【Exclusive Interview】Part 2: Rebecca Hamilton – The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, Artisanal Spirits Chief Marketing & Experience Officer

Since its establishment in 1983, the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) has expanded its members and fans globally. Their unique, revolutionary, yet fundamentally logical way of treating and enjoying whisky has created new standards within this industry. The SMWS does not label the whisky with its information but instead gives it a more sensuous description, making whisky more approachable and complex at the same time.

For this 2 part articles, we will compose the interview we have conducted at the venue of the SMWS, The Vaults. We were honored to converse with Rebecca Hamilton, who was the Chief Marketing  and Experience Officer at the Artisanal Spirits Company (owner company of the SMWS), from 2021 to late 2023. (This interview was conducted on September 30th, 2023)

Part 2 of this interview article will focus on the philosophy and strategies of the SMWS while paying attention to characteristics of the members and ambassadors.

Philosophy and the Spirit

What the SMWS stands for and their role

Dear WHISKY：
What is the role of the SMWS within the whisky industry?

Rebecca：
We’re proud to have established relationships with around 160 distilleries globally by buying whisky from them. I believe that we are a force for good because we can work with those facilities to highlight different flavors and experiences around whisky. Therefore, we rely on those relationships to work together to promote more whisky to the public and let them be appreciated.

Rebecca sitting at the bar filled with their own bottles

Dear WHISKY：
As the name Scotch Malt Whisky Society suggests, SMWS is known for its expertise in single-malt scotch whisky.
Why does the SMWS focus so much on single-malt scotch whisky?

Rebecca：
Ultimately, we are the Scotch Malt Whisky Society; therefore, that’s what we’re all about, and that’s undoubtedly at the heart of what we do. However, we do know that our members have a tremendous appetite for tasting different whiskies from all over the world. So, yet it is a small proportion, we do have international whiskies and tasting events that our members love because these provide them with new and fresh whisky experiences. Nonetheless, in the end, they’ll always come back to the single malt scotch whisky, since it is embedded into the SMWS’s spirit and origin.

Loyal members and their unique characteristics

Dear WHISKY：
What are the most memorable experiences of yours working here at the SMWS?

Rebecca：
I think the experience that was so powerful to me was the members tasting this year. It was beautiful to watch all these members come together. It was about 35 of them running a tasting panel on that day, and what was lovely about it was that we had people from all over the world, different countries, and different languages, but the language of whisky was in the room. This type of shared passion and love for whisky and having a conversation about it to build a friendship is precisely what the SMWS exists for.

Bar counter and shelf

Dear WHISKY：
What are your impression for the members?

Rebecca：
Their unique characteristics and passion for whisky truly make the members special. They are very modest about their knowledge and expertise and just want to know more. It is amazing that they constantly hunger for knowledge but never become arrogant.

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s International Expansion

Global market

Dear WHISKY：
How do you connect with so many people internationally?

Rebecca：
We rely on ambassador relationships the most in all countries we work in and partner bar relationships for Japan in particular. We have four or five partner bars in Japan that are exceptionally supportive. I suppose that ambassadors are so much on board because they love our whisky and are authentic spokespeople for what we do.

Unique names and labeling of the SMWS

Ambassador system

Dear WHISKY：
What does an ambassador do?

Rebecca：
The SMWS believe that our whisky is so unique and so different that, in my opinion, we have a secret to the way of drinking the best whisky in the world. So we need our ambassadors to advertise our allure and spread our philosophy. Therefore, the ambassadors should genuinely feel that and believe it to tell those essential stories on behalf of us with passion and heart. We take them on a training journey and ensure they understand what the brand stands for.

Dear WHISKY：
How can one become an ambassador?

Rebecca：
The criteria are broadly that the applicant loves the SMWS, is a member of the SMWS, drinks our whisky, loves our whisky, and understands our whisky. We’re always looking for diversity in the ambassadors. Since we want to be able to talk to a diverse range of people, we want more recruits who have the energy and hunger to tell the story and pass the message on.

