Key facts
- Role
- Master Whisky Maker, Edrington
- Origin
- Scotland
- Active
- In whisky since 1992
- Best known for
- Shaping Highland Park, The Macallan and Famous Grouse from behind the scenes
Life & career
Gordon Motion studied chemistry and joined the whisky industry in 1992, working in laboratories and in blending before taking responsibility for Edrington's malt stocks. He was appointed master whisky maker in 2009, which put Highland Park, The Macallan, The Glenrothes, Glenturret and the Famous Grouse blends under one nose.
His work is largely invisible: choosing which casks to fill, when to marry them and how to keep a brand tasting the same across millions of bottles. He is closely associated with Highland Park's balance of heather-peat smoke and sherry sweetness, and with the sherry-cask discipline that defines The Macallan, and he has led long-running cask programmes in Spanish and American oak.
Distilleries & brands
- Highland Park
- The Macallan
- The Glenrothes
- Famous Grouse
- Glenturret
- Edrington
What they brought to whisky
- Keeps several very different flagship brands consistent at enormous scale.
- Advanced long-term cask sourcing and seasoning programmes in Spanish and American oak.
- Showed how blended Scotch and single malt craft depend on the same cask knowledge.
Honours & recognition
- Keeper of the Quaich
- Recognised in international competitions for blending and single malt releases
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