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James Cowan
Born in 1975 in Dundee, Scotland, James moved in his early childhood to the prolific whisky region of Speyside. Although too young at the time to understand what whisky and distilling was all about, this was to prove the beginning of a great journey into the world of Scotch.
James progressed through schooling in the remote highland region of Skye and Lochalsh, before moving South to Edinburgh to finish his higher education at Napier University.
James graduated in 1996 with a BA (Hons) Hospitality, and throughout his university days he developed an increasing interest in both wines and spirits. This spurred him on to study for his Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET) exams of which he progressed to Advance Level. At the same time, throughout his time at university James was fortunate enough to work at a well respected whisky retailer in the heart of Edinburgh. This not only gave him a broader knowledge base on all matters relating to Scotch Whisky but it also fuelled his ongoing passion relating to the product. Upon graduation James was eager to put all the theory he had learnt into practice and he spent half a year working for the world leading wine company BRL Hardy in South Australia.
It was his long standing passion for whisky that brought him back to his homeland and he quickly immersed himself in a role working for a small independent whisky company. It was Tullibardine Distillery who approached James for a newly established role at their plant. Not more than one year after joining Tullibardine, James was to be head hunted by BenRiach Distillery to take up his current role as Regional Sales Director for the Asia Pacific Region.
He is relishing the prospect to develop the company’s image and profile throughout the Asia/Pacific Region and is very much looking forward to his New Zealand visit in August.