Douglas is a specialist in spirit drinks production from raw materials to the final product. He is also an IBD Board Trustee, Master Distiller & Blender and a spirit industry Technical Consultant.

With a career that expands more than 5 decades in the spirits industry, Douglas is an expert in Product Development and Design, Conversion Efficiency, Quality Process and Environmental Impact as well as Analytical Methodology and Innovation.

As an IBD Trustee, Douglas is responsible for advocacy and promotion of the IBD’s relevance to the membership and wider industry. 

Douglas is the immediate IBD Past President and previous Chair for the IBD Scottish Section. He is a current member of the Board of Examiners.

Born in Scotland, Douglas started his career in the industry in 1972 as an analytical scientist before progressing to the position of Process & Liquid Technology Manager at Diageo, developing half of his career in operational and technical roles at distilleries and central technical centres before finally leading the Research and Innovation teams at Diageo Global Technical.

With a solid chemical, processes and innovation expertise, paired with well-recognised team management skills, Douglas has helped to create excellent distilled and matured spirits for the Global Business. This includes whisk(e)y, rum, tequila, vodka, gin, Chinese spirit, and raki. Prior to retiral, he was Master Distiller and Blender for the Windsor Whisky range. Douglas was a representative on the  Scotch whisky Association scientific committee while holding a similar role in the European Spirits Association. His quality skills are used when judging at the International Wine and Spirit Competition.

Since February 2022, Douglas is a technical consultant for the spirit industry.

Douglas holds a BA Degree (Hons) in Chemistry from the Open University. He is a Keeper of the Quaich and IBD Fellow and has been involved in the last four Worldwide Distilled Spirits Conferences. He has published several papers and contributed chapters to leading technical books.

Outside work, Douglas and his family are passionate supporters of Hibernian FC. He is also a volunteer with the British Red Cross for almost 50 years, where he has served on the council of the Scottish Branch. As part of his activity in the Red Cross, he gained SCOTVEC “Train the Trainer” Qualifications in Mentoring, Training and Evaluation.