129 | theceomagazine.comW
hen Joy Spence was studying chemistry at the
University of West Indies, she hadn’t even heard
of a rum master blender, let alone considered it
as a future occupation. “I thought I’d probably
be in some sort of research environment in a laboratory,” she
considers. “Not in a million years would I have guessed that I’d
branch out into this particular craft.”
But this year, she celebrates 20 years as the master blender at
Jamaican rum-maker Appleton Estate. It’s a significant milestone
in any circumstance, but what makes this story even more special,
is the fact that Joy became the first woman to earn the coveted title,
when she took over from her mentor Owen Tulloch in 1997.
“When I joined the company as Chief Chemist in 1981,
I thought I would just be going there to do the analysis in the
laboratory,” Joy recalls. “I didn’t think I’d get to touch the
liquid and become a whole part of the process. I was given
this amazing opportunity to be totally involved in the entire
production process. It was a real eye-opener, because
when I started I hadn’t had so much as a spoonful of rum,”
she laughs. “But I fell in love with it because of its amazing
and complex flavours.”
Within the rum industry, Joy’s glass ceiling-
shattering promotion wasn’t a surprise;
everyone knew she had served an extensive
and world-class apprenticeship. But outside
of the bubble, she continues to be subjected
to more than her fair share of humiliation.
She can recount numerous examples of
customs officers laughing in her face when
she tells them she’s a master blender.
“To this day, they never believe I could be
doing this, they think it’s a joke,” she says,
shaking her head.It wears thin, she admits, but the relaxed Jamaican, whose
name aptly matches her affable personality, prefers to focus on
the positives. “Who would’ve thought a woman would be in this
position in a male-dominated field?” Joy smiles. “I could have
found myself stuck in a lab testing on equipment, instead I fell
into something that never stops exciting me.”
If there were any doubts over her ability, she alleviated
those concerns when she created Appleton Estate’s 250th
Anniversary Blend in 1999. “My first blend was supposed to
just be commemorative, but it was so well-received that they
decided to commercialise it, and it became the Appleton Estate
Reserve Blend, which we launched in 2000.”
She has released a host of top-shelf, premium aged rums since,
but the pièce de résistance is her own celebratory drop, the
Appleton Estate Joy Anniversary Blend. Speaking with
The CEO Magazine during her whirlwind global tour, Joy
raves, “I wanted to develop a rum that would be so complex
it would be appreciated not only by rum connoisseurs, but
by whiskey and cognac drinkers too – it is just absolutely
unforgettable. It has this amazing orange peel top note
wrapped with ginger and spice, finishing with warm vanilla
coffee, cocoa, butterscotch and almond notes.”
Joy’s passion and fearlessness has paved the
way for an influx of women master blenders in
the spirits industry, and she regularly visits
schools to create a clear pathway for young
science students who wouldn’t have
otherwise considered a career in
rum-making. Let’s hope by the time these
young women reach the same lofty
heights as Joy, border security will
understand that there are women master
blenders too.Joy Spence didn’t know the first thing about
rum when she joined Appleton Estate, but
that didn’t stop her from becoming the world’s
first female master blender.WORDS • JOE MCDONOUGHRum
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