Welcome to this week’s edition of Whiskies of the World; the series that teaches you about different nations’ whiskies and how they came to be.

In this edition, we’re taking a look at Indian whisky. Once written off in the international spirit market, India has produced some truly remarkable whisky innovations in recent years that have made more established Spirit-making nations take note.

We’ll be covering the history of Indian whisky; the unique challenges the country faced in making the spirit, how it overcame them, and why its place in the global spirit market has sometimes been controversial. And, of course, we’ll be recommending our favorite Indian whiskies for you to sample.

So, tulip glasses at the ready – let’s dive in!

History

Scotch whisky found its way to India in the 19^th century, introduced to the country’s populace by the British Raj. It was a slow import to take off – many locals viewed the drink as “foreign poison” and opposed its introduction.

As for the widespread manufacture of local Indian whisky, that came later, and after a protracted process. India’s first distillery – the Kasauli distillery – was established in the late 1820s by a British man named Richard Dyer, who brought copper pot stills from Scotland and aimed to take advantage of the abundant spring water in the Kasauli region. However, the production of alcohol from grain was hampered as food shortages in India meant that extra grain was in short supply (due to continued poverty in India, the use of grains in Alcohol production remains controversial to this day).

A solution to this problem was to make whisky using ingredients other than cereal, which many Indian whisky manufacturers did, and still do. The addition of a molasses to the spirit to bulk it out became a common practice (and, as we’ll find out momentarily, a particular source of controversy), resulting in a drink that only contained 10-12% traditional malt whisky and that many outside of India would consider closer to a rum.

India’s journey into high-end whisky production didn’t start until the 1980s, and a single distillery – Amrut – is heralded as the company that changed the game. Like its competitors, Amrut made whisky by blending a grain-based mash with molasses. But, the company’s chairman, Neelakanta Jagdale, also recognized the potential for a connoisseur’s whisky product, and began procuring barley from Indian farmers in 1982.

The Amrut Peated Cask Strength was indeed delicious

By the tail end of the decade, Amrut had made their first batch of single malt whisky, though there was little demand for the product in the domestic market. India had no culture for consuming single malts, and it was ultimately blended with sugarcane-distilled alcohol to produce MaQintosh Premium Whisky, a drink more suited to the country’s tastes.

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Welcome to this week’s edition of Whiskies of the World; the series that teaches you about different nations’ whiskies and how they came to be. In this edition, we’re delving into the world of Japanese Whisky, one of the rising stars in the international spirits market.

The Japanese have been producing whisky commercially since the 1920s, but it wasn’t until the late 1980s that it was exported, and the early 2000s before it was internationally recognized. Today, Japanese whisky is highly regarded for its unique blend of heritage and innovation, resulting in some exciting flavor combinations.

Today, we’ll be learning all about the history of Japanese whisky, what makes it unique in the spirits world, as well as recommending some choice bottles for you to sample. So, tulip glasses at the ready – let’s dive in!

Photo by Sorasak

History

20 years ago, the mention of Japanese whisky would have likely left non-native connoisseurs with blank faces. But, since the early 2000s, the rise of Japanese whisky outside of Japan has been meteoric. Japanese whisky owes a great deal to Scotch – indeed, as we’ll find out, Scotch is what it was initially modeled on – but, it quickly evolved into own beast, thanks in no small part to its distillers’ innovative production methods.

Produced in Japan since the 1800s, the commercial availability of whisky in the country came much later than in other whisky producing regions. Japan’s whisky boom began in the 1920s, with two whisky distillers at the forefront – Masataka Taketsuru and Shinjiro Torri.

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Welcome to this week’s edition of Whiskies of the World; the series that teaches you about different nations’ whiskies and how they came to be. Last week, we talked about American Bourbon. Now, in this edition, we’re going North of the border and delving into the world of Canadian whisky.

The history of Canadian whisky is fascinating, with its rise in international standing tied directly into American prohibition and the proximity of some key distilleries to the American border. In this edition, we’ll find out how they came to pass, as well as how Canadian whisky legitimized itself to American consumers in the post-prohibition years.

