Hall of Fame

Dr. Nicholas Morgan is head of whisky outreach at Diageo, and is a leading global authority on the Scotch whisky industry, the marketing of Scotch whisky around the world, and the history of its great blends and personalities.

Before joining Diageo, Nick Morgan taught Modern Scottish History in the Scottish History Department at the University of Glasgow. In 1993 he published an edited version of his doctoral thesis, Lancashire Quakers and the establishment 1660-1730. Nick Morgan originally joined United Distillers (now Diageo) in 1990, when he was responsible for establishing the company’s archives. In the course of this work he has become an acknowledged expert on the history of the Scotch whisky distilling industry.

Before moving into the newly created position of head of whisky outreach, his role as Scotch heritage director was to champion the deep-rooted heritage of the company and its famous whisky brands in Scotland. Prior to that, he worked for many years in Diageo’s global malt whisky marketing team as marketing director.

In his role as marketing director, Nick worked closely with flavour experts and distillers. He was responsible for a number of key innovations including the Talisker range, the introduction of the Special Releases programme, and the development of The Singleton of Glen Ord. He spent much of his time visiting distilleries in Scotland and travelling to existing and developing malt whisky markets. He was responsible for the creation of training programmes to help marketers and external commentators understand more about distillation, maturation and flavour.

Nick also led the category in pioneering the now widespread practice of pairing whisky with food.

With more than 20 years experience in the Scotch whisky business, his role is to inform, educate and motivate key influencers for the Scotch category and Diageo’s brands. In doing so he works very closely with Johnnie Walker master blender Jim Beveridge and the whisky specialist team in Scotland. He writes occasionally on a range of subjects related to single malt and blended Scotch whisky.