Distillery manager
You'd oversee the production of spirits, such as whisky and gin. It'll then be bottled and sold – sometimes across the world.
About the job
What it's like
You would oversee the production of spirits such as whisky and gin, that would then be bottled and sold – sometimes across the world.
As a distillery manager you’ll have one of the most senior positions at a distillery. You’re responsible for both the production of the spirit and the warehousing operations – where the spirit is stored.
You need to ensure that the distillery meets the agreed production targets (LOA – litres of alcohol) on an annual basis.
You’ll spend a lot of time looking for new ways to improve how the spirit is produced and the quality of the spirit.
Your tasks might include:
managing employees to make sure you're meeting production goals
making new products with the Master Distillers
monitoring quality, cost and delivery
making sure the workplace is safe including organising maintenance of equipment
making sure the distillery complies with environmental and health and safety regulations
reducing carbon emissions in the production process and meeting carbon targets
organising the maintenance of equipment
being a brand ambassador to promote the distillery
completing paperwork
helping with recruitment
The duties of a distillery manager can vary depending on the size of the distillery. You will be more hands-on when working at a smaller distillery. A larger distillery might involve more delegation of tasks.
Other jobs in a distillery include:
malting – the barley is soaked for 2-3 days in warm water and then traditionally spread on the floor of a building called a malting house. It's raked and turned regularly to maintain a constant temperature. This is also carried out on a commercial scale in large drums which rotate
mashing – a manual process of combining a mix of milled grain (typically malted barley with supplementary grain). Mashing allows the enzymes in the malt to break down the starch in the grain into sugars
warehouse roles – working in the warehouse where the whisky is stored in casks
customer service roles – this could involve working in the visitor centre shop, cafe or providing whisky tours
Green job
In this job you'll be doing work to help the environment. Find out more about green jobs.
Hours
These vary by distillery from 35 to 38 hours per week. You'd normally work Monday to Friday, but may need to work extra hours on occasion and could be on-call.
Environment
You'll normally work in an isolated rural location. The working day is split between office duties and plant and warehouse duties as required.
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Related industries
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Top skills
Skills are things you're good at. Whether you know what yours are or not, everyone has them!
It's useful to learn which ones are important in a job so you know the areas you need to brush up on. It can also help you work out if you're suited to a career.
Top specialised skills
These are the top specialised skills that have been found in job vacancies across Scotland. From March 2024 to March 2025.
- continuous improvement process
- fermentation
- production planning
- key performance indicators (kpis)
- risk analysis
- environment health and safety
- quality management
- project engineering
- standard operating procedure
- process improvement
Meta skills
Here are some of the meta skills you'll need to do this job.
- understanding
- taking responsibility
- making decisions
- delegating
- managing resources
- developing a plan
- attention to detail
- problem solving
- verbal communication
- cooperating
Your skills are important
Our unique skillsets are what make us stand out from the crowd. Learn about each skill in depth and discover what employers look for in your applications and interviews.
Getting in
Explore each section to find more information about getting into this career.
Colleges and universities will list subjects you'll need for entry to a course. Some useful subjects include:
Business Management
Health and Food Technology (Home economics)
Maths (Mathematics)
Skills for Work: Food and Drink Manufacturing Industry
Applications of Mathematics
As this job requires understanding of spirit production and management experience you'll either need significant industry experience or a higher education qualification. This could be a degree (SCQF Level 9/10) or postgraduate qualification (SCQF Level 11/12) in spirit production or other relevant subjects, such as excise or quality control, plus industry experience.
There is an International Centre for Brewing and Distilling at Heriot-Watt University which offers a degree course in brewing and distilling.
Some employers have graduate employment schemes to help graduates gain the experience they need for the job.
Required qualifications:
Food safety qualification (for example. HACCP – Hazard Analysis and Critical Control)
Managing safely qualification (IOSH – Institution of Occupational Safety and Health)
Institute of Brewing and Distilling General Certificate in Distillation
Once in the job, if you do not already have these qualifications, you'll be required to work towards:
a safety management qualification (e.g. RoSPA – Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents or NEBS)
the Institute of Brewing and Distilling Diploma in Distillation
experience as an assistant distillery manager, or production team leader, or operating at a similar level
knowledge of the whisky/spirit industry
detailed knowledge of all production and warehousing processes
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