�I am a bon vivant, I enjoy food, I love eating different cuisines. I am an innovative cook, I can do pastas with seafood, casseroles, grill a Bass, I can invent recipes that require whisky. I am fond of pairing food with malts. There are only three things that go with malt: strong cheese; pate and cracker; and, dark chocolate!�

DR. BILL Lumsden, the global brand ambassador and master distiller at Glenmorangie in Scotland, is one of the most respected malt masters in the world. Very strangely, he looks like Pierce Brosnan, who is Irish; and he talks like Sean Connery, who is Welsh. Both of them have played James Bond, who is English! And Bill is Scottish down to his kilt and stockinged feet. He was in India recently to promote Glenmorangie�s range of whiskies.

�What I am technically does not matter. What matters is that I am the real person for the subject. I have a love for whisky and I believe in what I do. I have a bit of experience in the industry, 20 years, managing different different distilleries, and my knowledge of different styles of malt and grain helps.

I believe as in a lot of things, a bit of luck helps. Being in the right place at the right time,� says Bill helpfully. He is, fortunately, technically qualified for what he does. He studied Bio-Chemistry and did a PhD in Physiology (in yeast and fermentation science). �I was not sure what kind of career I was going to have till my first whisky tasting experience,� he jokes. �It was enlightening! My first job was in a research institute for the whisky industry.� He remembers his first drink well. �I was 24, and it was malt whisky at a party in Edinburgh. It was fantastic. I was hooked! Till then, I was predominantly a beer and wine drinker.�

His repertoire still includes beer and wine, though. �And buckets of tea,� Bill adds. �I cannot function without tea.

I drink all sorts. But my first cup must be Earl Grey, then anything else. I need several cups to kick-start me.� He is not worried that the tea will ruin his tastebuds. �How will it,� he asks. �I enjoy cigars as well. But I smoke sensibly. The night before I�ve got serious work to do, I don�t drink or smoke. I tend to favour the Montecristo No. 3, but I occasionally also inhale my cigar.�

He likes to drink socially, too, and what he drinks depends on the situation he finds himself in. �People are generally keen to let me taste their favourite brands,� he admits. �They wait for me to compliment them. Occasionally somebody will give me a glass of whisky and try to get me to tell them what it is. That�s difficult. There are so many distilleries in Scotland.�

But Bill does have his favourites from among Scotland�s malt whiskies. He talks about a 1981 Glenmorangie that he tasted in 1996. �It was matured in a single bourbon barrel and bottled by hand. I give visitors to the distillery a taste of it and call it the Manager�s Choice! It�s fantastic. We bottled 350 and all got sold out!� He also likes the Highland Park, which is non-company, and from the Orkney Distillery.

As Global Ambassador for Glenmorangie Plc, Bill is in overall charge of Glenmorangie, Ardbeg and Glen Moray, which are three distilleries. His job is to be responsible for spirit quality, cask and barley selection, and the development of whisky recipes. He has 18 brand ambassadors all over the world who are tasked with creating a greater appreciation and understanding of Glenmorangie�s brands everywhere. �I keep them well informed about the distilleries, and abreast of all information on new products, while trying to answer their questions and giving them help on whisky-technical issue,� he says of his job.

His work entails a lot of travel. The last three months, for instance, were spent in Paris, Lisbon, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, Dubai and India. �Hopefully, I shall be able to go home to Scotland soon and see what my distilleries are like,� Bill says with a wry smile. Home is Greenoch, a town of 70,000, which is substantial by Scottish standards. �It is close to Edinburgh but in the country,� says Bill His wife, he says, works hard at home! They have two children, a son who is 11 and a daughter who is 7.

When he is not travelling and is at home, Bill enjoys going on treks, walking up hills, he is a keen jogger, plays squash, loves watching rugby matches, is fond of arts, the cinema, and his favourite timepass is shopping! �I am a bon vivant, I enjoy food, I love eating different cuisines. I am an innovative cook, I can do pastas with seafood, casseroles, grill a Bass, I can invent recipes that require whisky as an ingredient. I am fond of pairing food with malts. There are only three things that go with malt: strong cheese; pate and cracker; and, dark chocolate!� He talks about India. He is impressed because he never knew this was a country of such diversity.

�I also had the impression that people would view me suspiciously, because Scotland is so different. It was not the case. I was welcomed. Me in my kilt!� And he talks about the differences between malt whiskies and blended Scotch. �People used to drinking blended Scotch, not surprisingly, like single malts. It is a natural progression, malt from Scotch.�

The difference between the two is that malt is a fuller, richer flavour, it is smooth, aged, majority of malts are easy to drink and have complex flavours. �They are best had on their own or with a little bit of ordinary water,� says Bill. Whereas a blended Scotch is a grain whisky, it is lighter in character, most of them are young and not smooth. �Of course, Chivas Regal and Black Label are smooth,� he adds. Some blended Scotch whiskies are best with ice and soda.

Bill says that Glenmorangie is happy to have visitors at the distillery. �We are smaller than Glenfiddich, but we get 20,000 visitors a year. People don�t come because they are just passing by. They come because they are Glenmorangie drinkers and want to worship at the shrine,� he says. Further details can be had at Glenmorangie�s website, www.glenmorangie.com