By Ritu Jha-
At the recent Best Whiskey in the World competition, a small but impassioned upstart outshined larger, established brands in whiskey making.
San Jose-based 10th Street Distillery came away with the Best Whiskey in the World award. Co-founder Virag Saksena said the achievement culminates years of hard work and overcoming obstacles in pursuit of his passion for single-malt whiskey.
It’s not the first time 10th Street Distillery has drawn recognition. Saksena says they’ve won nearly 20 awards and now look to capitalize on the award’s momentum as they strive to build stature on the burgeoning whiskey scene.
Saksena came to the U.S. in 1992 after finishing undergrad in India. He worked as a software engineer until 2011 but always wanted to do something different. Since whiskey was something he enjoyed and he loved cooking, he first experimented with another alcoholic drink, home-brewed beer.
“California has been my home for over 30 years and I have discovered amazing wines here,” he said. “I remember drinking my first amazing beer when I landed here. In 2011 I thought of making whiskey and that started me down this rabbit hole because I did not know anything about making whiskey. I thought if a handful of manufacturers are making good whiskey in India, Japanese too are making good whiskey, then we should be able to make great single malts here in California as well.”
But that wasn’t certain. There are three main types of whiskey: bourbon, rye and single-malt. Saksena’s passion for single-malt brought some uncertainties. Most single malts are made in Scotland, where the weather is cooler. Could he also make one in Northern California’s Mediterranean climate?
To learn the craft, Saksena apprenticed at a whiskey distillery in Scotland.
“Most of the whiskey made in India and the U.S. is bourbon and rye. There were not many people making single malt. Single malt is an emerging category in the U.S. Single malt whiskey is made from malted barley. Bourbon is mostly made from corn. American whiskeys typically have been rye and bourbon.”
After he returned from Scotland, he gathered and fabricated some small equipment and started experimenting, spending the next five years working on the process. Whiskey must age before testing.
“We went through trials and errors before we could figure out the right conditions required and the ingredients like yeast, and grain. We wanted to craft great single malts and our first product was a peated single malt inspired by Scotland.”
Saksena knew he was on to something great, and he enjoyed the support of his family and friends. But he couldn’t get financial backing. Banks refused to lend him money because he lacked experience in whiskey making.
Still, Saksena was driven. He sold his house to raise money for the venture. In 2016 his partner, Vishal Gauri, who holds a doctorate in chemical engineering, joined in. The pair designed their equipment based on their custom requirements for producing single-malt whiskey, and they started working on plans to scale up the model.
More hurdles await
“Nobody wanted to make the equipment the way we wanted it. Everyone had their own opinion on it. Most manufacturers were telling us to make compromises but we did not want to do that. For us, quality is paramount.”
Saksena had learned in Scotland that using copper stills during distillation helps to remove impurities like sulfur. A cleaner alcohol leaves the drinker feeling less hung over afterward.
But initially, they had trouble finding a fabricator who would make copper stills. Instead, everyone wanted to use stainless steel. They finally found one who could fabricate copper and they started distilling in December 2017.
But it would not be until 2019 that Saksena took his single-malt whisky to market. They immediately started winning awards and media coverage, and they haven’t looked back since then. They now look to consolidate market share with quality, taste, and new pairings.
The pandemic set things back a bit and the market is still struggling to regain its pre-pandemic momentum.
Adapting to help community
During the pandemic, Saksena and his team made hand sanitizer because the city authorities asked for their help.
“The city top brass said they couldn’t get any hand sanitizer for our police officers and first responders because all the hand sanitizer trucks were being diverted to other states by the Trump administration. They were not coming to California at that time. The city, mayor, and everyone reached out to us and we took up that challenge.”
The company was supplying the city with 55-gallon drums of hand-sanitizer.
“The challenge is about getting the word out because a lot of people still don’t know that we exist. The number one challenge of marketing whiskey is called liquid to lips. It is about getting people to try the whiskey.”
Pairing well
The latest endeavor of the single-malt whiskey makers of San Jose is unique pairings for their range of spirits.
“We have discovered that our range of whiskeys pair really well with Indian food. This is something that has not been done. Typically, you hear about wine and food pairing. I have a whiskey that pairs very well with Gajar ka Halwa. We do these whiskey pairing dinners where we serve Murg Malai Tikka with this whiskey. I have whiskeys that pair well with Paneer Tikka, samosas, seekh kebabs, and lamb chops.”
Saksena added a new flavor this Diwali, making ‘“Rum-chum.” That is pairing one of the whiskeys with the Indian sweet, chum-chum.
“These are some of the fun things that we are doing with whiskey. Our whiskey is not about men wearing suits and ties, sitting in a stuffy chair, and drinking whiskey. Our whiskey is fun. It beats all these Scotches and all other whiskeys. There’s a huge demand in the market for such pairings because people have never experienced whiskey in this manner.
Spreading the word
Now that 10th Street Distillery has achieved success with production, its focus turns to marketing.
“There are events and activities we need to do to expose people to our brands. We are also running campaigns on social media, and other places to let people know about our whiskey. We have a tasting room in San Jose where people can come in and taste the whiskey. We can host events, everything is in this one building, where our whiskey is aging in barrels there. Our manufacturing facility is also in the same building.
“My dream is that 10th Street Distillery is ranked among the top whiskey makers in the world and anyone drinking a good single malt should know about our brand of whiskey.”
