Paul John Brilliance

Named after the company’s chairman Paul P. John, this established Indian spirits producer turned its hand to single malt in 2007 with the first bottles hitting the shelves in 2012. Alongside Amrut especially, Paul John has helped to firmly establish India on the malt whisky map, picking up countless awards over the years.

Brilliance is unpeated (although the distillery does also produce peated whiskies), made with Indian 6-row barley from the Himalayan foothills, and matured in bourbon barrels for 3-5 years. While that may sound on the young side, maturation in Goa’s tropical climate is very different to Scotland! The ‘Angels’ share’ lost to evaporation is far higher (around 8-10% a year compared to around 2% in Scotland), with climatic conditions driving more intense interaction between spirit and wood within a shorter time.