Jamie Johnson, National Brand Ambassador for Glenfiddich and The Balvenie in Canada, was a personality in the whisky world before joining the William Grant & Sons family. As someone who has always had a deep interest and appreciation of brown spirits, Jamie used to run a whisky club and, for many moons, co-hosted The Whisky Topic podcast with Mark Bylok, author of The Whisky Cabinet. For the last eight years, she has been travelling across Canada, and the globe, representing Glenfiddich and The Balvenie whiskies through events, appearances, and educational seminars.
Having met Jamie on multiple occasions at industry events, I knew she was also an avid traveller, working on building health and wellness into her fast-paced mobile lifestyle. In this cheerful conversation, we get a bit of an insight into Jamie’s background, talk about travelling for whisky, staying healthy on the road, and find out what her dessert dram is.
Left: Jamie Johnson, National Brand Ambassador for Glenfiddich and The Balvenie, Canada.
Right: Glenfiddich Distillery in the fall.
Kateryna Topol: Where have you been lately? Last I saw you were in Montréal…
Jamie Johnson: Yes, that was at the end of summer. I did a lot of Vancouver in the early part of the year, four times in a couple of months, and sometimes they were quite short trips. I’ve got Alberta and Scotland coming up, and Fredericton in November for the NB Spirits Festival.
KT: Fun, I might be seeing you in Fredericton
JJ: Come, it is so much fun! It’s like a camp, everyone stays in the same hotel, and you can see all your pals just mingling around; it’s always a good time.
KT: I’ve heard! Ok, let’s talk about personal travel, how do you approach that?
JJ: For me right now, especially because I’ve been travelling for eight years, I treat is staying home. So my travel now is whatever I can do in a road trip, that’s kind of a luxury for me at this point – not getting on a flight. But I think there are some places that I’m really interested in visiting, so I try to be strategic about visiting them. If I’m already in a place, let’s say the UK, I can add some extra vacation days onto the end of that, then I don’t have to do two trips all the way there. But I love a local road trip, like going to Montebello in Québec and doing a little spa weekend. I love going to Niagara and Prince Edward County and things that are sort of around here, but far enough away that it feels like a vacation, like a getaway.
KT: I often think how some of those places, two-three hours away, are close for us, while in Europe you’d be in a different country in that time
JJ: Isn’t it funny? As someone who travels a lot within Canada, it’s one of those things that doesn’t escape me, how big our country is. I have brand ambassador counterparts in different parts of the world who cannot get over the distances I have to travel to get to some of my major markets, like Vancouver or Victoria. I could probably spend 45 minutes extra on a plane and get to the UK.
And it is funny, though, because as much as we joke about how we stereotype Canadians all knowing each other, you will inevitably stumble upon somebody that’s like, “Oh, hey, do you know so and so from BC?” and you’re like, “I live in Toronto,” but very likely actually know that person [we both chuckled]. It’s neat because, especially within hospitality, and maybe within travel too, everybody kind of knows each other. So you do end up stumbling upon the same people over and over in different provinces. And it is a real treat to be able to have that kind of community.
KT: Yes, the travel community is very similar. Would you still visit distilleries on personal trips?
JJ: I love going to distilleries. I remember I had a couple of days off with another brand ambassador from the States, while in Scotland, we rented a car and visited other distilleries. I think part of being a brand ambassador is not just championing your own brand, but the category as a whole. People move around, it’s a very small community, so being able to go and say “Hi” to your friends at other distilleries is a really great thing. You can memorise all the facts about your own distillery from a book, sure, but if you’ve been around more distilleries, and if you gained knowledge of the context of the industry as a whole, you’re gonna have so much more to say and talk about when it comes to category. And even your own distillery, like where it fits in the history.
I started my whiskey club because I went to some distilleries in Kentucky in 2012, and that’s where my love of whiskey began. So I have a pretty extensive list of distilleries that I’ve checked off, and there are some great ones locally in Canada as well. I’m always up for a distillery visit.
KT: And for people who are not big drinkers, is there value in visiting a distillery?
