As for the name “Black Dog” — it has nothing to do with the animal. Being a keen angler, Walter Millard named the whisky Black Dog in honour of his favourite salmon fishing fly used in the Spey and Tay rivers of Scotland since the early 19th century.
So where does this Scottish heritage come from? Well, a 125 years ago, a man named James MacKinlay of the second generation of the Leith Scotch Whisky blending family launched the masterful whisky by the name of Millard Black Dog. It is said that in the year 1883, Walter Millard, a Scot from the British East India Company came searching for the perfect Scotch and eventually discovered the great taste of this whisky in these misty shores of Scotland.
Black Dog Scotch whisky originates from Scotland (if the “Scotch” wasn’t a clue enough). In fact, it was interesting to know any whisky that is labelled ‘Scotch’ has to originate from Scotland. The blend of water and malted barley has to be processed at a distillery based in Scotland. In addition to that, the other requirements include the maturing process – in oak casks for at least three years and a capacity not exceeding 700 litres . The blend should not contain any added substances other than water and plain caramel colouring. Lastly (and for some, more importantly) a minimum alcoholic strength by volume of 40%.
With such a legacy, the Black Dog taste isn’t without its moments of glory. The 12 year old edition of the Scotch whisky has been awarded a silver medal at Concours Mondial de Bruxelles. Concours Mondial de Bruxelles is an EU-recognized organization which conducts annual competitions for various spirits and wines manufactured all over the world. The organization is well known in spirits and wine industry through its expertise, professionalism, integrity and excellence of its sensory panel. Meaning the win confirms Black Dog’s international repute among whisky connoisseurs.
For a brand of whisky coming from an Indian company – United Spirits – you would be mistaken to assume Black Dog is an Indian brand. But it’s not.
One frustrating aspect of living in India is the lack of decent booze. Rum is in abundance, but it can be quite sweet; wine is available with just three labels worth talking about, but their flavour does not justify the price; as for the whisky… The only way I can describe Indian whisky is ‘caramalised fire-water’.
When I drink whisky I’ll either mix it if it’s a blended, or drink with an equal measure of water if a malt. Since Black Dog is a blended I was keen to get hold of a decent mixer, but try as I might I simply could not source ginger ale anywhere. Ginger beer would have sufficed but my usual delivery man has only tonic water (and if you’ve tried Indian gin you’ll understand why we stock up on Bombay Sapphire when coming through Dubai airport!). I’d be interested to know how Indians drink their blended if sourcing mixers is this problematic.
Failing to find a mixer I drank my Black Dog straight, with water. With its amber-colour this Speyside is perfectly acceptable for a blended. It’s still quite sweet, with hints of honey, but this is off-set by a woody flavour. I’d put it above Bagpiper in my preferences, though the recommended retail price of 1835 INR (approx £20) is expensive, which I assume is government tax. This is frustrating and puts it outside my own price range. Since I only ever buy whisky at the airport, I’ll pay up to £35 for a half-decent malt, but £20 for a blended is steep, especially by Indian standards.
One way in which Indian breweries have got round these issues is to buy up Scottish distilleries and use proper Scotch whisky to blend it with the Indian firewater. United Breweries, for example, has bought into a number of distilleries and brands including Whyte and Mackay and Isle of Jura. This is supplying the large market of whisky drinkers among the more affluent Indians (a market a lot larger than you’d expect) who are a little bit more discerning than the local drunk I often bump into queueing outside the state-run liquor shops of Kerala.
Having already tried Bagpiper (and liking it) I was pleased to have got hold of Black Dog. Also owned by United Spirits (part of United Breweries) this smartly labelled blended is actually quite pleasing.
India consumes more whisky than any country in the world. According to IWSR, a data analyst on the beverage alcohol market, global whiskey volumes are set to witness a rebound in 2021, after a 10.7% decline in 2020, helped by recovery in large markets such as India and the US. Research firm Euromonitor International said luxury spirits accounted for sales worth ₹11,670.7 million in 2019 in India but was expected to shrink in 2021 to about ₹8542.2 million owing primarily to the covid-19 pandemic. Catch all the
The scotch, the company said, follows the idea of the “art of pausing” and has been carefully aged for an exact period of 14 years. The product has been unveiled by actor Saif Ali Khan. The company added that this whisky has citrus flavours from the 200-year-old Linkwood distillery located in the heart of Speyside accentuates the taste profile of Black Dog.
Due to rising domestic consumption in countries like China and India, Asia-Pacific is likely to maintain its dominance in the global spirit industry. The Asia-Pacific spirit market is led by China, while India is predicted to expand the fastest. In the previous ten years, sales of imported spirits in China have increased fourfold, it said.
Diageo India retails about 50 brands in India including Johnnie Walker, Black & White, Vat 69, Antiquity, etc,. According to its registrar of companies filings, Diageo India subsidiary United Spirits reported a Q2 profit of ₹286 crore in FY 21-22. The company said its revenue from operations was up 9.31% to ₹8,208.8 crore in the quarter as opposed to ₹7509.4 crore in the quarter a year ago.