Meet Deirdre O’Carroll, Midleton Distillery’s Whiskey Blender
November 23, 2022
Deirdre O’Carroll was appointed to the prestigious role of Blender at Midleton Distillery a year and a half ago. Working with Master Blender Billy Leighton and Blender Dave McCabe, Deirdre is responsible for the development of new and existing blends, marrying together specific and intricate flavors and aromas and ultimately creating a palette of tastes that make up Irish Distillers’ portfolio of Irish whiskeys such as Redbreast, the Spot whiskeys, Jameson and Powers.
She is also responsible for the management of stock, including cask profile and age profile, as well as laying down stock for future generations.
It’s a challenging but very interesting role and in our chat Deirdre shares how she assesses whiskey, manages the future needs of the distillery with her 40 year planning spreadsheet and how she composes complex whiskeys with many differing components, such as the new Jameson Single Pot Still Whiskey, a complex vatting of many components, which Deirdre explained in our chat.
She joined our chat from the secret Blending Room at Midleton Distillery and had to turn a few bottles around on the shelves behind her so I couldn’t get a sneaky peek at what she was working on.
You can catch up on our tasting of Jameson Single Pot Still whiskeys through the years, including the most recent release here: