In March of this year, noted British journalist Stephen McGinty wrote a feature for The Sunday Times about Dr. Bill Lumsden.
He detailed Lumsden’s longtime work as master distiller for Glenmorangie, revisiting his early days in Glasgow and then Edinburgh, where he earned a Ph.D. in fermentation sciences at Heriot-Watt University.
He told of Lumsden’s latest projects: making cologne with luxury brand Givenchy, welcoming Harrison Ford as Glenmorangie’s brand ambassador, and crafting a whiskey named SirDavis for Beyoncé.
And in both the headline and opening lines of the article, McGinty colorfully labeled Lumsden as the “Willy Wonka of Whisky.”
By now, Willy Wonka is as indelible a fictional character as exists in our world. The eccentric, reclusive, child-torturing chocolatier first appeared in Roald Dahl’s 1964 children’s novel “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and its 1972 sequel, “Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator.” He has been portrayed on screen by Gene Wilder in the 1971 movie “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,” Johnny Depp in 2005’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” and Timothée Chalamet in 2023’s prequel “Wonka.”
Today, though, if someone is compared to Willy Wonka — or something is described as “Wonka-esque” — it’s usually in relation to the beverage alcohol industry.