Strategy to fully function as a Global Business

Team work and education

Dear WHISKY：
How does everybody in your company collaborate and connect? 

Rebecca：
We operate in over 30 countries worldwide and have many people in many places at once. Our key markets are within Europe, mainly the UK, Germany, Italy, Sweden, France, and other countries like Japan, Australia, China, and the U.S.. Therefore, we have bigger teams in those countries. The biggest obstacle for this business size is operating across international time zones. For example, getting the team together in New York and Tokyo is challenging, but we often utilize video calls on a day-to-day, week-to-week basis for smoother operations. Additionally, we travel as much as possible to hold occasional market visits and try various ways to support each team worldwide.

Dear WHISKY：
What kind of people work at the SMWS?

Rebecca：
The majority of the people who work with us are ambassadors or experts. So, all of our employees must have a high level of expertise in whisky and how the SMWS treats whisky. Therefore, we recruit people with a level of whisky expertise in the first place but then ensure they get the support and additional help to build their knowledge even further. We do that by spending a lot of time around different distilleries, whiskies, and whisky experts to exchange knowledge. Also, there is this new project that is coming out soon.

Dear WHISKY：
Could you explain more about this new project?

Rebecca：
We are launching this educational course in partnership with the Edinburgh Whisky Academy, the employees and members could buy unique content on top of their membership to learn the SMWS’s knowledge and expertise and even further brush up their experience and mastery. We didn’t want an education course that was just content-heavy and all about the production and maturation of whisky. The classes are designed as a combination of storytelling and tasting experiences so that people can understand and explore how the flavor develops in that production and creation process.

The SMWS Japan

Dear WHISKY：
Have you ever had an interaction with the SMWS Japan team?

Rebecca：
Excitingly, 2023 is not only the 40th anniversary of the SMWS globally but also the 30th anniversary of the SMWS in Japan. So I was in Japan this April, went to see the team, and brought this back. It was the 30th-anniversary birthday party that we held in Sendai, and we had all these members to visit, and it was beautiful.

Message board Rebecca received at the party in Sendai

Dear WHISKY：
How was that party in Sendai?

Rebecca：
It was a wonderful thing because there were about 25 members who came to celebrate at the party, and I was talking to them all and asked, “Were you all friends before you joined the SMWS?”. What is interesting is that they all worked with each other as three companies in the greater Sendai area but never met each other at work. However, they met at this particular partner bar and joined the SMWS as a member, and now they are all best friends.
So it was a lovely story to hear; one of the things so wonderful and human about what we do in the SMWS is we are all about friendship and camaraderie and bringing people together to have conversations.

Future Prospects

Future of the SMWS

Dear WHISKY：
What is the next goal for the SMWS?

Rebecca：
We have new ways of interacting with members that we are launching quite soon. The first new experience we will launch in November will give a bottle of whisky to every new member as they purchase their first membership. It will also give them a certain amount of welcome information and content so that you can get a jumpstart with your expertise and education. We are also launching a monthly subscription service where whisky will arrive through your door every month, meaning you’ll go on a flavor journey of exploration every month. Then, we have the educational content coming out soon as well. As said, there are extensive contents that are coming up at the moment in terms of product innovation. On top of that, we will launch a new prestige 40-year-old soon as well, which would be one of the oldest and rarest whiskies we have ever launched.

Rebecca smelling a dram

Message for Dear WHISKY Readers

At Last

The SMWS has been constantly evolving as the company while gaining more popularity and connections internationally. However, this true freedom and ingenuity in their root makes them uniquely apart from any other whisky bottling company. Their creative and innovative strategies, such as restricting the amount of information to avoid potentially seducing the consumers taste experience, shows how precise the SMWS’s commitments are. With their perpetual passion and enthusiasm, the SMWS doesn’t seem to decelerate its growth even at its 40th anniversary.