The well-told narrative of whisky is that Scotch is dominant. We ship it to all corners of the globe, particularly the booming countries of China and India, and that wherever it lays down its malty roots the aspiring classes ensure its growth.
The not so well told tale is how whisky produced in these countries fares both in its origin country and when it is sent overseas.
Go into any quality whisky bar and you’ll will find a good range of Japanese whisky but you’ll have to look a bit harder at the shelves to find a bottle of Indian whisky and harder still to find an Indian single malt.
Step forward a Paul John.
A Goa produced single malt that is making tentative steps to break into the UK whisky market.
The baby of Indian uber-distillers John Distilleries PVT Ltd, whose Original Choice blend sells 1 million cases a month, it’s Brilliance and Edited bottlings have already been well received.
Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible awarded the distiller Liquid Gold certification with a score of 94.5.
They may lack the lyrical genius employed in the naming of some Scotch bottlings but they can go toe-to-toe on the taste front.
The Brilliance is an apertif whisky that would provide a fresh blast after a meal, there is a rainbow of pleasurable light zesty flavours to chew on.
The Edited however is a find - that rare malt that successfully trapezes the fine line between peat and sweet in the mould of an Ardmore.
The unique flavour of these whiskies is as like Scotch influenced by where they are produced.
Like Jura, matured by the sea in a gulf stream, they are light whiskies.
However the lightness is accelerated by the fact that John’s casks are matured by the sea in Goa temperatures that average 40 degrees.
Maturing at his heat means that there are some very drunk angels with 12 per cent lost out of the barrel every year (Angel’s Share).
It’s little wonder that John Distilleries don’t want to keep their spirit in the cask for too long - their two single malt bottlings are made up of spirit with a maximum age of 7 years .
As India is not known for its peat, the company ship it over from Islay and burn it over their own Indian grown barley .
Executive Vice President of Overseas Operations said the decision to target the Uk market, taken in 2006, wasn’t one that was taken lightly.
“We were not trying to create something as a rival to Scotch whisky - we are in awe of it - we wanted to create something different.
“I think we’ve achieved that.”
