"True giant" of whisky industry named Spirit of Speyside Ambassador of the Year
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DISTILLERY manager Sandy McIntyre is proud to be part of the Speyside whisky industry and was "absolutely overwhelmed" to be named Ambassador of the Year at the Spirit of Speyside opening dinner.
The manager at Tamdhu Distillery was described as a "true industry giant" moments before accepting the award at the dinner in Dallas Dhu Distillery on Wednesday night.
Sandy added he was "totally stunned and shocked" by the tribute.
"At the same time I am absolutely delighted. To be bestowed with an honour by your colleagues on Speyside is absolutely fantastic and I am thrilled to bits.
"There are highlights in your career and this is one of mine."
Sandy joined the whisky industry in 2006, having previously worked with the Environment Agency, and has been manager at Tamdhu since 2014.
He said it was great fun to work in whisky.
"Despite bottles of whisky being competitors on the shelf, we are all fantastic friends. We all want the same thing – people to enjoy whisky.
"A festival like this brings so many visitors to the area. I have visitors on Saturday from New Zealand.
"Seeing that global reach that Scottish whisky has and it bringing income into the Speyside economy as well is fantastic."
The former Whisky Magazine Distiller of the Year in 2019 enjoys working at Tamdhu, a family owned distillery.
"I have a team of 20 people including myself and it is all about team work. It is about having fun at work. We have a lot of laughter and create a lot of memories."
Originally from Glasgow, Sandy loves his adopted home of Speyside.
"We have beautiful countryside, fantastic beaches, great hills for walking, the rivers. We are phenomenally well off in this area for tourism and whisky plays a great part in that.
"What we have in Speyside is some globally recognised companies and Moray bats well above its average in terms of what it brings into the Scottish economy."
