Today is Diwali, the festival of light in the Hindu tradition, celebrating the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance … and good whisky over bad whisky?
Picadilly distillery in India, known for its single malt whisky brand Indri, put out a special Diwali bottle last year that won some awards. The various news posts that mention this are very unclear about what the award(s) are, but the least questionable (thought still rather questionable one) is Silver in the World whisky awards 2025 – a very authoritative-sounding award that no one ever heard of, with a gazillion categories with dubious winners and industry sponsors. No shame on Indri though for winning awards in dodgy competitions. I’ve enjoyed what I’ve tried of them, enough to part with €10 for trying 2cl of what is supposedly their most prized expression.
Picadilly (Indri) • “Diwali 2024” • 58.5%
Indian Single Malt • Peated sherry cask • Natural Colour & Unchillfiltered • €200 • WB🔗
Tasting notes from a 2cl sample bottle
Nosing
Smoked sausage or fish, tarred rope, barbeque-tamarind sauce. Mosquito repellent (citronella) and kefir lime bring the tropicality. Cooked cauliflower, strange but not necessarily unpleasant rubber-sulphur notes, a bit of nail polish.
Deliciousness
Fun factor
Sipping
Very viscous and savoury-salty-sweet. Chewy. Does well neat. Grilled octopus. Almonds and raisins, grilled pineapple, caramel sauce. Sweaty shoes and rubber sole.
Deliciousness
Fun factor
Comments
It’s been a while on the blog since I had a dram that was way more interesting than it was straight-up delicious. Is this the “Best Whisky in The World”? Lol no, not even close. Though I’m not too fazed about it, that rubber-sulphur could easily be perceive as an off-note. At this point, an interesting and quite good novelty whisky. Let’s see what Indri can do with more time on their hands and going more towards complexity and balance than effect seeking.
DuckDrams 
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