Paul P. John’s first business venture crumbled, quite literally, like a cookie.
“There was a biscuit factory,” he recalls, “owned by a friend’s father that had shut down. I had just finished college, and was looking for something to do. I thought, ‘Why not biscuits? Everybody eats biscuits!’ So I took over and tried to run the factory, but it was a disaster. After two years, I had to close it down.”
That is how John, now a whisky pioneer known for his eponymous single-malt labels, entered the alcohol industry. In the 1990s, when he started out, alcohol was still taboo business. “In movies, especially Malayalam, [alcohol businessmen] were always portrayed as villains,” he laughs. “Back then, country liquor dominated the market—I would say most of the business was focused on that. The business model was… different.”
John’s father, T. John, a former Karnataka minister with roots in Kerala, had interests in plantations and liquor. With his family’s support, John converted the defunct biscuit factory into a distillery, launching the Original Choice whisky in 1996. It became a bestseller, with millions of cases sold, although its popularity was confined to India—long the largest whisky market by volume. Despite the commercial success, Original Choice did not win over the connoisseurs. A European Union trade official visiting India in 2003 said the blurry line separating Indian whisky from rum—both being distilled from molasses—could make for a “nice academic session”.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 20, 2024 من THE WEEK India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 20, 2024 من THE WEEK India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Lotus Roots Run Deep
The return of RSS cadre and the BJP’s grooming of second-rung leaders across the country bode well for its future
Surprise hit
Oscar nominated filmmaker Pawo Choyning Dorji says he wants to bring back migrant Bhutanese
Tales of erotically ethereal women
In Kiran Manral’s The Moon in the Lining of her Skin, dark fantasy meets creatures of light
The 'fun'tastic hero
Balakrishna, who completed 50 years in Tollywood, on casting Bobby Deol in his upcoming film, his dream role and controversies surrounding fan interactions
From biscuits to barrels
How a failed factory helped Paul John reshape India's reputation in the whisky world
ROYAL GOAL
Descendants of rulers of Mayurbhanj are now empowering the tribals of the area
Toilet paper-a bum deal
So I have picked up my jhola and been in fakir mode last two weeks—travelling for a family wedding, and then a beach holiday through Australia and southeast Asia.
If Sikkim, Arunachal can be states, why not Ladakh?
LADAKH WAS IN the news recently, as climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is the Union territory's most recognisable figure, undertook a trip to Delhi on foot to draw attention to the ecologically fragile Himalayan region.
SPEED BREAKERS
The humiliation in Haryana and an underwhelming show in J&K come as a reality check for the Congress
BEATING THE ODDS
Haryana results show that effective messaging, targeted outreach and the ability to manipulate a divided opposition can tackle anti-incumbency