Sharing this dram at the stills with the team is a memorable experience. Our first born and still going strong yet.
Can you explain the relevance of transparency in the whisky world, and how Wolfburn implements it?
Bit of a buzzword and whilst it is interesting to know everything about everything, does that affect your individual experience and taste. I got asked at a tasting what is the one thing that makes Wolfburn Wolfburn. I considered everything - the process, the barley selection, the mash temps, our fermentation times, cuts of the spirit, maturation. I couldn't say there was one thing and I feel that is the way it should be. The Terroir of whisky is also discussed, we can have QR codes, history of, stamps from where and knowledge of everything. It excites some I am sure. If i jump in my car I want it to go, personally how it does, doesn't interest me. Don't shoot the messenger, these are my own views.
What makes Wolfburn so unique, and how does it differ from its competitors?
It is our process, where we are and how we do it. We don't care what others are doing. We are Wolfburn. If we spend time looking left and right at other producers we lose focus on the paramount importance of our own creation. All our effort goes into the production and what goes in the bottle. I don't need to be firing T shirts out into the crowd or building altars or ships around our whisky. It sells on taste and flavour alone, that's how it should be. No smoke and mirrors from us, just an honest whisky at a justifiable cost.
Can you tell me about the distillery experience; what's it like?
Some describe Wolfburn as one of the ugliest distilleries in Scotland, from the outside the still house looks like a cow shed. But who cares. It is like people, who cares what's on the outside, it is what is on the inside that matters and when you open the door at Wolfburn, you are in the beating heart of our process. Because our distillery was built from new, there is a beautiful functionality to our build, from where the barley comes in, milled through to the mash and so on, so not only does our process flow superbly, so does our whisky. Whoever you get at the stills, the tour is laidback, informative and enjoyable. A 4 star experience so far, always pushing for that elusive 5th. Plus a variety of drams to sample and a Wolfburn Glencairn to take away to toast us in the future.
What's next for Wolfburn, Can you give us an inside scoop?
Again asked this lately at a tasting I did the bond villain, stroking my invisible cat shouting " World Domination " Remember Fortune Favours The Brave. Watch out next year for our milestone 10 year old in the Spring.
How do you unwind when you're not tasting selling and talking about spirits? Do you have any other interests outside of work that's not related to alcohol?
I like reading, walking, and following my football team. A season ticket holder, my festivals and tasting this year have unfortunately fallen on home games. Schoolboy error on my behalf but the job comes first, I can always catch up on the tele. I am a people person, I love visiting different countries and cultures and soaking up the experience. My previous job, I used to turn up to frowns and worry, now it's smiles and glee! Have whisky, will travel!
Thank you to the Wolfburn team for agreeing to this fascinating Q&A and to Mark for volunteering his time. Cheers, mate!
For more information about Wolfburn please go to Wolfburn.com
