Friday, December 02, 2011

Grant's Tasting



The barter economy is alive and well in Scotland. "We just swap trucks" says Ludovic "Ludo" Ducrocq, the Global ambassador for William Grant and Sons, the largest family owned whisky company in Scotland, currently run by the 5th generation of the Grant family.

Coming back to the swapping. There are 3 types of whisky made in Scotland, Single Malt (whisky made from barley, at a single distillery), Single Grain (whisky made from typically barley and wheat, but at a single distillery) and blended Scotch (a mix of Single Malt and Single Grain).



Well there are just 7 Single grain distilleries and over a 100 Single Malt distilleries in Scotland, but the beauty of the matter is that any half decent blended Scotch will typically have 15-20 different Single Malts as a part of the blend. As a result, it would be difficult for any one company to make all that Malt from their own distilleries, and therefore they often just swap tankers of whisky in between themselves, without going through all the rigmarole of invoicing each other. Makes for a cozy industry!


Rishi Raj Singh, F&B Manager, ITC Sheraton with Ludo



















It's Ludo's first visit to India, he tells us, as he takes us on a journey through the heritage of William Grant and Sons, as well as an enjoyable tasting of the Grant's Family Reserve, their 12 year old and their 25 year old blended scotch. We unfortunately are not tasting the Girvan, which is the Single Grain whisky made by William Grant and Sons.

Considering it's only one of the 7 Single Grain whiskies made in Scotland, it was a visionary step in the 1960's, by Charles Gordon, the great grand son of William Grant, to set it up. It was another Charles Gordon however, William Grant's son in law, who in 1909 went on a year long trip around the world to promote their whisky, a trip which helped lay the foundations for their business success in the years to come. It also must have been the world's longest travel expense statement!



To commemorate a 100 years of Charles round the world trip, the Grant's 25 year old was released in 2009.  


Tulleeho's Rohan Jelkie & Sweta Mohanty















 Currently only the Grant's Family Reserve is available in the domestic market, but the 12 and the 25 year old can both be picked up in duty free.

William Grant and Sons also make the Glenfiddich and The Balvenie, both Single Malt whiskies.


Tulleeho!

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