Lincoln Wesley Henderson has a most enviable job "" his work involves sampling whisky. Only after his educated and extremely sensitive taste buds okay a particular blend does Brown-Forman Beverages Worldwide begin bottling it. That whisky could be the largest selling brand in America, Jack Daniel's. Or it could be Forester 1870 Bourbon, the current favourite among youngsters seeking to define their tastes independently of their scotch-guzzling parents.
Being the master distiller and director of Whisky Development and Maturation for Brown-Forman (The big guys in Bourbon) isn't easy. But the job does have its compensation as Henderson is the first to admit. Mind you, he isn't talking about opportunities to tipple. For instance, I keep telling my wife that like whisky, maturity is an asset in me too, I get better all the time. Isn't she lucky?In his role as master distiller to the world's largest distillation corporation, Henderson travels all over the world as a whisky spokesperson. He was in Mumbai last week to help launch their premium brand of Forester 1870 priced at a very modest Rs 850. Henderson conducts fact- and trivia-filled seminars about whisky and its tasting, a one-man infotainment package on the whisky business. His being the principal authority in the world on bourbon has see him travel to every continent. He is also on the panel of judges for the International Wine and Spirit Competition in the UK. Henderson was slightly amused that in India
whiskey meant only scotch, and he was rather pleased to think that he could help alter that perception. As for Indian whiskies, he had this diplomatic statement: Well, whisky as defined internationally has to be made of grain. In India most are made of molasses and they are distinctive and good products in their own right, but that's not what the world understands as whisky.