Cask-aged variants add flavour to gin repertoire

On World Gin Day, a toast to homegrown craft gins that remind you of whisky but are redolent of juniper and sweet oak

A bottle of Pumori Ascent Barrel Aged Gin. Credit: Pumori Ascent

Is it bourbon? Is it a gin?

The traditional method of gin distilling with juniper berries and botanicals happens in a copper still pot. The clear, flavourful spirit does not need ageing for the aromatic infusion to take shape. However, spirit makers globally have tried to bring back the original malty flavour of Genever, the ancestor of today's gin, by ageing them in whisky barrels.

Unfortunately, the production is almost always in limited quantities; hence very few bottles of the enhanced "cask-aged gin" make it to the Indian markets from Europe.

However, Fullarton Distilleries has now developed Pumori Ascent, a limited edition barrel-aged gin exclusively for Goa markets. Earlier this year, just 470 bottles were made in a single batch of craft gin, aged in American Oak whisky barrels.

The result was remarkable: an amber-coloured tipple that reminded you of whisky but had a pine front with the essence of juniper and sweet oak, aged for a little over 400 days in the oak barrels that earlier stored whisky.

But is there acceptance for this experimental tipple in India yet?

"Barrel-aged gin is a distinctive flavour that appeals to brown spirit drinkers with its strong connection to the flavour profile and depth of a scotch or whiskey, which is the largest consumed spirit in India," said Anjali Batra, the Founder of Gin Explorers Club. "I see great potential in future."

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On World Gin Day, Amrut Distilleries, a premier name in the alcobev space in the country, introduced a special edition of its Nilgiri Gin line, a novel Nilgiris Cask Aged Gin.

The product was carefully handcrafted at the brand's Bangalore distillery in locally made copper pot stills using imported and locally sourced botanicals. Being the makers of some of India's best whiskeys, Amrut managed to mature the gin entirely in ex-bourbon casks in a combination of peated and unpeated tones for a few months to enhance the layers of complex flavours of the gin.

"We intended to use oak as an enabler to transcend the profile of an already robust gin and make it complex yet adaptable in cocktails and be consumed neat," said Nikhil Varma, the Gin Distiller at Amrut, explaining the idea behind this limited edition.

It took more than a year of experimentation for the tipple to extract the desirable wood congeners and add a subtle yet dynamic profile to the original Nilgiris Gin.

"It is a gin for the mixologists, aficionados, and amateurs alike", Varma said.

Unsurprisingly, Pumori Ascent, priced at Rs 2,500 in Goa is sold out through retail distribution.

Nilgiris has produced only 1800 bottles worldwide, with 900 earmarked for Indian consumers priced at Rs 3,295 and the rest for international markets such as the US, Europe, Canada, Taiwan, Australia, Singapore, and the Netherlands.

"The Indian market has seen a massive rise in the consumption of gin through an increasing number of gin drinkers and an exciting array of homegrown and international gin brands hitting the shelves," said Batra speaking about India's obsession with gin. "We are just at the start of the 'Ginsurgence' era, and there is a sense of adventure in the consumer's mind and a hunger for the unconventional."

(Chandreyi Bandyopadhyay is a marketing communications professional with an interest in food and alco-bev history and tracks new developments in these spaces.)