The journey of spicewhiskey Our Journey — Spice up your type with spicewhiskey —
Origin
We had a modest upbringing and likewise our business too had a humble beginning. We just consider ourselves extremely fortunate to have found such immense success in a recipe that had been in our family for generations.
Raising the Gaur
We hail from a village in North India where we raise and preserve the Gaur bulls at our farm as it is growing short in numbers. A major portion of our proceeds goes to helping these bulls graze free and grow uninhibited.
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18 APROur Love for Spices
The Gaur Family also has its roots in the traditional Mixed Spiced Tea making. Also known as Masala Chai, this special tea is prepared by adding homegrown spices to the tea. Their color and aroma do not just flavor our tea but our foods and drinks too.
Our Love for Whiskey
Indians love our whiskey & it is a close second to our masala chai which is saying a lot. We sought the same flavors in this liquor but couldn’t find anything. Our true love for spices & this smooth liquor motivated us to come up with a fusion our own.
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18 APROur Secret Recipe
We have shared a similar passion for the tanginess of ginger, the bitter freshness of clove, the sweetness of cinnamon and the warmth of nutmeg across generations. We were finally going to combine our great grandfather’s homemade whiskey brewing process with the chai spices.
What Inspired Us
The Gaur is the name given to a large, dark-coated, wild bull mainly found in India and in some other South Asian countries. Also known as the Indian Bison, this animal is characterized by white or tan lower legs, large ears, strong build, and curved horns. Powerful and massive, the Gaur Bull is what inspired us to make this spirit as bold as the animal.
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18 APRWhy the name “Gaur?”
Despite being mighty in power this animal is gentle, calm, cooperative and protective within its herds. They are known for their timid and shy behavior and are often seen shunning humans. Inspired by our family herd of Gaur bulls and our family name, we decided to name our whiskey - Gaur Spice Whiskey.
Our Search
Indians love both tea and whiskey. We wanted a chai whiskey but were unable to find any on shelves. Seemed like we were the chosen ones to introduce the world to the magnanimity of handpicked Indian spices and the kick they could add to an otherwise mundane drink.
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18 APRConception of the Idea
For most of us Indians whiskey comes an immediate second to chai. Therefore, we decided that these two concoctions of the Indian spirit deserved a blend and we combined the two in a fantastic union of taste and aroma.
Shared Through Generations
This Chai and Whiskey recipe has been passed down from generations in our family. We had been making this concoction for more than 100 years in India and we decided that it was time to revisit it in a bigger way.
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18 APRSecret Process Revealed
Our traditional masala chai recipe that has its origins in the 18th century India was combined with our unique whiskey brewing process. This time we were going to share our family secret with the world. Our unique whiskey distilling process that involved handpicked spices and copper stills was finally coming out.
Gaur’s Spicy Journey
We tested over 300 chai profiles to get the right balance of masala chai and whiskey. The most experienced whiskey connoisseurs accompanied us at the tasting table to try various mixes.
We brought handpicked spices from India, out to our distillery in North Charleston, and to our old fashioned Copper Distillery in South Carolina. Here we used a proprietary process (passed down from our ancestors) that involves organically maturing the whiskey and letting the flavor of the spices naturally mix with the spirit.
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18 APRAnd The Gaur Spice Was Born
By keeping cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and clove in the barrel as the whiskey distils we came up with a concoction that is slowly getting the love and recognition it deserves. This gave birth to the chai spice infused whiskey which is now known as the “Gaur Spice Whiskey.”
The Tangy Struggles
We faced criticism from many directions across the industry. Our recipe was rejected many times due to the simple fact that it deviated from the norm. Negative reviews were all over the place about Gaur Spice Whiskey because people were hesitant to try and accept a flavored alcoholic beverage, especially a whiskey. Frequent comparisons to other drinks were doing the job of belittling our creation and we were almost disheartened. Well, almost.
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18 APRAnd the Sweet Success
Amongst all those negative reviews and the mammoth crowd of bitter whiskey lovers we found a small but loyal consumer base that was pleasantly surprised by the mellowness, deliciousness and smoothness of Gaur Spice.
After having started out in New Jersey (where our family is based at the moment) and slowly gaining traction there, we are happy to see a positive initial response from many New Yorkers as we foray into this market.
Now, we are just getting into the big city and our biggest sellers are the Costco stores (in NY & NJ). We are hopeful and looking to expand as the demand for this delicious whiskey goes up.
We believe that our recipe was meant to win hearts and it did. There is no bite or burn, rather a smooth and delicious flavor to this 86-proof whiskey. This blend of perfection does not let the spices take over your drink in any way. This unique and well balanced co-existence of spirit and spice has won us accolades like the Consumers’ Choice SIP Award Gold 2016 and a Silver Award at the 7th Annual New York International Spirits Competition 2016.
“The past few years have been full of ups and downs and among all this; we have been praised to the skies even for our gorgeous bottle design and packaging by many whiskey connoisseurs. That is just icing on top and we feel even more delighted to be able to bring this most loved creation to you all the way from India.”
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