The Rice Whiskey Revolution: Reviving a Thousand-Year Himalayan Heritage with Kashish Shrestha

WEBVTT

00:05.397 –> 00:09.028
[UNKNOWN]: Thank you.

00:11.033 –> 00:24.326
[SPEAKER_01]: Welcome back everybody to another fun edition of the Rolex whiskey passion project pretty excited to hear this gentleman today You know, he’s been following Rolex whiskey for a while He we chat every now and again, but I kind of wanted to hear more about what he has going on.

00:24.346 –> 00:31.894
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s a pretty unique To me at least, you know Whiskey experience so because she’s welcome to the show my friend.

00:31.914 –> 00:32.394
[SPEAKER_01]: How are you?

00:33.295 –> 00:40.382
[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, again, and thanks so much for having us on air No, man you want to introduce yourselves to the listeners tell them a little bit who you are and stuff

00:40.953 –> 00:51.368
[SPEAKER_00]: My name is Kesheesh and the founder and CEO of the Nepali spirit company, which is a craft whiskey company that was launched just this December, so that’s the short of it.

00:52.023 –> 00:52.604
[SPEAKER_01]: I love that.

00:52.724 –> 00:57.769
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, for you, I mean, when did whiskey really start with you?

00:58.089 –> 01:02.133
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, we’re pointing your life where you were like, oh, whiskey didn’t have a new one to go down.

01:03.414 –> 01:19.009
[SPEAKER_00]: This was around 2017, 2018 when I started, I didn’t quite remember why or how, but I started attending, oh, whiskey auctions and, and that got me into whiskey in a way that I had never had part about before, which was,

01:18.989 –> 01:27.884
[SPEAKER_00]: not just as something that you drink and enjoy and have fun with, but just the way it’s made, it’s history, the aging process and all of that.

01:27.964 –> 01:33.032
[SPEAKER_00]: So that that turned me on to whisky in a whole different way, which is what’s led to where we are now.

01:33.132 –> 01:35.556
[SPEAKER_00]: But you know, growing up, my dad was a big whisky drinker.

01:35.616 –> 01:38.101
[SPEAKER_00]: He had a huge massive whisky collection.

01:38.201 –> 01:42.027
[SPEAKER_00]: We had business in Hong Kong and Bangkok, so you’d regularly travel.

01:42.007 –> 01:49.218
[SPEAKER_00]: being a lot of cool spirits back home, and that really was my introduction to whisky’s, I think, when I was a child.

01:49.979 –> 01:51.342
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, Hong Kong’s just wild.

01:51.782 –> 01:53.906
[SPEAKER_01]: As follows, perhaps you haven’t whisky there.

01:54.206 –> 01:54.947
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s wild to me.

01:54.987 –> 01:58.733
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, when you started going on the auctions, were you buying for drinking or for investing?

01:59.219 –> 02:00.080
[SPEAKER_00]: Both.

02:00.400 –> 02:02.722
[SPEAKER_00]: I wanted to try old spirits.

02:02.902 –> 02:11.810
[SPEAKER_00]: I’ve always been a collector ever since I think most whisky collectors were also collectors of something that the other growing up, bones, stand, tombs, otteries were.

02:14.032 –> 02:21.099
[SPEAKER_00]: So that was definitely the calamity of collector, but I also loved the idea of time traveling through spirits.

02:22.280 –> 02:23.280
[SPEAKER_00]: So that was the other reason.

02:23.701 –> 02:28.365
[SPEAKER_00]: But you know, if I didn’t put my money into good whisky, I just

02:28.497 –> 02:32.064
[SPEAKER_00]: not know where it went, so at least this way I can see it’s still there in the bottle.

02:33.026 –> 02:41.162
[SPEAKER_01]: No, I mean, and that is something, it’s interesting you use the word time travel because, you know, for all different kinds of reasons, things are very different now.

02:42.024 –> 02:42.625
[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.

02:43.145 –> 03:11.565
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, and there’s really no, you know, a lot of people try to defend that, like, oh, you know, like, no, it is just very different, you know, from the procedures of of distilling to the human beings involved, to to the marketing, the education and everything, it’s it’s all accelerated pretty significantly, totally, totally, totally with any standout whiskey in the beginning of your journey that really you’re like, whoa, this is this is something I really like.

03:12.203 –> 03:16.813
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I mean, you know, funnily enough, I think I had a very pampered start to this.

03:17.234 –> 03:20.501
[SPEAKER_00]: What I was a kid, I didn’t think much of drinking whiskey.

03:20.601 –> 03:25.311
[SPEAKER_00]: I grew up drinking Bailey’s family would allow us to drink Bailey’s as a child.

03:25.331 –> 03:28.137
[SPEAKER_00]: So I always drank Bailey’s and so that really spoils it.

03:28.117 –> 03:55.828
[SPEAKER_00]: and taste buds as far as those 2018 and older friend of mine bought me my first you know at a bar proper whiskey and that was a Macallon 18 so that was like the first proper whiskey that I started with and then that Christmas my mom bought me a Macallon 21 fine oak so so so I had a bit of a pampered start I have to say why and those and those bottles are classic I mean they really are.

03:55.808 –> 04:01.669
[SPEAKER_01]: especially those older 21-year-olds like they just, you know, they quite delicious.

04:01.769 –> 04:02.974
[SPEAKER_01]: There’s no no putting around.

04:03.456 –> 04:03.797
[SPEAKER_01]: Where?

04:04.198 –> 04:06.105
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, where in the world are you based?

04:06.727 –> 04:09.693
[SPEAKER_00]: So my wife and I recently moved to California.

04:09.713 –> 04:12.097
[SPEAKER_00]: I used to live in California before the pandemic.

04:12.117 –> 04:13.700
[SPEAKER_00]: That’s where my whiskey collection began.

04:14.722 –> 04:20.152
[SPEAKER_00]: But we’re now based in Nevada City, California, which is north, north of the state.

04:21.194 –> 04:25.883
[SPEAKER_00]: But our distillery, the Nepalese spirit company is based in Florida.

04:26.217 –> 04:28.683
[SPEAKER_01]: So tell me about the Nepali spirit company.

04:28.724 –> 04:30.348
[SPEAKER_01]: I know you sent me some product the other day.

04:31.651 –> 04:39.030
[SPEAKER_01]: I’m currently just not drinking for a minute, but I do see the bottle it’s there, and I will eventually open it up and give it a try.

04:39.151 –> 04:41.577
[SPEAKER_01]: But tell me about that, this part of your journey now.

04:41.843 –> 04:50.660
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, you know, I mean, this all ties back to the auction days when I was going through like, you know, about 25, 30,000 bottles every month between three and four auctions.

04:51.302 –> 04:56.872
[SPEAKER_00]: Now about seven auctions almost 40,000 bottles a month just reading about spirits from around the world.

04:57.754 –> 05:01.742
[SPEAKER_00]: And it got me thinking, well, Nepal has such a rich,

05:01.722 –> 05:05.207
[SPEAKER_00]: history with spirits in alcohol, but there’s nothing out there.

05:05.748 –> 05:17.203
[SPEAKER_00]: And so it got me started on book about the history of alcohol in Nepal, what it means culturally, spiritually, and as a consumer product, then I thought, well, if there’s going to be a book, people are going to read it, they’re going to want to try it.

05:17.323 –> 05:19.967
[SPEAKER_00]: So the only logical next step is to make

05:19.947 –> 05:21.650
[SPEAKER_00]: make the spirit itself available.

05:22.051 –> 05:24.696
[SPEAKER_00]: So this really started back in 2018 for me.

05:25.698 –> 05:27.041
[SPEAKER_00]: And it’s rice whisky.

05:27.061 –> 05:29.907
[SPEAKER_00]: So you know, America doesn’t really make that much rice whisky.

05:30.007 –> 05:33.274
[SPEAKER_00]: It’s more of a corn and other green culture.

05:33.855 –> 05:35.037
[SPEAKER_00]: So

05:35.017 –> 05:43.741
[SPEAKER_00]: It took a while to get this going, but about one and a half years ago, I felt like we were good to go and so we really started the production process.

05:44.303 –> 05:48.675
[SPEAKER_00]: We went through a couple of thousand pounds of rice to get the product right.

05:49.015 –> 05:50.680
[SPEAKER_00]: We went through a lot of tasty things.

05:50.660 –> 06:00.015
[SPEAKER_00]: a lot of fermenters, but what we put out in December, I think is what we had as far to get to.

06:00.115 –> 06:11.072
[SPEAKER_00]: And right now, we’re just doing the care rice whisky, which is the traditional thousand year old whisky heritage from Kathmandu Nepal, the capital city and the valley of Nepal.

06:11.573 –> 06:15.739
[SPEAKER_00]: But this spring, we’re also going to be putting out aged and other products.

06:16.057 –> 06:26.269
[SPEAKER_01]: So tell me, I mean, this is all new to me, you know, tell me about the process and everything and the history on, you know, you just said a thousand, you know, what is the history on the Rice Push ski over there?

06:27.076 –> 06:46.620
[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, alcohol has been used in our culture for about 25, 35 hundred years, but really in Nepal as modern Nepal start to take shape, alcohol was always a spiritual product, so you offered it to the gods first, then you offered it to your ancestors and only then would you

06:46.600 –> 06:50.905
[SPEAKER_00]: consume it and share it with people around you in one part of our culture.

06:50.925 –> 06:56.310
[SPEAKER_00]: It’s even one of the five must have in in your auspicious offerings.

06:56.831 –> 07:06.561
[SPEAKER_00]: The first time I had alcohol was around 11 days after I was born because it is part of an offering that must be made in the naming ceremony of the child.

07:07.041 –> 07:10.465
[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, I guess I was 11 days old left first.

07:10.445 –> 07:17.777
[SPEAKER_00]: He’s the alcohol, but when next time would have been, I think at six, one’s age, when there’s another ceremony, right, speeding ceremony.

07:18.178 –> 07:26.912
[SPEAKER_00]: But for that too, for every auspicious occasion, from verse to end to funeral rights to remembering your ancestors, alcohol is part of the auspicious offering.

07:26.932 –> 07:32.301
[SPEAKER_01]: And it’s how

07:32.281 –> 07:36.066
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, so for people from Kashpandu Nepal, it’s always been rice.

07:36.527 –> 07:43.816
[SPEAKER_00]: We make millet-based alcohol in other parts of the country too, but I’m from Kashpandu and I’m from an ethnic group called the Nehwar.

07:43.836 –> 07:54.390
[SPEAKER_00]: So for us, this is like the distilled version is at least a thousand-year-old living heritage and the good version goes to 15,000 years.

07:55.147 –> 08:04.940
[SPEAKER_01]: And what is the process with the, I mean, like I said, this is, you know, obviously I know more great that everything, like what’s the process of making this and I’m lines and all that stuff.

08:05.541 –> 08:18.778
[SPEAKER_00]: Traditionally, you know, it’s made with every family will came to have their own recipe and then it does vary, but traditionally it’s made with like local marches, which are fermenters and and that involves a lot of seasonal botanics.

08:19.699 –> 08:20.901
[SPEAKER_00]: So rice is.

08:20.881 –> 08:32.540
[SPEAKER_00]: rude as you would with these with these fermenters and then it’s distilled three times usually in copper you know with a clay pot then to a copper pot over wood or straw fire.

08:32.600 –> 08:45.842
[SPEAKER_00]: So it’s very very old almost primitive form of distillation but what really made that makes the taste different for family to family or town to town are the different botanics that they end up using in the in the fermenter.

08:45.822 –> 08:52.131
[SPEAKER_00]: Here, you know, because this has to be FD approved, we need to make the same product season in season out.

08:52.231 –> 08:55.576
[SPEAKER_00]: This is a, you know, this design for the market.

08:55.996 –> 08:58.119
[SPEAKER_00]: So this is completely modern, distillery.

08:58.520 –> 09:03.868
[SPEAKER_00]: We got the firm interest correct, and we just, the standard in industrial alcohol production.

09:04.428 –> 09:09.516
[SPEAKER_00]: But what we didn’t do is we didn’t buy neutral green spirits in bulk and, and make our product.

09:09.536 –> 09:12.640
[SPEAKER_00]: This is something that we created from scratch.

09:12.620 –> 09:16.530
[SPEAKER_00]: for our product, for Kachman Duayla, which is the first of spirit that we’ve put out.

09:16.971 –> 09:21.261
[SPEAKER_00]: And the other whiskeys are based off this white whisky.

09:22.664 –> 09:29.481
[SPEAKER_01]: And as far as the barrels and stuff, it’s like it’s all done in stainless steel, or is it done in wood, or like how does that work?

09:29.832 –> 09:31.816
[SPEAKER_00]: So, good points.

09:31.836 –> 09:42.979
[SPEAKER_00]: Traditionally, when I was writing the book and researching history of alcohol production development in Nepal, what really surprised me was, like I said, this is a thousand year old whisky heritage.

09:43.019 –> 09:45.664
[SPEAKER_00]: So, we’ve been distilling whisky for a thousand years, but

09:45.644 –> 09:47.487
[SPEAKER_00]: we never aged it in wood.

09:47.908 –> 09:49.530
[SPEAKER_00]: We never aged it at all.

09:49.711 –> 09:58.385
[SPEAKER_00]: And the reason it’s interesting is because Nepal in the 1200s for the 1600s was famous all across the world for its woodwork and brass work.

09:58.405 –> 10:01.210
[SPEAKER_00]: So we were very, very fine metal and woodworkers.

10:01.690 –> 10:06.478
[SPEAKER_00]: But somehow the rice whiskey, Ila, as it’s known, was never aged.

10:06.899 –> 10:12.428
[SPEAKER_00]: What we did do was we would put it in pots with whole spices

10:12.408 –> 10:14.672
[SPEAKER_00]: and season it, but it was never aged in wood.

10:14.732 –> 10:27.092
[SPEAKER_00]: So, what I’ve done with the Nepalese spirit company is the first product we put out the Kahpanu island, that’s the traditional white whisky version, but we have Masala, Masala whisky, that’s going to be released the spring.

10:27.112 –> 10:33.302
[SPEAKER_00]: So, that’s the white whisky rice whisky aged in Amurana cost with whole spices from Nepal.

10:33.282 –> 10:41.337
[SPEAKER_00]: then we have unnappurno whiskey, which is going to be our annual limited edition release, just about 300 to 500 bottles per release.

10:41.738 –> 10:43.902
[SPEAKER_00]: So that’s a long-eged rice whiskey.

10:43.942 –> 10:49.873
[SPEAKER_00]: The first batch is going to have rice whiskey aged in bourbon costs for seven years and

10:50.478 –> 10:53.284
[SPEAKER_00]: a separate batch is didn’t share cost for five years.

10:53.365 –> 10:54.006
[SPEAKER_00]: I’m blended.

10:54.046 –> 10:55.890
[SPEAKER_00]: So this is just in the visual.

10:55.971 –> 11:01.944
[SPEAKER_01]: And it’s all you said earlier, this is all happening in Florida or you’re putting the viral somewhere else age in Florida.

11:02.365 –> 11:07.457
[SPEAKER_01]: So you’re dealing with humidity and temperatures with it like yes, I go.

11:07.522 –> 11:11.874
[SPEAKER_00]: There’s a lot of humidity and temperature, but the wind is getting pretty cool.

11:11.894 –> 11:12.856
[SPEAKER_00]: So it’s all right.

11:12.897 –> 11:14.040
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it balances out.

11:14.521 –> 11:16.386
[SPEAKER_00]: And we’re doing this for the first time there.

11:16.426 –> 11:17.449
[SPEAKER_00]: So we’re worried.

11:17.469 –> 11:23.826
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I don’t know anyone that’s like, this is like to me, it’s like, wow, like that’s a hell of a temperature to work with wood in.

