Females are taking to whisky in larger numbers and ever more sophisticated ways. June Lee discovers that the long-held stereotypes no longer apply as she delves into the nuances of the dram
“I enjoyed gin before whisky,” confides celebrated pastry chef Janice Wong. Nowadays, whisky is her nightcap of choice. Wong got into whisky around six years ago through friends and after spending more time in Japan. She observes that, among her 30-something age group, there’s been a change from wines to champagne to cocktails—and that whisky has played a part in that evolution. Now she’s in high demand for collaborations with heritage brands such as The Macallan to interpret whisky flavours for a new generation of imbibers.
With hundreds of flavour compounds from ageing in oak barrels, whisky is a matter of taste, not gender. But for decades, the remnants of the “old boys’ club” and the “bourbon summit” mentality broadly made alcohol consumption the province of men— outside of the home, that is. Scottish whisky, with its trappings of power and elitism, served to enforce the social status quo, despite a long history of women as distillers and owners.
“There have always been women who enjoyed whisky—my grandmother was a whisky drinker for many years—but there was undeniably a stereotype that whisky was more for men,” notes Matthew Fergusson- Stewart, Glenfiddich’s former regional brand ambassador for the Asia-Pacific region who is now chief marketing officer for The Whisky Store Singapore. “When I started running whisky tastings (about 11 years ago), my audience would have been 80 per cent middle-aged men,” he says. “Today, my audiences tend to be much younger—and around a third of them are women. I’m quite confident that this will continue.”
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The complexity of whisky and the experience from nose to taste are unlike any other spirit,” says Elaine Seah, who shares more than a love for a good dram with her husband Matthew Fergusson-Stewart
While local statistics are difficult to come by, Mathieu Musnier, the general manager of importer-distributor 13-year-old La Maison du Whisky, sees the times changing. “When we first started our retail front, whisky patrons were mostly gentlemen. Now, we see a growing number of female patrons, especially at our bar, Maison du Whisky,” Musnier tells. More tellingly, when the company inaugurated Whisky Live Singapore in 2010, only a handful of female guests attended the event. “Over the years, we have seen double-digit growth in female attendees at Whisky Live Singapore," he declares, adding that the 2016 event boasted the largest number of women—an estimated 25 to 30 per cent of the guests.
(Related: What You Need To Know About The Macallan's New Distillery)
