Bottling Empowerment and Respect with Shaylyn Gammon BY OLGA VARVAROVA
Soon after starting my blog, my thoughts were hijacked by: “No one will read this, why would they, and you know nothing about whisky” and like a colony of bees buzzing and stinging they prevented me from simply hitting PUBLISH. I’m not only an immigrant but more importantly a woman who wants to make her name in an industry that’s traditionally led by and caters to men. Yet, I’m more and more struck with a surprising notion – it’s evolving with fresh faces, new leaders and visionaries stepping up no matter the gender, race or background. I recently interviewed Shaylyn Gammon, Coors Spirits Co. Head of Innovation and Development for Whiskies, spearheading that new wave in the USA. Shaylyn hadn’t decided on a college major but when she found Food Science, a relatively unknown degree covering food microbiology, engineering, sensory science, and everything in between, and being a curious foodie - she went for it. It’s given her a unique perspective within the alcohol industry. She started in the fundamental role of Research & Development Specialist at Wild Turkey (Campari group) in Kentucky where she learned a great deal from Norm Matella, Eddie and Jimmy Russell. Unlike most behind-the- scenes food and beverage scientists, Shaylyn worked closely with the respective brand marketing teams. Thus began speaking a very specific language that fell squarely between the technical spirits innovation and consumer-driven brand marketing worlds. When the dream-like Whisky Director position became available at Blue Run, it was the lifetime opportunity to apply everything she’d learned so far. It’s one thing to be allowed the freedom to realize whiskey creation visions but to have all five of the Blue Run founders cheering and encouraging her from the get-go played a big part in her confidence level of to jump into a less familiar startup
culture. Her role is to not only assess the direction of the spirits but also the company, understand inventory, gaps, and how to fill them through sourcing and distilling. She attacks this from a flavor and story-telling perspective plus the technical and quality perspective. Shaylyn is heavily involved in: Grain selection, distilling with the esteemed Jim Rutledge and all the way to bottling. The exciting part is the prospect of creating a whiskey the world hasn’t experienced yet and since Blue Run doesn’t solely produce their own product yet and still sourcing, she ensures that the spirit offers its best version through blending. Shaylyn is considered to be a super-taster, technically, someone with more tastebuds than an average person. She considers it a superpower whereas her family thinks it’s annoying because she notices everything, good and bad! This has proven invaluable as a whisky blender because she is able to sense and identify tiny nuances, then manipulate them to create the exact flavors she is looking. To the opposite end when inspecting whiskeys from other producers, finding something off is critically important.
29
the whisky explorer magazine
WINTER 2024
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker