When people think of whisky producing countries, it is usually the usual suspects that come to their minds. Scotland, America, Ireland, even Japan. And who can blame them? They’ve been producing the water of life for hundreds of years. Heck, “Scotch” and “Bourbon” have already become shorthand for whisky (or whiskey).
Purists might even cite the unique characteristics of the Highlands in the production of fine whisky. Cold, pure spring water, barley and the all-important peat of Scotland are the magic ingredients, without which we might as well be drinking tepid water instead. While all these are important, are these truly a Scottish-only thing? Can a good whisky be made half a world away, in the sweltering heat of the tropics?
I recently met with Master Distiller Michael John, of the John Distilleries, who is determined to prove that you can indeed make a fine dram in unexpected places. While one might be forgiven for thinking that John Distilleries is in the UK, or even America, it does, in actual fact, hail from Goa, India.
Yes, India.
John Distilleries recently picked up Asian Distiller of the Year 2015 and the Wizards of Whisky Gold Award 2015. Its peated Paul John Edited expression scored 96.5 out of 100 in Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible. That’s no mean feat; out of thousands of whiskies, a scarce hundred make it past 95 points.
To prove that this was no fluke, Michael himself organised a blind tasting session to prove that the rating was no fluke, pitting the Brilliance and Edited expressions against some very familiar and established brands. How did they do?
Paul John Brilliance
A nose of citrus, vanilla, nuts and spice. Citrus and vanilla on the initial taste, with flavours of nuts, spice and salt emerging shortly after, putting me in the mind of a nice chunk of salted caramel. The finish was dry and nutty. Overall, gives one the impression of spicy sweets, which is interesting for a whisky.
Paul John Edited
The citrus remains on the nose, but there’s a definite scent of smoke, with a light whiff of honey and a little spice. The taste is of fruit and barley, blended with a dollop of liquid smoke and rounded beautifully with a salty creaminess. Reminds me a little of both Bunnahabhain and Ardbeg. A medium length finish of with salted and cereals.
Paul John Classic Select Cask
On the nose, this unpeated whisky brings back citrus, vanilla, honey and spice. Citrus, honey, pineapple, nuts and apricot appear slowly on the palate. A long lingering finish of spice and salted nuts. A definite cut above the Brilliance, with greater depth and complexity.
Paul John Select Cask Peated
A whiff brings out pronounced- though not overbearing- smoke, honey, vanilla, spice and the barest hint of white fruit. Definite balanced taste of peaches, bananas, mango, salted caramel along with the familiar wood and smoke from peated whisky. Some sweetness here that goes well with smoke and salt, reminding me of barbecued pineapples from a Brazilian churrascaria. A finish of citrus, nuts and honey. Excellent rounded flavour, neither too smoky nor too sweet. It’s rare that I would pick a peated whisky as my favourite, but this one definitely stood out.
To my mind, the relatively young malts more than held their own. While I can’t say that I always picked out the Paul Johns as my own personal favourites, I could find little to to complain about the flavour profiles, which were unmistakably different. When asked, Michael sums it up quite neatly, “Every distillery has its own style. Paul John has its own hallmark. All our expressions have a certain hallmark, especially the aromas of citrus, honey, vanilla and chocolate.” I also detected a very slight salty tang to the whiskies, no doubt because of Goa’s location by the sea.
The surprising thing is that the company is so new; it only started distilling in 2008. At the time, the path was always an uncertain one. “We had no idea what would happen in 7 years, what would be the final character of the whiskies at the time,” Michael reflects. Indeed, maturing whiskies far from the rainy, cool climes of Scotland calls a generous dose of gutsy. “The Scotch industry, they have 100 years of history. They know what is going to happen in 12 years, what they’re going to get. For me, tomorrow is unknown. I don’t know what is going to happen. It’s challenging. I have to be very very careful.
Located in the southwest of India, Goa is virgin territory as far as whiskymaking is concerned. Yet, it was not chosen at random. “It’s an open secret that water plays a huge role in making the whisky. This is part of the reason we chose Goa as the location of our distillery; because it is known for quality water.” There is a price to pay for access to clear, clean water, however. “Goa has got a tropical climate. It’s hotter. Europe has 4 seasons, India has 3, but Goa has 2. We have monsoon and we have summer. Even in the winter, the temperature is around 23 to 24 degrees [celsius]. Whisky matures very fast.”
Despite the lightning pace of maturation, Michael takes a personal hand in the entire whiskymaking process. His day starts at 8.30am, where he samples the new make, then moves on to the maturing spirits. He then blends any ready whiskies personally. It’s not just out of passion, but also out of necessity. “Things change so fast, I have to check the barrels quite often. Some barrels reach their optimum level in 3 years’ time,” Michael explains, “One year in India is almost like 4 in Scotland. They have enough time to change and do the modifications. Whereas, I don’t have much time.”
Rather than try to copy the Scottish way of doing things, however, Michael takes a different approach. “Paul John is 100% Indian whisky, made out of 6-row Indian barley. We could have imported 2-row Scottish Barley, but we didn’t because we wanted it to be 100% Indian whisky.” The Indian grain makes a richer whisky than its Scottish relations, mainly because of its higher protein content. It is this richness that finally comes out in the finished product and gives its a distinct robustness.
Paul John’s peated style, is deliberately made to be different from its Scottish cousins. “”We buy peat from Scotland. One from Aberdeen, other from Islay. We could have bought only Islay peat; it’s very famous. But we didn’t want Islay style, we wanted something different, and that’s why we have peats from two places. Both the peat whiskies produced are processed and matured differently [and then blended].”
Identity is a big theme for Michael as he explains his philosophy behind the seemingly maverick behaviour, “You can expand your portfolio at any time. The most important thing [to consider] is what whisky you want to be at the end of the day. There are thousand of whiskies available. Our expressions are unique, you can’t compare them to other whiskies. At the day, it should be something unique.”
This strong Indian identity does have the potential to work against Paul John, especially when it comes to those still uninitiated in world whiskies. “In those days[2004, when Amrut first started producing whisky] it was very very tough. Even today, people have got bad perceptions of [Indian] whiskies.”
Still, Michael remains hopeful. ” I hope that people can judge the whisky on its own merits and not just on where it’s from”.
On that we can agree. Get this superb whisky while you can.
Paul John whiskies are available at The Whisky Store, Charlie’s Paradiso and other selected bars.
