The Taste of India in a Glass

FROM ROYAL LIQUEURS TO DISTILLED MAHUA, INDIAN HERITAGE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES ARE HAVING THEIR DAY IN THE SUN

- SMITA TRIPATHI

In 1922, Jehangirji Behramji, one of six brothers, set up a distillery in Aswa in the coastal region of present-day Maharashtra to produce spirits from exotic fruits and flowers for the royal families of the region. A 102 years later, his great grandson, Hamavand Chinoy, is taking the family’s legacy forward by launching two premium mahua spirit expressions—Six Brothers 1922 Resurrection and Six Brothers Small Batch (Original), as an ode to his great grandfather and his brothers. “Six Brothers 1922 Resurrection is India’s first luxury heritage spirit,” says Chinoy. It is a limited edition of 102 bottles (branded as Mahura), each priced at `1.02 lakh.

In the mid-1980s, the Chinoy family established the South Seas Distilleries in Dahanu, just a few kilometres away from Behramji’s. It has the country’s largest copper pot stills and is one of the biggest commercial producers of malts. Sticking to its legacy, it has also been producing mahua for local consumption. Over the years, it has built up stock, all stored in oak barrels. And so it is that the Six Brothers 1922 Resurrection is not only double-distilled in copper pot stills; it is also aged. “Think of it as a fine single malt, since the process is quite similar,” says Chinoy.

The mahua flower, also known as mahura or mohua, is native to the Indian subcontinent. It blooms in spring, releasing a strong fragrance and offering a sweet taste due to its high sugar content. It primarily grows in the forests of western, eastern, and central India, and for centuries, a fermented version of it has been consumed by the locals. While it was once cherished by royalty, with a change in tastes and the advent of foreign liquor, it lost its reputation and began being referred to as ‘country liquor’. However, efforts are currently underway to alter this perception.