THE WHISKY Magazine Awards recently returned to Edinburgh for the first time in two years, to celebrate the industry’s finest and announce the winners of the prestigious ‘Icons of Whisky’ awards, recognising their “hard work, craftsmanship, skill and knowledge”.
Alongside titles such as ‘Distillery of the Year’, ‘Master Distiller of the Year’ and ‘Brand Ambassador of the Year’, the awards crowned their 2022 ‘Communicator of the Year’, presenting the accolade to Edinburgh-based Blair Bowman.
As a whisky consultant and broker, Blair uses his expertise and global contacts to help clients make, sell and source the best whisky in the world. He celebrates whisky all over the world via talks, articles, and in-person events, and is the brains behind both World Whisky Day and the bestselling Pocket Guide to Whisky: featuring the WhiskyTubeMap.
Being crowned Whisky Magazine’s ‘Icons of Whisky, Scotland’ Communicator of the Year marks a perfect ending to Blair’s most successful period to date. In the face of the pandemic and its many challenges, he has seen his profile and client list grow as he continues to use his platform to reach new people and bring whisky fans and makers together.
Blair has also started a new role as nationwide Ambassador for Scotland Food & Drink, in further recognition of his prominent voice in the Scottish whisky industry.
Blair said: “I’m absolutely delighted and honoured to be given the award for Communicator of the Year, and to stand alongside so many icons of the Scottish whisky industry! My thanks go out to Whisky Magazine and the team that organised these awards, along with everyone else across Scotland helping to grow our industry and bring the best whiskies to the world.”
With different ‘Icons of Whisky’ awards taking place in different regions – including Ireland, America, China and India – next year will see Blair and the other Scotland winners go on to compete for the global title.
