The big interview: Michael d'Souza, Paul John whisky master distiller

Indian whisky is in a fascinating place right now. The country is the biggest consumer of Scotch whisky in the world by volume and value, but its domestic product is thriving too. According to IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, premium Indian whisky sales are projected to boom six-fold between 2019 and 2027.

Given the increasingly pivotal role of Indian whisky in the global spirits category, we weren't going to turn down a chance to speak with Michael d'Souza, Paul John whisky master distiller, when he came to town last month. This is our big interview with the man himself, covering the Paul John brand, Indian culture, and what whisky means to him.

The big interview: Michael d'Souza, Paul John whisky master distiller

Q: Tell us about the Paul John Whisky portfolio, and what makes it so unique.

A: "Before we founded Paul John Whisky we travelled extensively to different countries to understand the whisky-making process. I spent a lot of time in Scotland. I'm a big fan of Scotch. My favourite is Old Pulteney. Mr Paul John is a big fan of Glenmorangie. When we came back to India, we realised that everything had to be done from scratch because nothing was similar. The variety of barley, the design of the still are different, the equipment is different. We studied the environment and designed everything for the environmental condition".

"You know that India is massive. It's a massively diverse nation. Different cultures, religions, languages, cuisines… everything is different. We wanted to have a similar variety inside the bottle. The whisky is very rich and bold. Many people ask me, which whisky would you compare it to? I always tell them, we cannot compare it. Every whisky is unique. We don't have age statements, we produce two kinds of liquid: 1) unpeated and 2) peated".

Q: Why did you want to make a peated Indian whisky?

A: "We make peated whisky because there is a tradition of how whisky is made. We have all followed the Scottish people, regardless of where the whisky has been made. India has a great influx of British culture as it used to be a colony, so most of the alcohol today sold or made in India has an influence of Britishness".

Q: How does Goa's climate lend itself to whisky distilling and what challenges does this bring to the wider category?

A: "We are from a weather where whisky matures differently. Goa, on the West coast of India, has a very tropical climate. During maturation, the whisky tends to absorb a lot of salt from the atmosphere and make the whisky more minerally in character. The extraction is higher, but we still mature our whisky for at least three years. I'd compare that to a 12-year-old Scotch whisky".

"Let me compare this with the rest of the Indian whiskies. Rampur is made in the north, Amrut in the south, and Paul John in the west. The south is hot and dry, the north is cool and dry, and the west is tropical. During the course of maturation, the ABV increases for Rampur and Amrt because the weather is dry, they lose more water rather than alcohol. But we lose more alcohol because there is more water in the air. The ABV drops year on year in our case, from 63% ABV, after five years it's 58% ABV. I need less water if I want to reduce that to a bottling strength of 46% ABV. Whereas Amrut or Rampur need to dilute from 70% ABV to get to bottling strength, they add more water and dilute the flavours more".

"For me, every region has its pros and cons. It's what makes whisky unique. Whisky is closely connected to humans. If you divide what drives flavour, I think a third comes from the ingredients, a third comes from the cask and a third from the philosophy".

Q: What are the differences between being a master distiller in India compared to elsewhere?

A: "I started my career way back in 1993. I started out of passion and a fascination for alcohol. In those days, every parent wanted their children to become IT professionals. I took up alcohol. There was no concept of the master distiller or blender back then. Today, there are very few people in India who are. Today the trend is changing. Lots of young Indians are going to Scotland, training at Heriot-Watt, getting their degree, and coming back to India. But I grew up in South India, a place called Kodagu or Coorg, located about 250 km from Bengaluru. It's known for tourism and coffee. We have a lot of British culture there as they owned a lot of plantations. Growing up I had two passions: hockey and alcohol. I couldn't have a good future in sports, so I chose the alcohol industry".

Q: How did you become a master distiller?

A: "I started as an intern initially. I worked under a chief blender. There was no Paul John single malt. There was something called 'Indian-made Foreign Liquor'. The base spirit was neutral alcohol, we were allowed to add colour, flavour, and a small amount of single malt. I was doing this from 1993-98 and this is where I learned the art of blending. As the company grew, Mr Paul John took a distillery on lease, there I started working as a fermentation and distillation operator, then I became the shift in charge, then the assistant manager, then manager. Until 2003, I did that. It was a big operation. We used to produce 100,000 litres every day. Today comparatively it's a small operation".

"Then Mr Paul John decided to found a single malt distillery in Goa. It's known for its tourism and its water is some of the best in India. The construction took a couple of years and the first distillation took place in 2009. The first whisky was then launched in 2012".

Q: What is the culture of whisky in India and how does this influence your brand?

A: "I remember when I was growing up, I drank alcohol. I used to drink whisky, but I never talked about the particular whisky. Because of social media, people talk about what they're drinking. The awareness has increased, travelling has increased, and people's buying capacity has increased. Because of the social media, everything is going well. Having said that, as a normal consumer I am at least 15 years behind the Western world. I have the privilege to buy an expensive bottle of whisky. But most people buy one of the most prestigious bottles of whisky, say Johnnie Walker Blue, and add coke and drink. Gradually it is changing, but it takes time".

"In terms of single malt, Amrut was the first to launch single malt in India, in 2004. We started in 2012. When we started people would come to our stall at whisky shows and ask if Paul John had molasses. That was the perception of the world. Gradually we started to change these perceptions. People started recognising Indian whisky. Now you can see a lot of other single malts are being bottled. People were making single malt before us, but they never understood the concept. It was not important to them. They were distilling for blending purposes. Everything changed over a period of time, today we are able to create an Indian category itself".

Q: How have you seen Indian whisky received both in India and abroad?

A: "Indian producers are very notorious, they are not known to maintain the consistency. This is the worry we all have. When it comes to single malt, consistency and quality is very important. Not many people have tasted Indian whisky, but in the future, they definitely would want to. Any newcomer bottling something inferior would be bad for the industry. This worry we all have. But otherwise, so far, so good. The new labels being launched have maintained the quality".

Q: What does the current market for Indian whisky look like?

A: "When we started, 80% of our sales were international market. Today, 60% of our sales are from the Indian market. Not because India only just started drinking malt. India is the number one consumer of Scotch whisky in the world. We have overtaken France. We all grew up drinking blended whisky. Because of the trend, gradually people moved away from cheaper drinks to single malt. That's the trend as of now. There is a great future for Indian spirits. Today it is one of the emerging economies in the world. People are earning a lot, and travelling a lot. We get a lot of tourists. The economic segment is shrinking. The premium segment is expanding. I'm sure that we will see double the sales in five years".

Q: What is the future for Paul John Whisky?

A: "Although we produce 3m litres annually, our liquid is under allocation, because we don't have enough. We have done 15 years of prediction and to meet that demand we have to set up another distillery soon. It's a healthy problem. Hopefully, that is in the pipeline. As of now, we recently expanded from 1.5m litres annually and we have around 40,000 casks. Our immediate goal is to double that to 80,000 casks maturing. After that, we will plan for another distillery".

Q: What is your favourite Paul John Whisky?

A: "I'm a big fan of bourbon cask whiskies. We have a couple matured in ex-bourbon casks, Brilliance and Classic. Brilliance is at 46% ABV and Classic is at 55% ABV. I love the cask-strength whiskies, so normally I go for Classic".

Q: What does whisky mean to you?

A: "It's been the bread and butter for me. I think it will be fascinating in the future. We always say whisky is liquid sunshine. Whisky is everything to me".

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