He’s at His Best When He Has a Snootful : Jobs: Visiting Scottish whisky sniffer relies on his nose to ensure that his employer’s spirits meet quality-control standards.
Evan Cattanach was being nosy as he peered behind the bar at the posh Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills where he stayed this week.
He was curious to know whether the hotel serves the whisky he helps produce at his home in the Scottish Highlands.
Cattanach is the “noser” at the 166-year-old Cardhu distillery--the man in charge of quality control who smells whisky samples to make certain that each batch is up to snuff.
Whisky inspectors rely on their sense of smell instead of their sense of taste for obvious reasons. Although it is a small distillery, Cardhu produces more than 1 million bottles of its single-malt whisky a year. And inspection takes place early in the production process--when the whisky is an eye-popping 127 proof.
Cattanach’s nose knows its stuff. One quick whiff of whisky rubbed between his hands can tell him whether the right quality and quantity of barley and yeast has been mixed with spring water and fermented. If it passes his test, it will be stored in oak casks to age for 12 years and emerge as 80 proof Scotch whisky.
For that reason, Cardhu officials insured Cattanach’s proboscis for $1 million when he traveled to Los Angeles to meet this week with liquor distributors and promote his product.
Not that the kilt-wearing Cattanach was likely to get poked in the nose while sniffing out new outlets to carry his whisky. At about $25 a bottle, it is sold in expensive places, not “the kind of liquor stores where they sell firewater,” he said.
Although laboratory testing can determine the content of liquor, it is Cattanach’s nose that determines whether each twice-monthly batch of Cardhu whisky will be saved and aged.
“You can do tests. But the brain tells you it’s Cardhu,” said Cattanach, 55. “I put a few drops on my hands. The alcohol evaporates when I rub my hands together. It leaves behind the subtle character flavor--the maltiness and earthiness.”
Each of Scotland’s 75 whisky distilleries uses sniffers for quality inspections, he said. Most companies rely on panels of sniffers, particularly large outfits that mass-produce blended whiskey. Worldwide, there are about 150 people who have a nose job like Cattanach’s.
Cattanach said he never worries about catching a cold or flu that will knock out his nose. A quick whiff of whisky eliminates head-cold congestion, he said.
“It’s powerful. It clears your nose and sinus. You smell it too quickly and it brings tears to your eyes.”
Cattanach said he was flattered when Cardhu took out the $1-million nose insurance policy for his current two-week American trip. The coverage, through Lloyd’s of London, cost $750. The visit will end next week with a stop in Kentucky, where Cattanach hopes to tour an American distillery. American whiskey is spelled with an e --and has a sweeter taste than Scotch whisky, he said.
In Los Angeles, Cattanach was surprised at where he found his whisky being served. And where he didn’t.
It was stocked at a barbecue rib restaurant he visited Monday. Much to his dismay, he found diners “sloshing ice in everything.”
But it was not among the 10 varieties of Scotch whisky displayed on the shelf behind the bar at the Four Seasons Hotel.
He was pleased when hotel manager Kathleen Harrigan stepped up to him in the lobby and introduced herself. She promised that he would find his brand behind the bar the next time he visits.
No reason having a guest whose nose is out of joint.
