Indian Whiskey Tasting with Sula

Our little holiday to India being brought to you….

Paul John Whiskey - Paul John Whisky is a brand of Indian single malt and single cask whisky, manufactured by John Distilleries. The brand launched in London, England on 4 October 2012. Paul John Whisky is made from Indian 6-row malted barley and, for some variants, imported Islay and Aberdeen peat, distilled in traditional copper pot stills and then matured in charred American Oak casks at the company's distillery in Goa, India.

Goa features a tropical monsoon climate and being in the tropical zone and near the Arabian Sea, has a hot and humid climate for most of the year. The tropical climate of Goa matures the liquid faster than colder climatic regions. The fraction lost to evaporation during ageing, known as the angels' share, is also higher in India, at 8-10% per year, than in Scotland, where the annual evaporation loss is about 2%. This leaves a hogshead with only 150 bottles left in it, after three years, compared to around 350 in Scotland. Michael D'Souza describes it this way, "Whisky matured at these temperatures simply cannot be aged for the kind of time expected with Scotch, even trying to mature our whisky for just 10 years would leave barely a bottle of liquid in the barrel. Fortunately, the heat actually speeds up the maturation process considerably. As a result, whisky that has been matured for just 4-5 years – as is the case with Paul John Edited and Brilliance – is equivalent to a Scotch that has been aged for around 15 years".