When Mr Paul P John, Founder/Owner of John Distilleries and Paul John Indian Single Malt visited Sydney in 2017, we had the opportunity to learn first hand about the Indian single malt. This article is part of the ‘Looking Back’ series.
Mr Paul John – Photo © Cocktails & Bars
Below are keys points that were discussed during the intimate one hour session:
Paul John whisky’s beginnings go back to 1992 when Founder/Owner Mr Paul P John founded John Distilleries and the flagship brand of the company, Original Choice, became one of the best selling brands in India, a path that led to creating single malts.
The distillery was established in 1996 and Mr Paul John’s vision was to create a world class single malt and followed to the Scotch whisky rules for making single malt. Currently India only has two producers of single malt, Paul John and Amrut.
The flagship brand of John Distilleries, Original Choice, is produced across 7-8 locations in India while Paul John Single Malt Whiskies are produced and distilled in just the one location, Goa in India. Up until the last 12 months, all production was set for export but it has since launched in the Indian market. In the last two years, the distillery has doubled its capacity. It now produces 6000 litres a day with production running 24/7. Currently 150 people work in the distillery.
Maturation occurs in predominantly ex Buffalo Trace and Jim Beam casks. Paul John whiskies bear no age statements with no plans to do so as the angels’ share is very high in a hot climate.
Paul John produces a’ Peated’ expression with peat imported from Scotland. The Peated 55%ABV expression on taste contains a combination of peat from Islay which contributes an iodine character, and peat from Aberdeen which adds grassy notes.
The type of barley crop used in India has the utmost influence on the defining characteristics of the whisky. It yields less barley and more husk which Mr Paul John terms as “husk influence”. The barley has less sugar (ie a lower ABV spirit) and more oils, hence it is bottled non-chill filtered at 46% ABV.
“Paul John on Paul John Indian Single Malt” is part of the ‘Looking Back’ series which takes a historical lens to key industry personalities. The article is based on an article originally published on March 21, 2017 on our sister website Gourmantic.
