Dr. Don Livermore
Dr. Don Livermore is the Master Blender of Hiram Walker & Sons Limited in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. He is responsible for some of Canada’s award-winning whiskies such as JP Wiser’s, Lot 40, Pike Creek, and Gooderham & Worts. After graduation in 1996 from the University of Waterloo with a degree in microbiology, Don started his career in the distillery as a lab technician. At that time Don was a pioneer in developing techniques using NIR for fermentation analysis. This transformed how the distilling industry monitored fermentations and distillery processes. He wrote at chapter in the Alcohol Textbook 4th Edition and in the World Wide Distilled Spirits Conference in 2012 on the topic of NIR and has spoken around the world in this area of expertise. Don furthered his education by completing a MSc and PhD in Brewing in Distilling at Heriot Watt University with a focus on how wood interacts with whisky. In 2012, he became the Master Blender of Hiram Walker Distillery. Today, Don is a sought-after speaker on Canadian Whisky as he brings together all facets of distillery operations and maturation processes and how flavours are developed in whisky. He created the Canadian Whisky Flavour Wheel© which is a unique perspective on blending whisky.