Paul John (whisky)

Paul John is a brand of Indian single malt and single cask whisky, manufactured by John Distilleries, and launched on 4 October 2012 in London, England.^[1] Paul John is made from Indian malted barley and, for some variants, imported Scottish peat, distilled in traditional copper pot stills and then matured in ex-Bourbon American oak casks.

Paul John is currently sold only in the United Kingdom. According to John Distilleries founder and Chairman Paul John, the brand will be sold abroad and "once their quality is recognised internationally", they will be launched in India.^[2]

History

John Distilleries is based in Bangalore, but its single malt distillery is located in Goa. The distillery has one set of Indian-made^[3] copper pot stills (wash and spirit) that can produce 3000 litres daily. Maturation takes place in a climate-controlled underground cellar that has around 10,000 Bourbon barrels.^[4] The company had been making blended whisky since its foundation in 1992, but decided to manufacture single malt whisky in 2008^[5] in an attempt to enter the premium end of the market. Master distiller Michael John (no relation to founder Paul John) chose to use Indian ingredients in the first bottling, to give the whisky characteristics of its country of origin. The wash he created had an abv of 5%, lower than the standard 8% for most whisky. This creates a sweeter flavour in the final product. The whisky is put in the casks at 55% abv, but the alcoholic strength increases as it ages due to the heat, giving the final product an abv of 57%.^[6] 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 month of May is the hottest, seeing day temperatures of over 35°C (95°F) coupled with high humidity. The monsoon rains arrive by early June and last till late September. Goa has a short winter season between mid-December and February. These months are marked by nights of around 21 °C (68 °F) and days of around 28 °C (84 °F) with moderate amounts of humidity. The hot weather makes whisky mature faster in India than it does in Europe or the United States. The fraction lost to evaporation during aging, known as the angels' share, is also higher in India, at 10–12% per year, than in Scotland, where the annual evaporative loss is about 2%.^[7] This leaves a hogshead with only 150 bottles left in it, after three years, compared to around 350 in a Scotland.^[6] Michael John 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".^[8]

The first bottling of Paul John whisky, branded "Paul John Single Cask 161 Whisky", was officially launched on 4 October 2012 at the Capital Hotel in Knightsbridge, London, England.^[1] It was a non-peated whisky single cask whisky, made from Indian malted barley distilled twice in traditional copper pot stills, aged for an unspecified period in first-fill ex-Bourbon casks^[9] freshly emptied in Kentucky.^[10] It was bottled at cask strength: 57% abv and 150 bottles were made from the cask.^[11] It sold exclusively through the Whisky Exchange^[9] priced at £60 for a 700 ml (70 cl) bottle. Whisky connoisseur Jim Murray gave it 94.5 points and the "Liquid Gold" award in his Whisky Bible.^[11][6][5] The brand's second release, also in 2012, was "Paul John Single Cask 163 Whisky" having 57% abv and priced at £60.^[12] Following the single cask release, Paul John released two single whiskies in May 2013.^[13] They were branded Paul John Single Malt Whisky Brilliance and Paul John Single Malt Whisky Edited. The company plans to focus on single malts, while also releasing occasional single casks and are also planning special releases.^[14]

Single malts

Paul John has two single malt variants - Paul John Single Malt Whisky Brilliance and Paul John Single Malt Whisky Edited. The barley used in its whisky is grown in North India, and peat used in some variants is imported from Scotland, preferably Islay.^[15]

Brilliance is made from un-peated Indian malted barley, aged in ex-bourbon American oak casks^[13] and is bottled unchillfiltered at 46% abv. It has a pale rose gold colour.^[16] Edited uses about 15%-20% peated spirit in the vatting.^[17] It has a warm rose gold colour^[16] and is a combination of unpeated and a small amount of peated Indian malted barley.^[8] Peat is imported from Scotland, preferably Islay, and used for malting some of the grain, giving a phenol level of about 20-25ppm. Edited, like Brilliance is also matured in ex-bourbon American oak casks and bottled unchillfiltered at 46% abv.^[14] The whiskies have no age statement, but are believed to be not older than four or five years.^[16][15] Brilliance and Edited received 94.5 and 96.5 points, respectively, in Jim Murray's Whisky Bible.^[13]

Single casks

The first bottling of Paul John whisky, branded "Paul John Single Cask 161 Whisky", was officially launched on 4 October 2012 at the Capital Hotel in Knightsbridge, London, England.^[1] It was a non-peated single cask whisky, made from Indian malted barley distilled twice in traditional copper pot stills, aged for an unspecified period in first-fill ex-Bourbon casks^[9] freshly emptied in Kentucky.^[10] It was bottled at cask strength: 57% abv and 150 bottles were made from the cask.^[11] It sold exclusively through the Whisky Exchange^[9] priced at £60 for a 700 ml (70 cl) bottle. Whisky connoiseur Jim Murray gave it 94.5 points and the "Liquid Gold" award in his Whisky Bible.^[11][6][5] The brand's second release, also in 2012, was "Paul John Single Cask 163 Whisky" having 57% abv and priced at £60.^[12]

See also

• Amrut

References

External links

• Paul John whisky official site
• John Distilleries official site