The very first visit by a malt whisky group

Visit 1 Jan 2019 – The very first visit by a malt whisky group as a collective to the Paul John Distillery and Visitor’s centre.

Ever since Paul John released the videos of their new visitor’s centre at the distillery we have been enamored by its beauty and elegance; we certainly wanted to get there and get there fast!

So in Jan 2019 SMAC presented to its members across India an opportunity to be a part of the very first whisky tour in India. Nowadays whisky clubs seem to be commonplace, with enthusiasts getting together to have a good time but a tour is a whole new ball game and experience. You are at the place of creation, you see, you taste, you smell and have what truly is an immersive experience of the process so this, in other words, had to be done! The club threw an open invitation to its members and 14 club members embarked on what will be marked as the ‘first of it’s kind’ group to visit the distillery.

Now if you have seen the video that we mentioned above, you already know that the visitor’s centre is art personified; yet you still will be blown away as it is truly a sight to behold and a must visit location for every whisky appreciator/enthusiast/geek in India or worldwide.

The only thing perhaps warmer than the afternoon Goan weather was the welcome by the whole Paul John team. As you step into the visitor center one cannot miss the detailing which has gone into the visitor’s centre, the painted glass, woodwork, wall colour, collage of photos and the vintage giant ceiling fan all taking us back in time to the Portuguese era of interior styling. We would thoroughly advise that you take a seat at the centre of the hall, keep your cameras and mobiles aside and take a while to soak it all up.

A modern room set up for a quick AV nstration which was imparted by Pankaj and Tarun about the brand and whisky the group, this followed by the  start of the tour.

The Distillery – Will not dwell too much of details in this part as we as a Whisky club truly believe that you should experience this as this group did and while we can only whet your appetite with the tidbits. To find out about the next group visit from SMAC please reach out to memebers@smacindia.com

From grain to the mash, to the freshly distilled moonshine, here the Paul John team gives you every detail of the manufacturing process as you walk past all the storied equipment that is used to create this unique Great Indian Single Malt.

Get high while you take a hit of CO2 from the mash-tun. You will be fine….it is GOA. 

Then the long-awaited visit to the grail – the maturation room. The dark basement, the lingering taste of whisky in the moist air, rows of wooden casks, some laid to rest years ago, some recent, you could lose yourself here.  And for a whisky lover, what better!.  Since PJ churns out about 1 million liters ( fact check) of whisky every year the maturation rooms are ginormous as was the new room under construct.

A deep breath here will again suspend time for some of you.

Now, what we really came here for  – Whisky tasting. The tasting room offers crisply designed seating for at-least 60 whisky aficionados at a time. The PJ team did not hold back – they laid out the flagship Bold, Brilliance and Edited variants to the elusive Select Cask’s, Christmas Edition and Kanya(this one is INR 1000 a pop). We even got a prelude to Nirvana, PJs most recent release for the Indian and French markets. Again we thoroughly recommend the tasting, especially if the master distiller Michael is around. Doing this as a group is so much more fun as you will notice the commonalities and the differences that such a tasting session would throw up.

No, after a tasting like that we don’t want to go home….yet!

We wound down this magnificent day with a big bang. Signature Cocktails by Paul John and dinner at Fisherman’s Wharf all managed by the magnanimous Paul John team, while their whiskies seem to be getting better with time and experience the one thing we can tell you is their hospitality is unparalleled – We cannot thank the team enough for setting this up for the group – Heemanshu, Pankaj, Tarun.

Yes we are planning a second visit for members who could not join us the first time, do drop us a note and we would be happy to make this happen! If you have not signed up to the club please do so today

#pauljohnwhisky #whiskyexperiences #visitorscenter #whiskyclub #singlemalt #singlemaltwhisky #singlemaltindia #singlemaltwhiskyclub #singlemaltwhiskyevents #singlemaltscotch #smacwhiskyclub #whiskyclubindia

We will continue to add pictures of this fantastic visit and detail the impeccable hospitality extended by Paul John who hosted the club members

Yes, we are planning a second visit for members who could not join us the first time, do drop us a note and we would be happy to make this happen! If you have not signed up to the club please do so today http://smacindia.com/membership/

#pauljohnwhisky #whiskyexperiences #visitorscenter #whiskyclub #singlemalt #singlemaltwhisky #singlemaltindia #singlemaltwhiskyclub #singlemaltwhiskyevents #singlemaltscotch #smacwhiskyclub #whiskyclubindia