Radio Imbibe Episode 17: Dr. Rachel Barrie

Radio Imbibe is the audio home of Imbibe magazine. In each episode, we dive into liquid culture, exploring the people, places, and flavors of the drinkscape through conversations about cocktails, coffee, beer, spirits, and wine.

Our March/April 2021 issue dives deep into the world of Scotch whisky, with explorations of the spirit’s history, its diversity of regions and styles, and the people helping to shape whisky’s future. One of the people featured is Dr. Rachel Barrie, a longtime whisky veteran based in Edinburgh who’s now master blender for Brown-Forman, working with whiskies from the Benriach, GlenDronach, and Glenglassaugh distilleries. For this episode, we chat with Dr. Barrie about the role of the master blender, and how so many flavorful styles can be coaxed from malt whisky’s simple formula.