Festivities in India are around the corner and I am sure some of you are looking forward to time with family and friends. This is the time that perhaps the celebratory bottles come out! Yes, it’s the time for the best liquid in your stash.  Club founder, Hemanth Rao shares his top 3 Whiskies of all time. What’s your top 3?  Hemanth Rao’s notes – Longrow from Samaroli
Distilled 1973 and bottled in 1985
12 years old
ABV – 53%  One of the most unusual whiskies that I have had ever. The number of layers and wildly different notes that I found in this whisky were outstanding. Right from bacon to minty toffee (Some in India of my time may know this). Plethora of vegetation and brine, add peat and smoke with the minerals and you have a look on your face that makes you wonder if this is really a whisky that you are drinking. Mind you this may not be the easiest whiskies if you dont like peat, a bit of sulphur and minerals; but if you do then its a one to take you to orgasmic levels. The raw natural appeal of this is quite a charm and the 53% while delivering a punch on your palate settles down and the next few sips offer quite some salty and peaty aftertastes. A very unusual note of Indian chutney which I felt was my mind playing tricks but it had “churan” and ginger all over it.  Not had the good fortune to have many whiskies from Samaroli but this one showed me why the name is revered in the fraternity.  Top class. This whisky makes it to my top 3 as I thought I had largely tasted the usual profiles of all types of whiskies but this made me this as always ingraved in my mind now – ‘Amateur’!