John Distillery Set to Expand Whisky Production
With a new distillery planned for after 2030, Indian spirits producer John Distillery will double production. Running on plans to expand the market of its single malt whisky Paul John, the distillery is reinvesting.
According to Paul John’s master distiller Michael D’Souza, the company’s main focus for the next three years will be to increase the number of barrels produced per year from 1.5 million to 3 million.
“Currently, we have 40,000 barrels. Our target is to reach 75 to 80,000 barrels. That would be the plan for the Goa operation. Post-2030, if everything goes well, we would have a new distillery somewhere in the southern part of India. That is our plan as of now and hopefully it should work.”
John Distillery Set to Expand Whisky Production
The brand offers 12 expressions and produces two different liquids; non-peated and peated; from Indian malted barley, yeast, and water. There are entry-level, flagship, and cask releases available.
For the future, D’Souza disclosed that he is looking to launch a rum-finished whisky. “We have a collaboration with a rum distillery in Barbados. So we have got their casks and I have transferred some of the best liquid, from five to six years old, into that. It’s aging and hopefully, in a few months or years, we should be ready for launch.”
In addition, D’Souza notes that the brand isn’t able to age and experiment as much as other countries, such as Scotland.
“We lose a substantial amount of alcohol due to angel’s share. The way maturation happens in other Indian distilleries such as Amrut and Rampur is entirely different. In those places, the ABV increases year on year due to the dry climatic conditions, whereas for us, being in Goa, it goes down because of the humidity.
“We don’t have much time to keep the whisky in the barrels because the liquid changes so fast due to the conditions. For example, if it is cooler you have a lot of time to do the innovations, to understand. When you do some kind of innovation or experiment, you need enough time to understand what is happening inside the cask, so we are taking small steps, but proper ones.”
