James Sneddon Swan (born December 25, 1941 – February 14, 2017 in
East Lothian
East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921.
In 1975, the histo ...
,
Scotland.
) was a chemist, biologist, author, and expert on
single malt whisky.
Referred to as the "''Einstein of Whisky''",
his research into whisky and its distillation process pioneered new methods of production. Swan demonstrated that it was possible to create good whisky despite being aged a short amount of time, leading him to work alongside new whisky distilleries throughout the world as a consultant and expert.
Following his scientific and technical contributions to the industry, the "Dr Jim Swan Award For Services To Scotch Whisky" award was posthumously named after him.
Education and professional life
In 1965, Swan received a bachelor's degree in applied chemistry from
Heriot-Watt University
Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...
in
Edinburgh. In 1988, he graduated from the same university with a PhD in chemistry and biological sciences.
His PhD focused on the subject of ''wood extractives in relation to the maturation of scotch whisky''.
As a member of the
Royal Society of Chemistry, he was an expert on
gas chromatography
Gas chromatography (GC) is a common type of chromatography used in analytical chemistry for separating and analyzing compounds that can be vaporized without decomposition. Typical uses of GC include testing the purity of a particular substance, ...
. He was a founding member of the scientific team at Jim Gray and Eric Dewar at ''Inveresk Research International'', since 1974 the ''Pentlands Scotch Whisky Research Ltd'' and ''Scotch Whisky Research Institute'' (SWRI). In the SWRI, Swan managed research programmes, funded by the
European Union and the
United Kingdom.
In 1979, research by Swan and co-researcher Sheila Burtles led to the creation and publication of the first ''whisky flavour wheel''.
The flavour wheel serves as an industry standard for sensory evaluation of whisky.
He was also a member of the ''Institute of Brewing and Distilling''.
Swan researched how hot climates affected the whisky fermenting, distillation, and aging process, and how to work around factors affected by warm climates, such as
alcohol oxidation Alcohol oxidation is a class of organic reactions in which the alcohol functional group is converted into another functional group (e.g., aldehyde, ketone, carboxylic acid) in which carbon carries a higher oxidation state.
Through a variety of mec ...
or
angel's share
A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, u ...
.
In 2002, he founded the ''Dr James Swan food and drink consultancy''. Prior to this, he was a partner in the ''Tatlock & Thompson consultancy''.
Due to his understanding and impact on the whisky industry, he has been called monikers such as the ''Einstein of whisky'',
''The Single Malt Whisperer'' or the ''ultimate whisky troubleshooter.''
Activities
Swan worked as a consultant, blender and
master distiller Master distiller is a title often used for a distilling expert or a key leader or owner at modern distilleries. The title doesn't have a fixed definition and can mean different things at different companies. Although the craft of distilling has exis ...
for distilleries around the world and played a role in the design of their distillation process. He contributed to the distilleries:
*
Amrut Distillery,
Bangalore
*
Annandale Distillery
Annandale distillery is a whisky distillery producing single malt Scotch whisky in Annan, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.
Annandale Distillery was established in 1836 by George Donald and was later bought by Johnnie Walker in 1893 and was cl ...
,
Annan
*
Clydeside Distillery
Clydeside distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery in Glasgow, Scotland. When production began in 2017, Clydeside was the first active distillery in Glasgow city centre for over 100 years.
Location
The distillery is at a quayside on the River ...
,
Glasgow
*
Cotswold Distillery,
Stourton
* Dublin Whiskey Distillery,
Dublin
*
Kavalan Distillery
Kavalan Distillery () is a Taiwanese whisky distillery. It is owned by the King Car Group and is located at Yuanshan Township, Yilan County, Taiwan.
History
The distillery is named after the indigenous Kavalan people, who originally inhabite ...
,
Yi-Lan
*
Kilchoman Distillery,
Isle of Islay
*
Lindores Abbey Distillery,
Newburgh
*
Milk & Honey Distillery,
Tel Aviv-Yafo
*
Nc'nean Distillery,
Morvern (Drimin Estate)
*
Penderyn Distillery
Penderyn is a Welsh whisky distillery and brand, producing the first commercially available whisky made in Wales since the 19th century. Produced at the Penderyn Distillery (the Welsh Whisky Company), Penderyn is a single malt whisky produced i ...
,
Rhondda Cynon Taf
* The London Distillery,
London
* Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery, Filey Bay
*
St George's Distillery
St George's Distillery is a distillery based in Roudham, Norfolk. It is owned by the English Whisky Company who are a producer of single malt whisky and other malt-based alcoholic spirits. It is notable for being the first dedicated English dis ...
,
Roudham
Roudham is a small settlement in Norfolk, England, part of the civil parish of Roudham and Larling in the district of Breckland. It was once home to Roudham Junction railway station. There are remains of a medieval
In the history o ...
*Virginia Distillery Company,
Virginia
Published academic papers
* James S. Swan et al. .: ''Sensory and instrumental studies of scotch whisky flavor.'' In: ''The Quality of Foods and Beverages.'' Academic Press, 1981, , pp. 201–223.
* D. Howie, JS Swan: ''Compounds influencing peatiness in scotch paints whisky flavor.'' In: Lalli Nykänen, Pekka Lehtonen (Ed.): ''Flavor Research of Alcoholic Beverages.'' 1984, , pp. 279–290.
* James S. Swan: ''Maturation of Potable Spirits.'' In: G. Charalambous (Ed.): ''Handbook of Food and Beverage Stability.'' Academic Press, 1986, , pp. 801–833.
* James Sneddon Swan: ''Wood extractives in relation to the maturation of scotch whisky.'' PhD thesis. Heriot-Watt University, 1988, OCLC 499922686 .
* JS Swan et al. .: ''A study of the effects of air and kiln drying of cooperage oakwood.'' In: ''Élaboration et connaissance des spiritueux.'' 1993, , pp. 557–561.
Awards
Awards attributed personally to Swan include:
1993 - Institute of Brewing & Distilling's Fellowship
2005 - Whisky Advocate's "Pioneer of The Year" Award
2017 - Scottish Whisky Awards' "The Dr. Jim Swan Award for Services to Scotch Whisky (awarded post-mortem, with the award named after him).
Distilleries he contributed to have won World Whisky of the Year awards, Artisian Whisky of the Year awards, Islay Whisky of the Year award, and Microdistillery Whisky of the Year award.
Personal life
Swan's family consisted of his wife Thelma, and his daughters, Caroline and Victoria.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swan, Jim
1941 births
2017 deaths
Businesspeople in brewing
Scottish chemists
Scottish biologists
Alumni of Heriot-Watt University