This Indian Distillery Aged Its New Single Malt in Botanical-Seasoned Barrels

Jonah Flicker
·2 min read

The Indian whisky category continues to expand in the U.S. with excellent new releases hitting the market on the regular. And one of the most interesting is this new single malt from Diageo India called Godawan, which has one expression that, in a unique twist, spends time in barrels seasoned with local botanicals.

There are actually two new single malt whiskies from Godawan—01 “Rich and Rounded” and 02 “Fruit and Spice.” Both are made at the Alwar distillery in Rajasthan, which is owned by Diageo India (part of the greater Diageo company). The whisky is made from a mash bill of six-row malted barley that is grown in the region, and matures in an environment that couldn’t be further from Scotland’s with temperatures often hovering around 100 degrees Fahrenheit. This results in a very high angel’s share, or evaporation rate, and also means that the whisky matures much more rapidly than it would in a more temperate climate.

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The 01 Rich and Rounded whisky is matured in PX sherry casks and then placed into bourbon barrels which, according to a rep for the brand, have been treated with two Indian botanicals—Rasna and Jatamansi which are “used for sensorial purposes, more so than for taste.” These are bourbon barrels that were used to mature Godawan for five years, which were then emptied and filled with a mixture of water and these herbs and rested for about three weeks. Then the whisky is put into these barrels to finish for up to two months. The resulting whisky, according to the distillery, has raisin, sultana, fig, and apricot on the palate, followed by mature wood, caramel, and a “butteriness like baklava.” 02 Fruit and Spice is unique in that it’s finished in a cherrywood cask, a type of wood that is not normally used for whisky maturation—although it’s not without precedent, as brands like Teeling and Method and Madness have used it before. We got to sample this whisky for ourselves, and it has rich fruit and floral notes on the palate with a dash of spice and roasted coffee bean on the finish.

These whiskies are still relatively new to the market, but you may be able to find them available from websites like Drizly depending on where you live. And if you’d like to explore the Indian whisky category further, you can find excellent expressions from Amrut and Paul John available for purchase online now.

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