As well as this, we’ll explore the rules that define Canadian whisky, and how they differ in one key aspect compared to many other international whisky varieties. We’ll also be talking about the flavor characteristics of Canadian whisky, how Canadian spirits are sometimes overlooked, and how some of Canada’s best whisky options sometimes stay in Canada.

So, get your sippin’ glasses at the ready and let’s dive in! 

History

Canadian whisky history begins in 1769, when John Molson opened the first Canadian distillery in Quebec. By the mid-1800s, the Canadian whisky industry was booming, with over 200 distilleries actively producing the spirit across the country.

While Canadian whisky was well established domestically by the end of the 19^th century, it was the introduction of prohibition in America in 1920 that pushed the Canadian spirit onto the international stage. The nationwide ban on the sale of all liquor across the US, which went on until 1933, led to a boom in illegal spirit imports, and Canadian distilleries, just across the border, were primed to take advantage of this. Take the Hiram Walker distillery in Ontario, for example. Just across the river from Detroit, it became a prime site for bootleggers smuggling hooch throughout the ‘20s.

It’s not known exactly how much Canadian whisky was smuggled into the US during this period (you wouldn’t exactly expect the bootleggers to keep records of their very illegal activities!), but it’s fair to say that American prohibition bolstered Canadian whisky’s international standing. Canadian Club, for example, were shipping out 1000 cases of whisky per day during the era. They also introduced the curved “gate” bottle during this period, designed to fit in small places, specifically the high boots that smugglers used to conceal whisky (wonder no more where the name bootlegger came from!).

Image by Classic Film

Following the end of prohibition in 1933, Canadian whisky boomed once again, thanks to the Federal Alcohol Administration deciding that the spirit was similar to Tylenol – a widely used American cure-all and pain reliever at the time. As a result, the FAA imported over 3 million gallons of Canadian whisky into the US, for allocation everywhere from medical clinics, hospitals and pharmacies to public buildings like libraries (which, looking back on things from a 21^st century perspective, seems kind of crazy!). It was this that really set the stage for Canadian whisky’s recognition outside of Canada.

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Welcome to this week’s edition of Whiskies of the World; the series that teaches you about different nations’ whiskies and how they came to be. In this edition, we’re delving into the world of American whiskey, starting with what is probably America’s best known whiskey product; bourbon.

Doubtless you’ve heard the name, and chances are you’ve probably had a glass or two in your time. But do you know your high rye from your wheater? Come to think of it, what makes bourbon, well… bourbon?

Fear not intrepid whiskey drinker! As always, we’ll be getting into the nitty gritty of it all.

So, grab your trusty spirit glass and join us on a journey to where it all started… 18^th century Kentucky.

History

In previous editions of this series, we found out how whiskey originated in either Ireland or Scotland, though which country invented whiskey first is still the subject of debate!

With that in mind, it probably won’t surprise you to know that Scottish and Irish settlers brought the distilling of whiskey to what is now Kentucky in the late 18th century.

It’s less clear, however, when bourbon emerged as its own entity, with its own distinct characteristics. Some attribute the invention of bourbon to Elijah Craig, a Kentucky Baptist minister who was supposedly the first to age the drink in charred oak casks, a key component in the drink’s distinctive reddish color and taste.

Early distiller Jacob Spears, meanwhile, is often credited as the first person to label his product as “Bourbon whiskey” after his native Bourbon County. In recent times, however, this has been contested, with historian Michael Veach suggesting that the name bourbon came from “Bourbon Street” in New Orleans – a major port where Kentucky whiskey was sold as a cheaper alternative to cognac.

While its origins remain unclear, bourbon whiskey as we know it today was well established, and had unquestionably taken over the American spirit market by the late 19^th century. In spite of taking a massive hit during the early 20^th century thanks to the ratification of the 18^th amendment and the introduction of prohibition, bourbon has stood the test of time in America and the global market.

Indeed, in 1964, the United States Congress adopted a resolution that declared “distinctive product of the United States” and required “the appropriate agencies of the United States Government… [to] take appropriate action to prohibit importation into the United States of whiskey designated as ‘Bourbon Whiskey’.

Fermenter #5 at Woodford Reserver in Versailles, KY. Photo by Jeff Frank.

What makes it bourbon?

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