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Before Johnny Walker Black Label and Chivas Regal Took the Indian

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Before Johnny Walker Black Label and Chivas Regal Took the Indian Before Johnny Walker Black Label and Chivas Regal took the Indian whisky market by storm there was a malt whisky being produced in India for quite some time, since 1855 in fact! Also this distillery is situated in the foothills of the Himalayas!! The brewing, distillation and maturation processes followed at the distillery are very similar to that of Scotch whisky. Yes I am referring to Mohan “Meakin’s Solan No 1”. The distillery is situated in Kasauli, a small town in Solan district in the state of Himachal Pradesh. So if you are one of those who believe that water plays a major role in the outcome of the distilled spirit then this location has perhaps some of the best streams of fresh water in the world. Pic. (1)Location of Solan district, 65 Kms from Chandigarh Now we are not talking about one of the multiple dubious whiskies produced in India, this one is a “legitimate” whisky even by Scottish standards! In fact this was considered the “only whisky” produced in India for a very long time, as this is a “Malt” whisky produced from barley unlike most other whiskies produced in India which use molasses. This distillery is well known for the “OLD MONK” rum, which most readers from the subcontinent will be familiar with. Till recently I had a misconception that it was a single malt whisky, which is what Wikipedia also states (have submitted a correction) but a little more research/ observation has shown me that this is a blended malt whisky. Pic. (2)Solan No 1 Bottle So why am I drinking this and writing about it? And most importantly what has Bangalore got to do with this?? Solan number 1 was one of the most popular whisky back in the 80’s and largely supplied its products to the defense services of India. The company follows a no advertisement motto and believes that the products will sell for themselves given the quality and very reasonable pricing. Now a bottle of old monk costs something like 300 Rupees which translates to 5.5 USD and a bottle of Solan No 1 sold in Solan, Himachal Pradesh costs 287 Rupees which is 5.2 USD. You will agree with me that the reasonable pricing is a very true statement! In fact Mark Gillespie of “Whisky Cast” and Serge Valentin of “Whisky Fun” speculate that this whisky may in fact be the cheapest whisky in the world! Unfortunately today the more popular flavored rums and vodka dominate the sales of this distillery and this whisky is almost lost in obscurity. It has got a very respectable score of 77 points by Serge on Whisky Fun (you can read his review in the appended link). Just as a comparative stat; the celebrated blend of Johnny Walker, the Black Label being awarded 78 points. As for my views the whisky is a bold statement, very dry and has a fierce bite in the mouth (which I like) very drinkable and has a slightly thicker mouthfeel (more viscous), it feels that it had been matured for some time. Now maturation is a rare concept in India and I do not know of anyone else save Amrut Distilleries and the nascent Paul Jhon distillery, that mature their whisky in casks over time. Pic. (3) The recent acquisition which is bottled in Bangalore Pic. (4) The Original bottle from Solan Last week my neighbor from the defense services was kind enough to gift me one of these bottles and it held a hidden surprise! This bottle of Solan was blended and bottled by Sashi Distilleries in Bangalore! Chance has it so that I live a mere two kilometers away from the distillery and pass by every day! This was a shocker. I have been trying to get hold of adequate number of bottles of this spirit for some time for consumption and tasting and was not able to do so, and behold the distillery is a stone throw away. But wait if it is being blended & bottled here that means that the whisky is distilled in Solan? And the water of Bangalore has nothing to do with this? How is this whisky being transported? I have not kept a watch on the distillery as such, but I never did see any casks arriving! Oh this is an interesting catch, and I intend to find out soon. I always believed that Solan No 1 Whisky was being exclusively produced in the distillery at Himachal and there are no blenders/ bottlers for this brand, yet again this whisky has proven me wrong. So if this whisky is being produced in Bangalore why don’t we see this in retail stores? I have some whisky from the bottle produced at Solan and I intend to do a H2H this weekend. So lots of questions and few answers. I will do a distillery visit to the neighboring Sashi distillery and share the conclusion with all, with the results of the H2H. I did write to the distillery at Solan requesting for more information on the production of the whisky a couple of months ago to clarify these doubts, unfortunately there is no response. What I do know, is that this distillery was planning a release of a Single Malt whisky with the name “Solan Gold” which has been matured over a period of time. Requesting readers in LinkedIn to view the article in FB as pictures associated with this article cannot be posted here. http://www.whiskyfun.com/archivemay11-2.html#200511 : Review Solan http://www.facebook.com/smacamateurwhiskyclub?ref=hl#!/photo.php?fbid=162827173890501&set= a.158707197635832.1073741826.156765761163309&type=1&theater : Solan No 1 Vs Smoke Head Extra Rare on FB: http:///www.facebook.com/smacamateurwhiskyclub .
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