The final day of the festival of Diwali is a celebration of the bond between brothers and sisters, which feels like a good background for us coming together for a whisky tasting. Staying on theme, we’ll be tasting whisky from India, and specifically, we will be welcoming a brand ambassador from Paul John Indian whisky. Diwali is the Hindu festival of light (similar to Christmas and Hanukkah in Christianity and Judaism), with community gatherings and food playing a large part. We’ll be present as our community at the tasting, and we’ll be providing some delicious Indian sweets to nibble on, from Banana Leaf, to tick off that food box too.

Following a 2012 launch in England, Paul John reached its home market (the biggest consumers of whisky in the world), India, the following year. They make their whisky using Indian barley, though with some expressions they do also include imported Scottish peat. Goa, where the distillery is located, enjoys a tropical monsoon climate, worlds away from the environment in which Scottish distillers craft their whisky. They’ll have a full range of flavours to present for us, all offering a glimpse into what effects the Goan climate has on the whisky making process.

This is a milestone I’ve been looking forward to: the club’s first event hosted by an external presenter. It’s a fantastic accomplishment that we’ve been hosting events and building up an audience to this point, where producers and the wider industry see us as worthy of their time. Over the next few months, we’ll be hosting a range of different presenters bringing their fantastic spirits and stories to share with us.