April’s Society Life welcomes another of our Member Ambassadors who has been an influencing force on the West Coast Whisk(e)y scene for a while now. Mayur Bhatia is our Bay Area and Los Angeles Society Member Ambassador and has had his finger on the pulse of both Scotch and international whisky for some time. When he’s not crushing it at his non-profit gig, he’s organizing one of the Bay Area’s best tastings, Fog City Social. Mayur is a good friend with an outstanding palate, harnessing his olfactory acumen as a force for good among fellow whisky lovers. If you’re in the Bay Area or LA, check out one of his Society events! In the meantime, pour a dram of Distillery 35 (you’ll see why shortly) and enjoy the read.
TS: Hi Mayur, please tell us a bit about yourself….
MB: I’ve been in the San Francisco Bay area for 20+ years. I moved here for an opportunity in a startup in tech in 2005 and have lived here ever since. I work in tech for a non-profit. In addition to whiskies & tech, I dabble in motorsports and coaching drivers on racetracks.
TS: What is it about whisky that interests you the most?
MB: For me, particularly with scotch, is the variety that each distillery brings. My journey began by trying different blends & single malts my father used to drink, mainly as highballs while I was in India. I started getting into whiskies once I was exposed to understanding different cask types and trying the same distillery using two different casks.
TS: What has been your most memorable whisky experience to date?
MB: I’ve been lucky to have close friends in the whisky industry for a while, which has given me the privilege to try some unique malts. My most memorable whisky experience would be drinking a 32yr old Glen Moray in a castle in Speyside. I’ve also had the chance to sip on a 1954 Glenfarclas straight from the barrel and chatting with Mrs. Grant at Warehouse 1.
TS: You're stranded on a desert island with one bottle of whisky for an entire month, what is it?
MB: I’m going to go with two, because why not! I love a distillery 1 in a bourbon cask, which is unique in itself, and I’d love to balance that with a distillery 53 for those chilly nights.
TS: What is your favorite distillery to visit and why?
MB: Glen Moray! They are such a unique distillery where you really can explore flavors of the same distillate in multiple different casks. Being in the Glen Moray house, sipping a whisky aged in a Chenin Blanc cask is just so unique.
TS: Why did you decide to become a member of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society?
MB: Getting access to quality single cask whiskies from distilleries I would normally not find on the shelf and knowing that each one would be unique. Then sharing conversations with other like-minded people about those whiskies has been amazing.
TS: What has been the highlight of your membership experience so far?
MB: Getting to try unique whiskies from different members, many from moth-balled distilleries, but then being a member ambassador and sharing the knowledge and conversations with other members, distillers, and industry folks has been unique.
TS: Any advice for the other Society members?
MB: Come out to an outturn preview tasting and try that distillery you did not think you would like. Go visit the member rooms in London, Edinburgh, and Glasgow!
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Thank you, Mayur, for sharing your thoughts. And thank you, reader, for spending some time with us.
