Brisbane’s Carmen Hartwich named Australia’s first master of bourbon

Brisbane-based whisky expert Carmen Hartwich has been named Australia’s first master of bourbon.

Hartwich received her certification early last week after a gruelling 18-month undertaking that culminated in a judging process on the Isle Raasay in Scotland.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” Hartwich, 34, says. “I’ve had so many people amping me up. Especially in this industry, it’s so hard not to get imposter syndrome. I haven’t had to introduce myself as a master of bourbon yet. Maybe at that point it will sink in.”

Hartwich’s qualification involved a syllabus of top whisky periodicals and eight whiskey books (the latter focusing on spirits from the US where, like Ireland, “whiskey” is generally spelled with an “e”). There was also a list of core American distilleries that students needed to know “back to front”.

“You’re also connected to previous masters who act as mentors to the students,” she explains. “All of the students across the world would be connected, and we would have weekly dial-ins to go through the material and go through the tastings … and when I say you need to know these [core] distilleries, this is where the blind tasting comes in. You need to be able to pick any of these whiskeys in a blind line-up.”

The judging process on the Isle of Raasay was a two-day affair and involved an essay component with six questions; a two-hour blind tasting of eight American whiskeys and panel session where the candidate explained the reasoning behind their picks; and an oral exam with a panel of international whisky experts that Hartwich describes as the most intense “game of Jeopardy you’ll ever play”.

“But it was incredible … we had a close cohort of candidates this year, and we all practiced with each other, so no matter how scary it was we were all supportive of each other.”

Not only is Hartwich Australia’s first master of bourbon, but she’s just the seventh in the world to achieve the qualification, and the first female.

“That’s not because women aren’t delving into whisky. They are – there’s more than ever before,” Hartwich says. “But you have to keep in mind that, say, the [Institute of] Masters of Wine exam has been around for many years. Master of whisky exams are relatively new because it’s only recently that we’ve developed a thorough enough understanding of whisky in terms of how it works – distillation, maturation, all the finite details – more thoroughly within the space of the last 10 years.”

Hartwich’s certification was achieved through the Council of Whiskey Masters, which was founded in 2019 and is acknowledged as the leading international education and certification body for bourbon and whisky.

Hartwich’s career in hospitality started on the door at Cloudland 10 years ago. She then went on to bartend at venues across Fortitude Valley such as Press Club, Empire Hotel, Brunswick Social and Grape Therapy. She’s currently a Queensland and South Australian brand ambassador for booze giant Brown Forman, and still makes regular pop-up appearances behind the bar at venues across Brisbane.

“I’m excited for the future,” Hartwich says. “What this does is open doors in Australia. I’ll actually be a mentor for future masters, which is amazing. To see how much this industry has grown and changed in the last decade, I’m so excited to see what the next decade brings.”