I'M GIVING UP BEST JOB IN THE WORLD SO MY BABY CAN BE BORN IN SCOTLAND Dec 13 2004
By John Ferguson
A WHISKY taster is giving up the world's best job so he can bring up his first baby as a true Scot.
Caspar MacRae gets to jet around the globe sampling some of the most expensive whiskies ever distilled.
The 31-year-old is paid to fly first-class to exotic locations where he stays in the finest hotels.
His employer, Macallan, even provide him with an all-expenses-paid upmarket flat in New York.
But Caspar has decided to swap the Big Apple for his home country.
He is giving it all up so he can move to Auchtermuchty, Fife, to give his offspring a Scottish childhood.
Caspar became the US brand ambassador for the distillery three years ago, despite knowing almost nothing about whisky when he landed the dream job.
He said: 'I have to pinch myself every day.
'I can hardly believe this is a job. It's amazing to have access to these whiskies. It is jaw-dropping.
'I didn't really know that much about whisky until I took this job.
'I could tell the difference between a single malt and a very cheap dram but that was about it.'
The former Buckingham Palace guard captain from Edinburgh saw the job advertised in a newspaper three years ago.
He now travels throughout North America and beyond educating restaurant and bar owners about the Speyside rare malts - some worth tens of thousands of pounds.
He added: 'They were looking for somebody who had a little bit of knowledge about single-malt whisky.
'I had to be willing to fly to the United States, stay in great hotels, eat at great restaurants and drink whisky each day.
'It sounded like I'd won the Scottish national lottery.
'I'm very lucky to be here doing it.
'My wife tells me to keep my feet on the ground and not get too big-headed.'
Caspar racks up more than 300,000 frequent-flier miles a year and spends more than a third of the year in four and five-star hotels. His hip flask regularly contains whiskies that cost as much as £1800.
And while he won't reveal the size of his annual wining and dining expense budget, Caspar admits it is 'at least six figures'.
Caspar plans to move to Auchtermuchty, where he has a home, in the new year.
He has resigned from the firm, but hopes to work for them again once he arrives back in Scotland.
He added: 'I know people must think I'm crazy, but I want my child to be Scottish.
'And this job's taken quite a toll on my liver over the years.'
A spokesperson for Macallan, based in Craigellachie, Banffshire, said: 'The job certainly has a lot of perks.'
Hämtat härifrån:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_objec...-name_page.html
