(FORTUNE Magazine) – MY FATHER USED TO WORK AT ANOTHER DISTILLERY. He did not have the nose--he worked in production. I've been at Macallan 20 years now. I started as a warehouse worker, but every now and again the Scotch Whisky Research Institute runs nosing evaluations. You are shut in a room with 20 small bottles. Each has characteristics like almond, vanilla, or peat, and you're asked to identify them. I had a nose that was deemed fit for training, so I landed on the nosing panel. When the head whisky maker left in 2000, I got his job. I spend a huge amount of time in the sample room. When selecting casks for bottling we assess the color and character of each to achieve the right balance. We've sampled well over 100,000 casks in four years. And by "sampled," I mean we have nosed them, not drunk them--99% of our work is done with the nose. There's no part of the job I don't like. It's almost not a job. I have two young children. The smallest one has a very good nose, so I have high hopes for her. The 7-year-old is not quite so interested; he's a numbers man. -- Interview by Matthew Boyle