If you are an Indian and have a special love for whisky, you know how important that relative is who brings a bottle of whisky from duty-free. We Indians when go to a wedding, do see at least one uncle who balances a glass of whisky on his head and dances like no one is watching. The connection between Indians and a good whisky is very very strong.
But we see that many people have started giving a miss to their favourite brand of whisky because either they have turned calorie-conscious or they have got bored with having the same brand of whisky again and again. But why don't you give these whisky clubs a try?
The Dram Club, Mumbai
The Dram Club brings whisky enthusiasts together. It was started by investment manager Vinayak Singh and marketing lead Swati Sharma, both being true whisky lovers. The fan club of this place is expanding and even an app has been launched to draw the attention of whisky lovers. The club hosts events in Pune, Mumbai, Gurgaon, Bengaluru, Delhi, and Goa. It doesn’t charge any membership fee and its events cost around from Rs 2000 to Rs 6000, depending on the location, food, and of course the type of spirit.
Single Malt Amateur Club, Bengaluru
Long before the craze of single malt started, there were already some people who were appreciating this beauty. Hemanth Rao, an IT professional, was quite known to spirits from around the world because of being raised by a father who loved exotic whiskies. His love led him to different distilleries which made him start Single Malt Amateur Club. The club has no membership fee and its event cost from Rs 2000 to Rs 7000.
Gin Explorers Club
Founded by Anjali Batra and Shuchir Suri, this club celebrates gin. This club has been curated by Food Talk India. It keeps organizing events that witness the presence of both home-grown and international gin brands. Recently, it organized a massive event in the capital city and brought some of the amazing gin brands under one roof. Besides, there was an excellent lineup of musicians and food.
All Things Nice, Mumbai
Founded by Nikhil Agarwal, All Things Nice is a luxury wine and spirits consultancy agency that has proved that whisky is just isn’t paired with food but also with art like poetry and music. All Things Nice keeps organizing quite many events featuring artists and food pairings with chefs from Michelin-starred restaurants. Moreover, Agarwal also runs a course in the Fundamentals of Scotch Whisky in association with the Edinburgh Whisky Academy just, in case you want to increase your knowledge about whisky. Here also, the membership is free while the event costs somewhere around Rs 4000 to Rs 7000.
The Calcutta Malt And Spirits Club, Kolkata
Found in 2008, the Calcutta Malt and Spirits Clubs has taken whisky tasting way too seriously. Subhasis Ganguli, the club founder, hosts the session and discusses the history, region, age, character, cask style, and flavour profiles of the spirits. Such meet-ups of the club are organized in Kolkata and anyone can be a member for free. Its events cost from Rs 2000 to Rs 5000.
Indeed, whisky has found its millennial audience through these clubs. Isn’t it?