SHAlINI SAKSENA tells you that drinking is now not just about getting high but a soiree on an individual’s developing taste
Just a few months back, Delhi saw celebrations around International Scotch Day. A couple of weeks later, a master class was held on wines and spirits. last year, the Ultimate Bartender Championship came to India. It appears that Indians are taking things in the right spirit and it is not just the connoisseurs who now know and understand the difference between a Whiskey, Whisky, Scotch and a Bourbon.
For the uninitiated into this world but want to take a step the difference is that whiskey (with and ‘e’) is a broad and general term used for the liquor which is produced towards the US. Whisky (without the ‘e’) is Scotch made in Scotland. And Bourbon is a whiskey that’s distilled from corn.
According to Sandeep Arora, co-founder & managing partner of Cask Spirit Marketing, who is also the whisky ambassador, Indians have always been drinking whisky. “We are inherently a whisky drinking nation and have been enjoying it for a couple of hundred of years. The step-up came up during the British era when lots of Scotch came to India. This was the time when the likes of John Walker actually came down to India to explore new markets. What has changed is our outlook towards this liquorIJ We used to think it was a very strong and intense alcoholic beverage that was considered first, a sin. Second, an indulgence and finally, an extreme form of intoxication,” Arora tells you.
With time, people started realising that it was more a lifestyle drink. This meant that it was appreciated and enjoyed more. Women joined in. Around this time people started exploring whisky — more in terms of taste rather than just a form of getting intoxicated.
“This quest of knowledge led to distinctions between blends and single malts; what is Irish; what is Japanese. Parallel to this, the socio-economic strata changed. The biggest change happened when international brands started setting base in India. People started travelling and new concepts came in. This made the consumer realise what he likes and what he doesn’t, it was not about good or bad liquor,” Arora says and tells you what is good about this is that Indians are drinking what they like sensibly. “Men don’t have a problem drinking wine, women are drinking whisky, Vodka has become unisex, Gin is making its advent into the market and one category that has grown phenomenally is Bourbon,” Arora explains.
There were several reasons for this. Bourbon started getting whispered beautifully in living rooms and bars. People started loving it. Children who went to the US came back with memories of the liquor and became available in India.
While age is an important factor for connoisseurs — it has to be age for a minimum of 25 years — the wow factor for them comes from the stories that is significant to that age or the year.
“There are others who pick up a bottle not because of the age but for a story behind it. This could be related to the charred wood or a different cask used. If you drink three or four times in a week, and appreciate a good whisky one’s palate has to graduate from simple whisky to complex ones and drink it with people with similar taste,” Arora says.