In the summer of 2006 Stuart announced that he was leaving Ardbeg Distillery , after 9 years he was moving onto pastures new . On a Scorching friday afternoon in the Summer of 2003 my wife and myself sat down to have a chat with
the then main man at Ardbeg distillery , we'd talked to him before many times around
the distillery in the previous 2 years . But this time we came prepared with a list
of questions and Stuart graciously gave us some of his time to answer them . I've left this chat on the site as a sort of tribute to a man who has done so much to get the distillery into the position it is today , we'll all miss you Stuart , Right enough !
Married to Jackie , the visitor centre manageress , and with two young boys they live on site in a
house with possibly the best view out of a back garden i've ever seen , i
started of by asking him where his career started .
Stuart Thomson...Stockbroker?
It goes back to 1980 when he
left school at 18 " And for my sins i went to be a stockbroker and
thankfully i failed ! " , that coincided with his father
( who was in the industry before him ) being appointed as Assistant Manager of
Glenmorangie Distillery . While his mother stopped behind with his sister to
see her through her schooling , stuart decided to keep his father company ,
" An opportunity arose in the warehousing in Glenmorangie , going back
to that time , of which i quite enjoyed , when your 18 a bit of cash at the end
of the week is the up most and one's inclined to forget about a career at that
time " . He eventually worked 5 1/2 years in the
warehouse before progressing through the Milling , mashing and distillation.
)
