NEW DELHI: THE barometer seems to be tilting towards more and more women opting for whiskey as their choice of beverage, globally as well as in India. Nearly a third of Whiskey drinkers in the UK are now women. Worldwide that figure stands at 25 per cent.
Music is not the only commonality between singers Lady Gaga and Rihanna. It’s whiskey too. While Lady Gaga loves her Jameson Whiskey, Rihanna has sung songs about the spirit. Johnny Walker has actress Christina Hendricks as their model for the Black Label Scotch.
Back in the 1990s, only about 15 per cent of whiskey drinkers were female. Now, according to Fred Minnick, author of Whiskey Women, the number has plummeted to 37 per cent in the US.
According to the findings by the Bourbon Women Association, men and women have very clear and very different predilections when it comes to whiskey. The findings were discovered at the 2016 Anatomy Academy Blind Tasting in Louisville on June 15. Organizers gave the 33 men and 47 women in attendance, 12 different whiskies to blind taste and rank. When results were in, the organisers found that while the majority of men and women preferred high-proof whiskey, the genders split on flavour profiles. Women were more inclined towards a complex expression because scientifically it has been found women’s taste-buds are 43 times stronger than men.
Says author Pria Narendra, “A few years ago, a friend introduced me to Lagavulin 16, and I thought this is the start of a beautiful friendship. Until then, I had regarded whisky (the Scots spell it whisky, while the Irish and American’s spell it with an extra ‘e’) as heavy and masculine. Now I find single malts delicious and perfect for relishing at leisure,” says Narendra.
Magandeep Singh, sommelier and author of The Indian Spirit, a book documenting the history of alcohol in India, shares his view on the subject: “It’s a stereotype that women don’t like whiskey. They like them just as much as the men. The industry is only realising it now and trying to tap into it’s potential,” says Singh, who says he would never make the mistake of assuming that women are only up for vodka and pink drinks.
Karina Aggarwal, who is a commentator on all things brewed n spirited, is one of the well known women aficionado of whiskey, just like actor Mandira Bedi. The stereotyping that runs parallel to the beverage debate is seen in the way whiskey girls are considered rugged and vodka girls girly. Millennials are breaking these notions to make whiskey one of the most loved beverages for women. Cheers to this change.