A Matter of Taste | Deconstructing Scotch in India

Scotch whisky: brought to India by Brits, accepted by Indians, enjoyed by all. Versatile, smooth, and with a royal legacy, it's no wonder it's so popular. Its smoothness makes it perfect for experimenting with, while single malts offer distinct flavors. Despite warnings, it's still a beloved beverage.

Around the turn of the last century, a new intoxicant brought in all the way from the Isles of Great Britain stood at our doorstep. It was waiting, put on hold while the local authorities decided if it were (A) safe and (B) even needed at all. India already had an intoxicant – cannabis – and it wasn’t entirely healthy for the country, so why wager on another to add to the list?

Thus was appointed the Hemp Commission which eventually ruled that Scotch whisky was equally or less harmful than Cannabis so importing it shouldn’t be blockaded. By 1911/12, the whisky houses were already lining up, owners of brand names which would become household monikers in India were making frequent trips with their ware, meeting hoteliers and shop-owners, and most definitely the military canteen stores-in-charge, persuading them to buy stocks of Scotch to sell.

But just because it was legal didn’t mean it was popular. For one, it was expensive, only the Babus and senior officers could afford it, or even requisition it. The lesser staff stuck to rum or local arrack. If you were drinking Scotch, you were definitely rising up the ranks and that misty notion probably holds true even today, a single malt drinker sees themselves as more “evolved and cultured”.

But not just in India, even on home turf, as shared last fortnight, whisky had to prove its worth when it was suggested as a replacement for Cognac. The Phylloxera epidemic made Cognac scarce and the nobility turned to whisky, and never looked back. In India, to be accepted, all Scotch had had to do was to be shown in better light than Cannabis.

Despite all the tests Scotch had to undergo, it was (and has remained) a relatively simple beverage at its core. Native barley (and grain, for blended Scotch whisky), malted and fermented before being distilled twice, all done using the locally available fresh water, after which the spirits are aged in barrels, blended and shipped off. Originally this used to be done in casks but slowly, as packaging evolved, the liquid was poured into glass bottles with fancy brand names. That’s pretty much the history of Scotch in the world’s shortest paragraph. Fast forward to today and, as the quip goes, Indians put away more Scotch annually than is produced in Scotland.

So what makes Scotch whisky special? Without bifurcating between single malts (which are even more exalted) and blended scotch whiskies, the legacy of a product which had the royal stamp of approval of kings and queens makes it special. Add to this the effect a drink can have when a junior non-commissioned officer sees his seniors converging around it and aspires to be a part of such circles. 

Sure, there was a big disservice dealt to whisky for decades by Bollywood – to alcohol at large, in fact – where the evil, women-molesting, drug-dealing and expletive-spewing baddies were always shown posing in front of art-deco bars replete with the choicest of whiskies and spirits and the protagonist was portrayed as a God-fearing, hardworking, working-class teetotaller. Visual anchoring has also been one big but silent reason why people abhor alcohol in this nation.