Meet Janice Snowden...
It’s been a while since we had a new #what3whiskies interview, and I am so happy that Janice agreed to take part. I’m not sure how long I have known her, but Janice is someone I always look out for when working at a whisky (or whiskey) event. Genuinely decent, lovely person and somehow manages to dress in tune with whatever bottle she is holding!!!
Hi Janice. Thanks so much for getting involved. Before we dive into your 3 chosen drams, could you tell #what3whiskies readers how you are involved with the whisky industry?
So its been over 7 years specifically with Irish whiskey now which is wild and a nicely aged whiskey length of time! Bushmills released a 44yo this year so I got a long way to go before I match that!
This year marked my 15th year in hospitality however, and that’s how it all started for me. It was in a Michelin star in Edinburgh that I was a hostess in, handing out whisky lists to people and having to answer questions on it that created the passion. Yes, this does mean I learned about Scotch before Irish whiskey so I shook up my career path and became a tour guide for the Jameson Bow St Distillery to get used to talking about Irish whiskey to hoards of people.
I then went on to work in New York in 2019 as the Irish whiskey ambassador for Beam Suntory representing Kilbeggan, Tyrconnell and Connemara. Covid, alas, kicked me out of the big city but I’ve very happily worked in London since 2021 representing the full UK market for Pernod Ricards Irish whiskeys and now, since January 2023 I’ve been representing the beautiful Bushmills malt portfolio.
My own personal accolade is that I have now worked for the big 3 Irish distilleries of Midleton, Cooley and Bushmills and feel so honoured to have done so. I have always talked about the category as whole and being able to educate and advocate for this industry has been my life’s work and passion.
So, what is the first whisky on your list, and why you have chosen it:
Bushmills 16- with my current brand hat on this is my absolute go to, but even before I worked for the brand and while I was working for other distilleries, I would always tell people that this is one of the absolute greatest Irish whiskeys on the market.
Port casks and Irish whiskey are an absolute marriage in heaven and the year long Port cask finishing on this whiskey gives this stunning deep rich dark jammy and syrupy fruit notes. Think prunes and dates, Blackberry jam and one of my favourite tasting notes for port cask Irish is Ribena (not the most professional tasting note but try it and see!) yes I could say cassis but it has that syrupy rich blackcurrant note that only Ribena can describe. (disclaimer for the sake of my company that these are all my own personal tasting notes!)
In a nutshell this is the whiskey I give to the people who tell me that they only drink Scottish single malts (believe me there are a lot of these people) and this is how I win them over.
Aagh, yes “professional descriptors”… if it tastes like Ribena, it tastes like Ribena!! So what comes next for you, and why you have chosen it?
Redbreast 12- Look this is a lot of peoples first intro into premium Irish whiskey and the single pot still category (malted and un-malted barley) and it was in fact mine. A dram was given to me at the bar of my sisters wedding by the wonderful Christopher Goggins, now a distiller at Dublin liberties distillery (hi Christopher!). After I had explained to him my love of a sherry cask heavy flavour profile he gave me this and I was hooked and went on to work in Irish whiskey not long after.
Dried fruits, nutty, Christmas spices ticks so many boxes and truly is a great intro to this different whisky category of single pot still.
My mouth is watering from that. So last, but by no means least, what comes in as your third choice?
I gotta put a scotch in here and I’m gonna pick a juicy big cask strength that is Aberlour Abunadh. I think this was actually the first cask strength that I truly loved, you can tell I’m a sherry and fortified wine fiend with all my choices but this one just hits the mark every time with this intense sherry bomb of a whisky.
Well, big thanks to Janice for making me hungry for Christmas cake and glass of Ribena! As I mentioned before, you’ll find this brilliant BA at many whisky festivals.
You can also follow her escapades here:
Instagram: @bushmills_malt_maven (work) @whiskeyinthesnowden (personal)