Julieann Fernandez-Thomson on go-to drams, becoming one of the youngest master blenders in the industry, and letting the water of life tell its story

Interview: Cheryl Caira

It wasn’t the plan at all to go into the whisky industry. I studied forensic science at university, and did my placement year in a lab doing some chemical analysis of whiskies. It was the nosing of all those spirits that sparked my interest. I worked around a few different distilleries to learn as much as I could, then joined CVH Spirits in 2017.

Blending is almost like a mixture of art and science. You get to be really creative and put your own twist on whisky creation. I don’t just blend with recipes, I’m a big believer in letting the liquid talk to me. When you have that whisky in your mouth, it’ll tell you if it’s a bit too spicy or sweet. It could take a week, it could take six months. You just never know… and you can’t rush perfection.

Julieann Fernandez-Thomson, CVH Spirits’ master blender

There’s always a bottle of Deanston 18 Year Old in my drinks cabinet. It’s my go-to dram – it’s light, sweet, easy-to-drink, and it’s a whisky I enjoy whatever the time of year.

I was 29 when I was promoted to master blender at CVH. It was a challenge that I’m grateful for, because in years gone by, you had to wait for somebody to retire – or die, essentially – to get the job. I won the Icons of Whisky Master Blender award in 2022, and when you look at the awards our liquids continue to win, it just shows you that young people and females are more than capable of making excellent quality whiskies. I’m doing the mentorship programme this year with a young female blender, as I want to encourage more people into these influential positions.

Bunnahabhain Distillery

I have lots of exciting projects in the mix. I just sampled the casks for our Tobermory 27 Year Old, which is launching in February. It’s part of a series of five, where we looked at the difference a year makes in terms of maturation. Deanston is our experimental brand – we had a Deanston tequila cask finish last year, and you can expect some really quirky cask maturations in the future too.

I want to break down those barriers of snobbery in whisky. There isn’t a right or a wrong way to drink it. Before it was almost frowned upon to add a few drops of water to whisky or to have it over ice. Now people aren’t scared to drink whisky cocktails or to order it with a mixer, and that’s really important. I make these whiskies for people to enjoy in whatever way they want.