The world of spirits of excellence is made of intuition and men capable of looking beyond the label to seek the liquid soul of a territory. Last April 10th I had the privilege of participating in an exclusive day organized by Velier, a closed-door meeting that brought together the sector's top experts to dialogue with one of the most influential figures on the international scene: Sukhinder Singh.
Sukhinder Singh – founder of The Whisky Exchange and today he's lying Elixir Distillers – guided us through an extraordinary overview of his creations, from the purity of traditional tequila to the complexity of navy rums, all the way to his revolutionary vision for the future of Scotch whisky.
Sukhinder Singh: Total control of raw materials
Raised in the family liquor store and a pioneer of the web applied to spirits, Sukhinder has now radically changed his approach with Elixir Distillers. As I had the opportunity to explore during the meeting, it's no longer just about selecting other people's barrels, but about exercising a direct and total control over the stock (over 30,000 barrels) and on distillation, managing cult brands such as Port Askaig, Elements of Islay, Single Malts of Scotland and the rum Black Tot.
1. Tequila Tapatío and the defense of Agave Autentica
Our journey began in Jalisco, Mexico. Elixir Distillers distributes globally. Tapatío, a tequila that champions the purest craftsmanship. Sukhinder shared a thought with us that resonates deeply with anyone who values authenticity:
“I'm very traditional. When you drink rum, you want to taste the sugarcane. And when you drink tequila, you want the agave. Many of the most famous brands these days are flavored, and to me, they taste terrible. Others taste like vodka, because over-filtering has stripped away all the flavor.”
Produced in the historic distillery The Alteña with slow processing and the use of traditional tahona (the stone wheel), Tapatío demonstrates that the flavor is built before distillation. Any industrial shortcut only ends up standardizing the product.
2. Black Tot: The Art of Blending History and Memory
The second mainstay of the day was dedicated to rum, specifically to Black Tot, a name that evokes the last day (31 July 1970) in which the British Navy distributed the daily ration of rum to sailors.
After acquiring the last historic Navy stock in 2008, Singh's real challenge was to reinterpret that legendary profile in a contemporary way. Maintaining the multi-island blending philosophy (Guyana, Barbados, Trinidad, Jamaica) but calibrating the recipe to achieve a richer and fresher profile, Elixir has created an excellent rum, ideal for both meditation and signature mixology.
3. The Future of Whisky: The New Portintruan Distillery on Islay
The most anticipated moment of the masterclass concerned the universe of Scotch. Alongside the relaunch of Tormore in Speyside, Sukhinder caught my attention by revealing the technical details of Portintruan, the new distillery under construction on Islay designed to scientifically recreate the deep character of old-fashioned whiskies.
To do this, Portintruan will reintroduce some now very rare elements:
- Traditional malting floors (floor maltings): which generate natural temperature changes capable of giving the barley a more complex structure.
- Direct fire stills: abandoning industrial steam. As Sukhinder beautifully summarized: “"It's like cooking on induction or gas: with gas you always get something more complex because you can caramelize. Likewise, more texture and flavor develop in the distillate."”.
Final Considerations
Taking part in this exclusive event allowed me to experience first-hand the philosophy of a man who repeats like a mantra: “Just good liquid, we don't do it for money, we do it for fun” (It's just a good liquid, we don't do it for money, we do it for fun).
For the pages of this blog, always attentive to the culture of slow smoking and conscious drinking, Elixir Distillers' projects and Velier's cutting-edge distribution represent the perfect combination of ancient artisanal knowledge and the future of global distillation.
Photo credit: Nicola Di Nunzio
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