{"id":25898,"date":"2025-08-21T08:36:38","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T05:36:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bitterbooze.vfhost.gr\/?p=25898"},"modified":"2026-03-08T13:58:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T11:58:11","slug":"glendronach-rachel-barrie-rob-lewis-sonic-dimension-whisky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/en\/glendronach-rachel-barrie-rob-lewis-sonic-dimension-whisky\/","title":{"rendered":"Rachel Barrie of Glendronach and Rob Lewis give whisky a new sonic dimension!"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4 data-start=\"244\" data-end=\"744\"><em>*Original article in Greek<\/em><\/h4>\n<p data-start=\"244\" data-end=\"744\">Can whisky be <em data-start=\"260\" data-end=\"267\">heard<\/em>? Can the sounds of its creation be captured and composed in a way that actually elevates the experience of drinking it? <strong>Glendronach<\/strong>, one of the most historic distilleries in Scotland\u2019s Highlands, has taken a bold leap into the unknown \u2014 turning the whisky-making process into a musical composition. If you\u2019ve already raised an eyebrow but are curious enough to follow along, then this is for you. Open-minded, slightly skeptical, curious by nature \u2014 you\u2019re in the right place.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"746\" data-end=\"1087\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/en\/rachel-barrie-after-150-000-casks\/\"><strong>Dr. Rachel Barrie<\/strong><\/a>, <strong>Glendronach\u2019s<\/strong> <strong>Master Blender<\/strong>, explains the project\u2019s core aim: \u201cexplore the inherent link between the senses, taste and sound, in whisky drinking\u201d. The result of her collaboration with Emmy-nominated composer and cellist <strong>Rob Lewis<\/strong> is a piece of music designed to be paired specifically with <strong>Glendronach 12 Year Old<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1089\" data-end=\"1517\">Titled <strong><em data-start=\"1096\" data-end=\"1120\">Valley of the Brambles<\/em> <\/strong>\u2014now available on Spotify\u2014 the composition blends cello with ambient soundscapes sourced directly from the <strong>Glendronach<\/strong> distillery. <strong>Rob Lewis<\/strong> visited the site and recorded not just the acoustics of his cello within the space, but also impulse responses and environmental sounds. These recordings were then transformed into percussive textures and melodic layers woven into the final composition.<\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"border-radius: 12px;\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/0CN2RSUNSbRD82PJokYWMz?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-testid=\"embed-iframe\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The inspiration came from <strong>Dr. Barrie<\/strong> herself, who has described <strong>Glendronach 12<\/strong> as reaching a sherry crescendo. Lewis set out to mirror that crescendo musically. <em>\u201cEvery sound captured in the distillery was manipulated and woven into the piece. These sounds form the backbone of the percussion, all derived from the distillery itself, and appear as subtle textures and pitched elements throughout\u201d<\/em>, the British composer explains.<\/p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-24413\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/The-Glendronach-Serving-Up-Gifts-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"Glendronach\" \/>\n<p data-start=\"1951\" data-end=\"2429\"><strong>Dr. Barrie<\/strong> believes the final track is the perfect sonic companion to the whisky. And if you\u2019re wondering how or why that\u2019s even possible, the project also drew interest from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.psy.ox.ac.uk\/people\/charles-spence\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Charles Spence<\/strong><\/a>, Oxford University\u2019s leading figure in gastrophysics and one of the most prolific researchers in the field. He provided the scientific framework, situating the work within the field of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.psy.ox.ac.uk\/publications\/1205999\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong data-start=\"2326\" data-end=\"2345\">sonic seasoning<\/strong><\/a> \u2014a growing area of study examining how sound influences our perception of flavour.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2431\" data-end=\"2752\">According to <strong>Spence\u2019s<\/strong> research, music and ambient sound can amplify specific taste perceptions, whether it\u2019s sweetness, bitterness, dryness or depth. The brain, it seems, doesn\u2019t taste in isolation \u2014it listens too. And <strong><em data-start=\"2651\" data-end=\"2675\">Valley of the Brambles<\/em><\/strong> was crafted with that premise in mind: as a sensory complement to your dram.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2754\" data-end=\"3118\">Now, I\u2019m not in a position to assess the scientific rigour of <strong>Professor Spence\u2019s<\/strong> studies, nor do I intend to question the artistic choices of two creators \u2014one in whisky, the other in music. But I do reserve the right to be cautiously curious about the final product. The mind and the heart remain open, as they should with any sincere act of artistic expression.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3120\" data-end=\"3573\">That said, <em data-start=\"3131\" data-end=\"3143\">perception<\/em> \u2014and more so, <em data-start=\"3159\" data-end=\"3171\">preception<\/em>\u2014 often plays a bigger role than science in moments of enjoyment. Tasting a whisky in its natural habitat, somewhere in the misty Highlands; sipping a cognac in a French ch\u00e2teau; or pouring a rum under tropical heat \u2014 these experiences transcend measurement. Science comes in only when we try to explain that feeling to someone who wasn\u2019t there. In those cases, sure, feel free to cite <strong>Charles Spence<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3575\" data-end=\"3778\">Beyond the track itself, there\u2019s a beautifully shot making-of video on <strong>Rob Lewis<\/strong>\u2019 YouTube channel. Pour yourself a dram while watching \u2014 and see if it stirs something. Does it hit different? You tell me.<\/p>\n<div class=\"keep-aspect\"><iframe title=\"The Making Of Valley Of The Brambles\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/08zqjTarHDQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>*Original article in Greek Can whisky be heard? Can the sounds of its creation be captured and composed in a way that actually elevates the experience of drinking it? Glendronach, one of the most historic distilleries in Scotland\u2019s Highlands, has taken a bold leap into the unknown \u2014 turning the whisky-making process into a musical [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24405,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1841],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/glendronach-x-rob-lewis-valley-of-the-brambles.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25898"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25900,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25898\/revisions\/25900"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitterbooze.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}