MAKING PALATES CLICK

A year into the pandemic, liquor appreciation groups and the experts who lead them are finding increasingly creative ways to keep their spirits up

- SHANTANU DAVID

WHY do we travel to other countries? To learn about different histories and cultures, and meet all kinds of people. That’s how I felt about joining the Single Malt Appreciation Club (SMAC); to learn about the history and culture of whiskies and meet people from different walks of life, and I’m delighted to be doing both,” beams Raghav Sharma, 39, an educator and business owner from Gurugram.

Sharma is among the growing tribe of Indians who have joined various liquor appreciation clubs to learn more about their favourite libations and socialise with their fellow enthusiasts. However, as it did with everything else, the pandemic has thrown a spanner in the works, with in-person events and tastings having to be “diluted” into an online format. “I joined in the first week of March, but because of the pandemic, have not been able to attend any physical sessions, and can’t wait for that,” notes Sharma.

“Tastings are a completely sensory experience, and in a virtual session, more than half that experience is wiped out immediately. Someone else and I may be tasting the same wine over a screen, but they are not physically in front of me. I cannot see their eyes as well as the glass, how it hits their palate,” explains Magandeep Singh, India’s top sommelier, who adds laughingly, “You are essentially doing a tasting with a thumbnail.”