Walpole: In a world where we’re always available, how do you separate your personal time from your work time?
Ron Welsh: De-compressing after each work day has always been important to me, taking time to think on how the work day has progressed; what went well, what didn’t go so well, the highlights and the learning experiences. Every day is different. Since starting work after university, my workplace has always been more than a 30-minute drive from my home, so at the end of the working day, that 30 minutes allows me to re-energise before I walk through my front door to my family, putting all the trials and tribulation behind me. To further separate my work from my personal time, I also try and start the working day with a gym session. This gives me time to work through my day ahead without bringing work into the home.
What’s one thing you do after the work day to help you unwind?
After my drive home, I make sure I change out of my work clothes, even during lockdown, working from home, I would dress for work and get changed at the end of the work day. To unwind, all I need to do is have a chat with my son, a young man with a rare condition called Williams Syndrome. Apart from the physical difficulties and the extra learning needs his condition brings, he is also the most empathic person I know and makes sure he lifts everybody around him.
What activity do you do in your time away from the office that helps you relax and recentre after a stressful week?
Relaxing comes in the form of family time, meals out with friends and travel within Scotland or further afield. Having played many sports when I was younger, I also can appreciate the skills of the modern day sports professional. Watching a game of rugby would be my ultimate way of detaching myself from work.
What’s something you’ve read, listened to or seen in your spare time that’s helped you at work?
Working within the Scotch industry, especially as a Master Blender, your work in progress spans over 100 years, developing new products, some of which are over 50 years old (such as Bowmore ARC-52), while also checking the quality of new-make spirit before its filled into casks (which, for some casks, will not be bottled for more than 50 to 60 years). You need to listen to the older generation to hear what happened in the past and how that can be applied to the here and now – and listen to the next generation on their aspirations so that you can develop ways of working and new products for the future. Of course, when you have a son who thinks completely differently from most people, and a daughter at university studying maths, you get a whole new outlook that I would never have thought about.
After home and the office, where’s your favourite third space?
Time out with my friends, either from university or former work colleagues with the same outlook on life and the same ways of relaxing. A weekend in Rome watching rugby has been an annual routine for the past eight years and hopefully many years to come. What could be better than sharing a few drams in a fantastic bar or restaurant with your friends while touring the beautiful city of Rome with the added joy of watching a great game of rugby.
On Sunday night, how do you prepare yourself for the week ahead?
Sunday evenings are for relaxing – a quiet night in front of the television with my wife after she has prepared a superb roast for the family, enjoying the slow pace before the exhilaration of the working week. Of course, it's early to sleep to recharge the batteries before the gym session in the morning and a mindful diary check in the car on the way to work.
Best reason you've had to turn your Out of Office on recently?
For the press day of the launch of Bowmore ARC-52: a track day at Silverstone, then me introducing Bowmore 52YO to the journalists, followed by a meal at Frog by Adam Handling, with a 5-course menu developed around the tasting notes for Bowmore ARC-52 whisky. Or, maybe, the two weeks in Mexico I took recently with my family was a better Out of Office? What a beautiful place Isla Holbox is, where our newly-found friends got engaged.
Your go-to Out of Office outfit: jeans and casual shirt.
Your happy place anywhere in the world: Edinburgh. A beautiful city with a great cosmopolitan atmosphere and some fantastic bars and restaurants.
Your favourite bar or restaurant: the Wisdomless Club in Rome, a wonderful relaxing bar where I'd order a Maker’s Mark Old Fashioned. Alternatively, Death and Company in New York for a Peated Colada or, nearer to home, The Anchor Line restaurant in Glasgow for, well, anything on the menu!
Something you booked recently that you'd recommend: I recently had the pleasure of being invited to a Scotland v England Rugby match at Murrayfield with hospitality with my wife. The contrast between the brutality of the game and the friendliness between supporters watching the game always puts a smile on my face, no matter who wins.
Something you've listened to or read recently that you'd recommend: Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly. I love people with determination – a great quality to have.
A hobby you'd like to cultivate: I’d love to get back into some of the sports I played in my youth: volleyball, badminton and table tennis. I’ll give Rugby a miss!
A luxury that’s actually a necessity: an iPhone.
Best luxury under £25: a dram of Bowmore 21YO Masters’ Selection.
Ron Welsh is Master Blender at Bowmore whisky distillery in Scotland. bowmore.com
