Five interesting spirits for the holiday season

Epitome Reserve Peated Single Malt Whisky by Diageo India. Price on request.

Looking for interesting new spirits to end the year with? We made calls to the right people to find out what brands have in store for us this holiday season. We discovered options from a 12YO Venezuelan rum to a peated single malt. Here’s a quick round-up.

Paul John Christmas Edition 2021

Paul John’s much awaited premium gin might still be in the works, but the distiller has just released a whisky that will elevate your Christmas dinner. Say hello to the Paul John Christmas Edition 2021. The non-chill filtered whisky features malts that have been finished in ex-bourbon and range of port and madeira casks.

Paul John would want you to look out for notes of caramel, orange marmalade, and dry raisins, and the rich and creamy dram has a long smoky, spicy finish.

The limited edition release, which costs Rs 5,500 in Bangalore, comes in two sizes—50ml and 750 ml—and will be available in select cities by the end of this month.

Epitome Reserve Peated Single Malt Whisky

Six months after it entered—a bit belatedly—the craft segment with Epitome Reserve, India’s first whisky, Diageo India has launched another small batch whisky. And this time, it’s a peated single malt. The Epitome Reserve whisky uses six row barley grown in north India and Scottish peat. The non-chill filtered whisky is matured in Goa in ex-bourbon casks and finished in cabernet sauvignon casks. Price on request.

Also read: Stock your home bar with these new spirits this festive season

Diplomatico Ambassador Selection

Venezuela makes some of the world’s most delicious rums, and Diplomatico’s wares are right up there with the best of them. Distilled at the foot of the Andes Mountains, Diplomatico, an independent, family-owned brand, uses sugar cane molasses and sugar cane honey to make its rums. The former is used for light rums, while the latter goes into the making of more complex rums such as the Diplomatico Ambassador Selection.

Aged in white oak casks for about a dozen years and finished in Pedro Ximenez sherry casks for two more, the rum features aromas of, among others, cigar boxes, and is velvety on the palate, with notes of cinnamon and nutmeg.

If its Rs 68,000 price tag (in Mumbai) is more than what you're looking to spend right now, there’s always the much awarded Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva. What you get for Rs 8,820 is a rich, fruity, dark golden rum with aromas of orange peel and toffee and a lingering finish.

Woodburns A Tale of Oak

Goa-based Fullarton, a seven-year-old family-run distillery, has an interesting portfolio. It makes, among others, Pumori gin, Segredo Aldeia rum, and Woodburns whisky. Now, the brand is getting into single malt with the limited edition Woodburns A Tale of Oak.

The unpeated dram, which will be limited to 200 bottles, is matured and finished in ex-bourbon casks. “A Tale of Oak will remind you of bourbon whiskey, except it is not one. It’s got this very sherried personality, with lots of candied oak,” says Aman Thadani, a director at Fullarton.

A Tale of Oak, which is priced at Rs 13,500, will be available in Mumbai and Goa from next month.

Black Dog Millard’s Private Reserve 14YO

The buzzing ‘bottled in India Scotch’ category gets a new entrant with the launch of Diageo India’s Millard’s Private Reserve 14Yo. Walter Millard, the founder of Black Dog, was a keen angler and, it is said, a man who believed in the ‘art of pausing’. Which is also what Diageo wants you to do with its new whisky.

The Millard’s Private Reserve, the company says, celebrates the distinct flavour profile of some fine Scottish distilleries, including the 200-year-old Linkwood Distillery, from which it acquires its citrusy notes. The whisky is at presently available in Haryana (Rs 2,800) and Telangana (Rs 5,780).