Last night, all 50 Australian and New Zealand members of the Keepers of the Quaich were invited to a banquet dinner at Sydney’s Linseed House. Supported by seven of the major producers and distributors of Scotch whisky in Australia, the dinner was a celebration of the innumerous contributions to Scotch that the society’s members have made.
“It was a great evening. Obviously to me, it’s something very special,” said Robert Hirst, Chairman at Tucker Seabrook Australia. Hirst is also a Master of the Quaich, a title only received by the most important and influential Keepers of the Quaich.
“I think for Keepers it’s something that’s very special. It’s a reminder of the induction, what they went through… That is something that is so very special and romantic. It takes people back to those places.”
Yesterday’s event was the second time the Australian Chapter of The Keepers of the Quaich united Australia’s Scotch industry in this form.
“2019 was the first major event where all of the Scotch whisky houses came together,” said Colin Rochester, Chairman of the Keeper’s Australian Chapter.
“Of course, Covid stopped the world and it stopped any plans that we had to repeat it, so this was the first opportunity to get everyone together.”
Colin Rochester, Managing Director ANZ at William Grant & Sons, joins Hirst as one of the few Australian Masters of the Quaich, a title that industry figures can only be nominated for after a further ten years of contributing to Scotch after the ten years necessary to become a Keeper.
When asked about his Masters title, Rochester said that “any acknowledgement for the industry that you work in by the industry itself is pretty important, but I think above that, it’s less about what it means to me… the Keepers are not meant to build their own brand. The Keepers are meant to build the Scotch whisky category, and focus on the category, as opposed to the Keepers brand itself.
“It’s a society that only Scotch whisky has and its genuine intent is to help build the category globally… I wouldn’t say it isn’t important yet because it’s not known. That was the industry there last night, and they didn’t know much about Keepers, so we’re at the very early stages of building the chapter and formalising it with committees and structures and that type of stuff.”
Another purpose of the society is to unite all of the Scotch whisky houses towards a common goal. Last night’s event was supported by Beam Suntory, Brown-Forman, Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Spirits Platform, The Whisky Club, and WIlliam Grant & Sons.
Rochester said, “as Chairman of the Chapter, my fundamental role is to build the category. Now, in my business, my fundamental role is to build the brands that we have at William Grants & Sons. But as the Chairman of the Chapter, it’s to build the category. Last night came about by getting all of the major Scotch whisky houses to come on board and believe in the job to be done/to build the category, and therefore build their brands as well.”
This goal to unify the Scotch whisky houses is mirrored in the history of the Keepers of the Quaich.
“At the time in the 80s when it was first started the industry was going through a tough time… There was oversupply and there was discounting going on in the world, and there was a loss of respect for whisky generally,” said Hirst.
“That’s when the families got together in Scotland and said ‘enough is enough.’ The families got together and decided that this was a great opportunity to bring people to visit the home of the product and to introduce them to really what Scotland and Scotch whisky is all about, and the hundreds and hundreds of years involved behind the product…
“It was a way of saying, ‘well look, what we should have is a core of people in Scotland and around the world who really are doing the right thing and appreciate what we’re doing and respect it and have a love for the product to be able to be recognised.’ And hence it was born.”