JJ: I think there’s so much to learn that comes from not just the alcohol or the tasting portion of it. There’s a lot of history woven into what happened, how this distillery came about. Like was this always a legal distillery, or was this pre-legal times? We also talk about the building of the railroads in Speyside and the industrial revolution, and how that changed. And when you think about whiskey and the idea that it became popular because phylloxera wiped out a bunch of grapes, allowing whiskey to come into fashion.
There’s a ton of neat history there, and not only in the tall tales, but in the buildings themselves and a lot of the distilleries. Especially the oldies like The Balvenie, that building has basically been there since 1887, on the same ground as a medieval castle. There are so many tales behind it, and usually, you’ll find some great characters there, some beautiful architecture, some history, and just enjoy the whole context of it. Going to a super old pubby restaurant that serves fish and chips the same way they did back in the early 1900s, that’s always a fun thing to do.
KT: Very true, and a lot of them have such amazing views and architecture, often close to the water…
JJ: Yes, exactly. Plus, at The Balvenie, we’ve got all these beautiful ghost stories, it’s fun. If you like anything old and steeped in history, then any distillery will have that. And even the newer ones are quite the marvel architecturally. There’s always a story behind how these distilleries came about with their ethos. I’m fascinated even by the smells and just sort of the tactile nature of the distilleries – getting to smell the barley and smelling the fermenting mash, going into the still house and seeing all this really cool chemistry. And then you go into the warehouse and you’ve got this beautiful oaky smell from the angel share coming out. It’s very poetic.
Angel share: a small amount of alcohol that evaporates from a wooden barrel during the ageing process.
KT: Absolutely! How about whisky festivals? There’s a perception that they are for people who are whiskey connoisseurs, but festivals are not just about drinking, Fèis Ìle, for example, is so much more
JJ: I agree with you 100%. I think whiskey festivals are especially great for people who are just getting into the category. It’s a ticket to an entire room full of different styles, and you can go around and discover a lot. And I always tell people, if you can spring for the VIP ticket, get in ahead of time and strategise without all the big crowds. Usually, during the VIP hour, there are fewer people, and you can actually talk to the brand ambassadors and get their insight into what’s going on at their table and if they have a recommendation of where you go from here. Sometimes we’ll have a special pour during the VIP, like a 21-year-old Glenfiddich. I’ve seen whiskey people come in and go straight for the smoky ones, and maybe that’s not the best strategy, because it kind of kills your palate a little bit to tasting anything that’s softer after.
My advice is to strategise before things get really crazy. And I always say quality over quantity. I’ve seen people fall in love with whiskey at festivals, ut’s a nice way to introduce someone to this category. And I remember someone saying to me, “If you don’t like whiskey, you just haven’t found yours yet”. Whiskey shows are a great way to dip your toes and see what style speaks to you best.
KT: … and to also learn that the most expensive doesn’t mean the best?
JJ: Yeah, most expensive usually means the oldest and the rarest. And the thing about that is if your palate does not love oak, or big, intense oak flavours, then no matter what, you’re not gonna like that 50-year-old whiskey. If you prefer something that’s a little lighter, brighter, the 12 might be your jam. Entry-level might be the one that you like the best, and perhaps a reason why Glenfiddich 12 is our best-selling whisky. I think the best one is the one that you like the best, not whoever somebody says is the best. So that could be a very young whiskey, that could be a very old whiskey. Some people love that really rich, oaky, sort of like intense flavour, and that’s great, but that’s not everybody’s taste.
KT: I recall you mentioning that you’ve been certified in distilling?
JJ: Yes, it’s a program they had with William Grant & Sons, where you would travel to the distillery, and it didn’t matter if you were a Cooper, a brand ambassador or whoever on the team, if you wanted to do your GCD, which is your general certification and distilling, you could join. You could go there, do the learning with the distillery staff, and then you would take the test a couple of months later in your own market. So I got to go to the distillery and learn the ways of distilling from all the really, all the unglamorous kind of stuff. Like, how do you clean a mash, what are the steps to making the bottles ready for bottling, and so on… It’s a really great tool I have in my pocket, and I’m grateful that I got to do it, it’s a great bonus to have that much insight into what the distillery does.
