Man who’s keen to woo elite drinkers

Macallan Whisky. They ceremoniously call it the “Rolls Royce” of spirits. They hold the Guinness World Record for the most expensive bottle; Sh62.5 million for the bottle of M Imperiale, Lalique decanter.

In the James Bond movie ‘‘Skyfall’’, he drinks a 50-year-old Macallan before he shoots (and misses) a shooter glass containing the whisky perched on a distressed damsel’s crown.

On Monday, Peter Allison jetted into the country to launch the Macallan Rare Cask at the Capital Club, a vintage bottle, targeting high networth individuals.

He talked about their 16 100 per cent sherry-seasoned casks from different types of woods from Europe and America and of rich flavours, of 100 per cent natural colour, spices, sultanas, honey, clove, orange peel and all the things that brand ambassadors won’t stop talking about.

We drank and laughed.

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Do people take you seriously as a professional?

Yeah they do, if they understand the industry. You know, I certainly wouldn’t say that my job description is drinking for a living. I’m an educator and a storyteller. I do this around a very old, precious, purage-with-a-lot-of-stories-in-it product.

First time in Nairobi, Africa?

It’s not the first time in Africa, but it’s the first time in Kenya. I’ve been to North Africa—Egypt and Morocco.

Er, that’s not Africa, Peter.

(Laughs out loud) That’s what everybody says!

You’ve not been to Africa, until today, so welcome to Africa. Are you surprised at Nairobi?

Actually, I was a little bit. I was pleasantly surprised. We’ve got a market manager called Eddie who lives here and is from here but he also spent a long time in Scotland. So, he’s given me the lowdown on Kenya.

Why is Macallan even bothering to launch the Rare Cask in Kenya, why us?

Well, we’ve identified a number of key cities across the world that we see as being incredible potential single malt, high-end scotch drinking capitals. Nairobi is one of these that we see as being a real future growth. We see over the next year or two the growth of single malt Scotch whisky really going into very high numbers and we want the Macallan to be at the forefront of this.

Curious, what does your job description read as the brand ambassador; drink, travel, drink, entertain lifestyle writers?

(Smiles) Well, my job is really to try and enthuse everyone I see with the Macallan whisky. I normally tell a lot of stories, to turn people that are passionate about whisky into being advocates for the Macallan. I was actually working for a sherry company. My formal education is in business management and fine arts. I did a Master’s degree in Critical Theory and International Arts Business. My mother had a number of bars and restaurants in Edinburgh, my father once upon a time was a distiller and so we’ve always had it in our blood.

When would you say with certainty that somebody has a problem with alcohol?

(Whistles) That’s a very good question. I’ve never been asked that in an interview. Working in this industry, I see some people going too far and indeed I’ve lost friends —colleagues—that went too far. Over years I’ve determined that it’s not a certain amount you drink, but the individual.

I don’t think it needs to be first thing in the morning or having lots to drink but if you’re not able to go a few days without having a drink, that’s when you need to start to take a real look at yourself.

I want you to lay this perception to rest here and today. This argument around the superiority of single malts and blended whiskies, is it necessarily a question of quality or taste?

I think that’s a very good and tricky question. I don’t know how I’m going to give you a satisfactory answer, I’m afraid. (Laughs). In my opinion single malts and blended whiskies sit in two different categories. It’s like saying, ‘‘Is a cognac and a tequila?’’ Both are fantastic spirits, but you wouldn’t have them in the same category, right? One isn’t better than the other.

What’s the absolutely craziest thing you’ve witnessed in a bar?

(Laughs) Every year there’s a big convention called Tales of the Cocktails. It takes place in New Orleans. I have attended it four times and I’ve seen people being very silly. I once saw a man trying to climb on top of a live camel.

Is that crazy? Oh! That is perfectly normal in Africa.

That’s pretty crazy when you’re in New Orleans because there aren’t any camels in New Orleans. (Laughs).

It obviously came for the festival…

Ha! In the middle of the street. I mean someone was foolish enough to bring that pet camel down to Bourbon Street, New Orleans, that was pretty strange.

If you were a whisky, do you think you would be a single malt or a blend?

I think that as I grow up I’m becoming more of a single malt than a blended. I am becoming used to the single malt personality. A lot more reserved in my opinions, a lot more polite. You know, giving my opinion, but also making sure I’m understanding both sides of it. That’s what a single malt person is.

Here is an age-old question ; how does one avoid a hangover?

(Laughs) I’ve been doing this for almost 10 years now and I think there’s a hundred different recipes for avoiding a hangover. I think I’ve tried every single one of them and I’m still yet to find if any of them work. Personally, I make sure that when I go to bed, I down a bottle of water and then I have a Berocca on my bedside table.

A what?

A Berocca.

What’s that?

A multi-vitamin. I make sure I have a multi-vitamin in the morning. I don’t know if it works a 100 per cent, but it certainly makes me feel a little bit better.

I can tell you are newly married, ask me why.

(Laughs) Why?

Because you keep talking about your wife.

We got married in July, but we had dated for three years. You know, I’m enjoying marriage. I’m loving it. We’ve always been together, she’s gotten used to me travelling quite a lot and to coming to all the lovely functions that we do and dinners that we hold. So I think she enjoys it. I enjoy it too and I guess that’s important for any job, be it mountain climbing, cars, accounting…

Climbing camels…

(Laughs) Oh goodness, I hope you won’t turn my story into a camel story.

Of course not. Do you find that you make more friends because you’re an ambassador of a fine whisky?

Well I hope not! (Laughs) Do I? I suppose there’s some perks to being an ambassador. It’s the easiest and the most beautiful job in the world. I travel around to glorious places. I’m sure a lot of the introductions start because I’m a whisky ambassador. But I hope that I can be a good judge of character and know if they keep on saying, “Can I come to your and have some of this and that…”

Where else can you take this career, I mean what’s the next level for you?

I’m quite new to this position (six years) so I’m not looking for anything quite yet. I was a brand ambassador on various levels. I started out as a regional brand ambassador for a company, then I went into being an international brand ambassador for a beer company, then I switched tags and I went into more commercial and marketing. So, brand management for sherry, and now I’m back to being a regional brand ambassador for a big, prestigious brand like Macallan. I think the natural progression for brand ambassadors is to become brand manager or market manager.

Would you like your kids to follow in your footsteps and do this for a living?

Yeah. I think I absolutely would. I’m from a family of people who are in the drink industry. I think what I’d like my kids to do is to do something that they’re very proud of. I feel very proud about what I do, so if they can have the same pride towards the drink industry or a certain brand, then absolutely. I mean, working on a 200-year-old product that is still at the very top of the game. I think to do that within any industry is amazing.

Have these folks of WOW beverages shown you the city?

No, I have only seen my hotel and here.

Dreadful. You have to find more able people to show you around, Nairobi is out there waiting for you, Peter.

(Laughs) I will definitely give it a shot.