Here in the United States, it’s tempting to conclude that Americans are the world’s largest consumer of whisk(e)y. News flash: we’re not. That bragging right goes to India, which, according to one study, sipped (um, guzzled?) 1.5 billion liters of the good stuff in 2014. (The United States came in second, drinking a paltry 462 million liters in comparison.) Granted, population size does largely account for these numbers, but that still doesn’t excuse the fact that Indians obviously love their whisk(e)y. And while they do enjoy brands that have been exported from Europe and the United States, much of what they’re drinking has been made on their home turf. Until recently, it was rare to find a bottle of Indian whisky on our shores other than Amrut Distilleries and Royal Challenge. That is until now.
Earlier this month, Paul John Indian Single Malt Whisky launched in the United States. The award-winning spirit, which is produced in Goa, a state in western Indian located along the shores of the Arabian Sea, is prized for its accelerated maturation rate, thanks to the tropical climate. In fact, it takes a minimum of five years of aging in American white oak casks as compared to a sluggish 10 years for Scotch in cooler Scotland, according to the brand. The result is a spirit with notes of honey, cinnamon, and other spices, accompanied by a palate tinged with cocoa and vanilla. Master distiller Michael D’Souza relies on six-row barley grown in the Himalayas for his mash, and credits it for the spirit’s pronounced smokiness.
To learn more about Paul John Indian Single Malt Whisky and India’s rich whisky culture, we interviewed Paul P. John, the chairman and namesake of a brand that is now sharing coveted shelf space with some of America’s greatest whiskeys.
Paste: Initially, what made you want to get into the whisky business?
Paul John: My father used to be in the alcohol trading business and I had the opportunity to work with him for a while. Since we were trading and distributing spirits, I was able to visit various distilleries across India at the time, and I soon developed a keen interest in the making of whiskies. My passion was to launch a quality whisky at an affordable rate, and my dreams took the road to realization in 1992, when I started my own distillery. In 1995, I launched my flagship brand Original Choice, which is currently selling 11 million cases and is one of the top 10 whiskies sold in the world. My love of travel and the pleasure I enjoy in trying new experiences soon brought me to the world of malts. I guess my ultimate dream was to launch world-class single malts from India.
Paste: What are a couple of things about whisky coming out of India that Americans may not know?
Paul John: While we all strongly believe that quality and packaging coupled with marketing are simple success routes, to produce single malts, a lot more is needed. Quality needs to be maintained at all times, perfect maturation of the whisky needs to be retained under ideal climatic conditions, and a lot of time and patience needs to be devoted to the product. I have personally invested almost a decade just to understand the single-malt business. I’ve visited innumerable world-famous distilleries, and I learned that to produce the best quality whisky, strict guidelines had to be followed by maintaining the highest standards and the rules laid down by the Scotch Malt Whisky association.