KT: Do you think it changed how you talk about whiskey and how you see whiskey?
JJ: Yeah, absolutely. Because you don’t think about the unglamorous stuff. You think about the cool liquid story, but there’s so much that goes on that we don’t see at the distillery that takes a lot of work and many talented people. It opens your eyes to how big these operations are. I’ve always thought about what next steps in the industry I’d love to take, and getting into processes is something that piqued my interest a little bit. It was really cool to see what options are available if you want to get into the actual process of making whiskey. So I loved it. If anyone is interested in doing that, it’s the IBD, which is the Institute for Brewing and Distilling. It’s available for anybody who wants to take it online.
KT: Back to the travel component of it all, how do you manage to stay physically active and maintaining wellness on the road?
JJ: It’s not easy. It’s definitely taken me a while to make it a priority and to figure out the best balance and how to keep close to my home regimen as best as I can. Giving myself grace is important too, because often when you’re on the road, your itinerary really isn’t your own. It’s built by who your host is, or whether or not you’ve got appointments and things like that.
But you know, I’m a Peloton girlie, so I try to find places that have a Peloton or I can still have space to use the app and do a treadmill workout or a stretch in my room. I think it doesn’t always have to be a full-on workout. I know some people are really good at finding yoga and spin classes, but I would say that’s trickier with my schedule, so mobile apps are super helpful.
For me, it’s also about nutrition. We get conditioned to think that travelling equals vacation, equals indulgence. And I think when you get more into travelling for work, you have to lose the mindset. Sometimes I find that I eat better on the road now than I do at home, because I’ve learned how to navigate a menu better, I learned my lesson.
I also have this thing, I call it “robe time,” where I kind of try my best to build my schedule with a little break between whatever I’m doing in the day and at night. So even if it’s an hour or two to go back to the hotel, decompress from the morning, have a breath, call home, and then do my evening activities, it really makes such a difference in that evening portion of it… I can gather my thoughts. Maybe I can go for a walk, maybe I have enough time for a 20-minute nap. Maybe I have enough time to shower and get re-ready, whatever it is.
KT: Robe time, I like it! Especially if you’re arriving early. I call it restarting the day – go to the hotel in the middle, shower, redo my makeup, redo my hair, and restart the day before evening activities.
JJ: Yes, exactly. I also try not to get too caught up in the time zone part of it. Canada is just huge, with a ton of time zones, so I try to manage how I’m going to tackle that time difference. If it’s a short trip, am I going to try my best to stay on Toronto time so that I don’t have a big swing? Or am I just going to commit to the new time zone and try my best to get on that time zone? Having a strategy helps a little bit, because it feels chaotic. I will say, though, sometimes I just have to say to myself, “You’re going to be really tired on this trip, and there’s nothing you can do about it, and that’s okay”. You can try to build some time when you get home to recover.
KT: Great point. Ok, to wrap things up, what are some of your favourite whiskies?
JJ: The one that changed everything for me, and honestly, this happened before I even started working on the brand, was The Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14. That was my very first single malt dram and a mind-blowing experience. I was way more into bourbons, focused on big, meaty, super high ABV bourbons, and I was trying to get into single malt. I actually said to Mark, “I really want to get into this category, but they’re a bit soft for me,” and he was like, “Well, why don’t you try The Balvenie Caribbean cask?”
And so I did. It was actually the very first bottle I ended up buying for myself after my first freelance gig. It scratched that sweet and spicy kind of thing for me, but it also showed me what complexity meant in single malts. And it wasn’t this huge, like flavour bomb, it was layers and layers of really beautifully balanced flavour. It changed the way I thought about single malts. It all kind of clicked for me then.
Then, two years later, I ended up being the brand ambassador for that brand. But it really and truly is my desert island dram. If someone said, “You need to disappear, you can only take one bottle with you,” I would honestly take the Caribbean cask.
