Whisky Saga profile #4 - Martin Markvardsen
A few days back I sat down (virtually) with Martin Markvardsen, Global Brand Ambassador for Highland Park. We are hosting an online Highland Park tasting together in a few days, so we thought an interview as a build up to that would be in order.
All the quotes below are from Martin, although the interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
“I never thought I would say this, but I miss airports!”
I agree! Even passing security seems like a fond memory these days.
Let’s start off with a few general questions, to let the readers better get a sense of Martin.
First off, what do you read?
“I’m a big fan of Ian Rankin and his Rebus books. I have the whole series. But basically what I read the most is any new, technical book on whisky that I can get my hands on. Call me a nerd, but I read all the newsletters from the Scotch Whisky Research Institute, where they cover all the new barley strains and yeast strains and that sort of thing.”
Any favourite whisky books then?
“I am a huge fan of Charlie Maclean and his books. I like the history aspect of whisky, and he covers that really well. A great book is Appreciating whisky by Phillip Hills. And of course, a book I get every year, and that is always with me when I travel, the Malt Whisky Yearbook by Ingvar Rönde. For me that’s the go to source for facts and news, as well as great in depth articles every year. I look forward to the new edition every year. It’s a must have!
What do you watch?
“I like crime movies. I must admit I really enjoyed The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit movies. Also the Game of Thrones TV-series.
What do you listen to?
“I probably listen to every kind of music you can imagine - with one exception - modern jazz. I just can’t figure that out. I love blues and blues rock. When working out I listen to anything from cheesy rap music to hard heavy metal. When travelling I also enjoy classical music. My all time favourites include AC/DC and Hootie and the Blow Fish.
What do you eat?
“Everything! A good steak is absolutely amazing. I’m a big fan of Chinese food and sushi! I love food!”
During the pandemic I have had time to experiment a lot with whisky and food. Coming up with interesting pairings, and also using whisky for marinating meat. It’s all about finding the right balance.
For instance I’ve added Highland Park 12 YO to my minced meat for a few hours before making burgers. They came out very juicy, and you could taste the flavour of the whisky (see recipe for Martin’s burger).
What do you drink?
“Milk! Milk is what I really prefer. But I drink all kinds of whisky. There are so many fantastic whiskies out there. It would be a shame not to taste them. Also I like a cold beer, not so much into fancy beer that has to be room temperature. Wine is not something I really enjoy.”
Here's me flanked by Martin and Patricia Retson, at the distillery, during a visit back in 2015.
OK, then. Onward to more whisky specific questions. How did you end up in the whisky industry and then at Edrington / Highland Park?
“My interest for whisky really came through my interest for Scotland. Back in the day I was in the Royal Danish Navy, and one time we were stationed up near Edinburgh for about two weeks. We got one day off and all my friends went on a pub crawl. I went out to see local sights like castles, and I somehow ended up at a distillery, Glenkinchie. I was really struck by the passion of the people working there. The first guy I met there was not really involved in the production at all, he was a maintenance worker, but he was so proud of his whisky. I was hooked!
At one time I went to my employer and said I wanted to take this whisky education in Scotland, which I had made up, there was no such thing. I had several weeks of vacation saved up, and went over. I got to work for a day or two or maybe a week at different distilleries; like Bowmore, Balvenie and a few other. I also read all whisky books I could get my hands on.
Then, around 30 years I go, I hosted my very first whisky tasting, here in Denmark, at a wine shop. The selection of whisky was not very good back then, so I added some from my own collection. The tasting was a success, and the shop hired me for more and more whisky tastings.
Then I got my first proper whisky job, working at The Whisky World at Copenhagen Airport, as a shop manager. Then I started my own whisky shop in Copenhagen, The Whisky House, and from there to working at the whisky bar at Craigallachie Hotel in Scotland.
At the Craigallachie Hotel I did a tasting one evening for the a management team from the Edrington Group, though I had no idea who they were at the time. I told them Highland Park 18 YO is my absolute favourite.
Two-three weeks later they came back, I still had no idea they were from the Edrington Group. I did another tasting for them, and re-iterated my love for Highland Park 18 YO. After the tasting a man called Stewart MacRae came up to me and said “You do like your Highland Park then?”, I said yes. “Would you like to come and work for us?” he said. I asked for whom? “For Highland Park” he said. I said yes on the spot!
The timing was extremely good, as the Craigallachie Hotel changed owners at that time, and I was fired.
At first I worked as the brand ambassador for the Nordics and the Baltics, and over time I became their global brand ambassador.”
Could you share one of your fondest whisky related memories?
“I have been with Edrington for 16 years now, so there are many great memories. One that really stands out is the Return of the Vikings in 2007. We chartered a plane from Stockholm to Kirkwall. It all started before we even took off. In a meeting I had with the pilot he told me the plane was technically too big to land at Kirkwall Airport. “But I’m a fighter pilot, so I’ll managed”, he said! And well, he certainly did. Then before the flight back home, we had a farewell dinner and we had invited the pilot along. He overheard stories of how many bottles the participants had bought while on Orkney - and it was a lot. He calculated that we would not have capacity for enough fuel to fly directly to Stockholm, so we had to stop over in Aberdeen to refuel on the way back!
Care to comment on Danish whisky and the Danish whisky industry?
“I’m quite positive about it. Stauning is doing some great innovation. Braunstein is working really well with their cask management. I like that they do both peated and unpeated in a good way. They are doing their own thing, and not just replicating Scotland. I also find Thy and Fary Lochan very interesting.
I’m very positive, and think the Danish and indeed Nordic whisky scene has a great future.”
Martin and I inspecting Hobbister Moor on Orkney, where Highland Park cut their peat.
How has the pandemic affected you in production and in sales?
Well, in sales we are quite close to our budget, but the changes have been big. Travel Retail is more or less gone. The pandemic has been good in terms of us having time to sit down and reflect on where we are and where we want to be. We have had time to re-think both aspects of production and marketing. We have had more time to experiment with yeast strains etc.
I am spending a lot of time now working on a new training academy for our brand ambassadors around the world.
What can you tell us about any new products and changes coming up?
The Highland Park Cask Strength is a fairly new product.
In the core range we have a new Highland Park 15 YO coming out soon, at 44 % ABV. It will be a little bit different from the old 15 YO.
Also there is a Highland Park 50 YO for UK/Europe coming up
We want to focus on the core range for a while going forward. We are now in a position where we have a better selection of matured casks available and a larger stock in general, so we can really tune the quality of the 12 YO and the 18 YO to make them even better, more like they used to be.
It is no secret that the quality has changed over time, and part of the explanation for this is that back in the day (during the 80s and 90s) we could put a higher proportion of older whisky into the 12 YO and 18 YO, because we had the luxury of more old stock on hand.
We are also now looking at what we should do when Travel Retail opens up again. Do we want to continue with Travel Retail exclusive products, or do we use the same core range across all markets?
What could we do better, how can we improve? This goes for all of us, I think!
And on that positive note it is time to say goodbye to Martin for now.
A lovely glass of Highland Park 1978, with the cliffs of Yesnaby, Orkney, in the background.
Sláinte!
- Thomas