11:23.806 –> 11:47.417
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, climate-wise that I’m just, you know, I’m here because obviously, you know, everyone listening, the hotter it is and the more humid it is, the more rapid the aging is because the woods, like basically like fully expanded, almost, you know, a good good portion of the year, which allows all the whiskey to get in there and kind of just keep going, you know, as opposed to a traditional place where it’s more cold than it is warm.

11:47.397 –> 11:47.738
[SPEAKER_00]: Yep.

11:48.419 –> 11:53.206
[SPEAKER_00]: And, and it’ll be interesting because we were lucky enough to get some Mizunara costs as well.

11:53.827 –> 12:03.403
[SPEAKER_00]: And, and I really want to, and we’ve, we’ve laid down a whole bunch of barrels, Mizunara, bourbon, and all of a sudden, and he managed to share he costs.

12:03.563 –> 12:06.328
[SPEAKER_00]: So I’m very curious as to see how they turn out in a couple of years.

12:06.769 –> 12:13.219
[SPEAKER_00]: But the new Mizunara, you know, for eight years, at least it’s just locked in there, which is a big tasting it, but we’re not going to be doing much with it.

12:13.199 –> 12:16.042
[SPEAKER_00]: I hope to release that at 12 to 18 years.

12:16.503 –> 12:20.007
[SPEAKER_00]: Some of our rice whiskey that we’ve put into barrels last year.

12:20.628 –> 12:22.350
[SPEAKER_00]: I’m not going to see him for a very long time.

12:22.490 –> 12:27.456
[SPEAKER_00]: But the unapurna is one that will release every year with different blends and different each statements.

12:27.896 –> 12:32.762
[SPEAKER_00]: And the last one we have is called Hakuchaku Himalayan Espresso Liquor.

12:32.782 –> 12:42.413
[SPEAKER_00]: So that’s the Rice Whiskey, Kier Rice Whiskey, organic Nepali coffee, Chaku, which is the oldest form of candy from Kachman, which is a chewy dark molasses.

12:43.287 –> 12:46.033
[SPEAKER_01]: And what’s the flavor profile, like traditionally?

12:46.154 –> 12:54.192
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, because you mentioned that there’s different laurels that, you know, in the recipes, like what is the average flavor profile?

12:54.965 –> 13:16.697
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, you know, even before we get to the flavor, the most defining character of Ila in Kahpanu is, and this is literally burned in everyone’s memory and nostalgia of drinking the Ila, is that you feel it from the moment it touches your lips and it enters your mouth and goes down your throat and enters your stomach, you feel the fire.

13:16.717 –> 13:21.124
[SPEAKER_00]: So it’s a higher ABV, or if it’s that direction.

13:21.104 –> 13:25.249
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, traditionally it’s very common for it to be 60 to 75.

13:25.870 –> 13:29.794
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, yeah, and that’s pulled from rice.

13:30.655 –> 13:31.456
[SPEAKER_00]: It’s pulled from rice.

13:31.977 –> 13:32.237
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

13:32.758 –> 13:33.419
[SPEAKER_00]: Really, who rice?

13:34.560 –> 13:35.882
[SPEAKER_00]: I had one in September.

13:36.022 –> 13:37.924
[SPEAKER_00]: I’ve been doing back and forth.

13:38.845 –> 13:41.288
[SPEAKER_00]: I traveled in about very regularly, pretty much every year.

13:41.929 –> 13:49.558
[SPEAKER_00]: And for this product also, we’ve been doing a lot of tasting, so I’ve taken the chance to taste all the local stuff.

13:49.538 –> 14:01.674
[SPEAKER_00]: And in September I tasted one, I think that was at 70% alcohol and you know, it was exactly like what I remember the first time I went and bought one to try it myself in greed six.

14:01.694 –> 14:08.243
[SPEAKER_00]: I think I was in greed six when I went to a streetside shop and ordered this, I love for the first time.

14:08.763 –> 14:10.726
[SPEAKER_00]: And it’s that you feel it from your lips to your tummy.

14:11.267 –> 14:17.655
[SPEAKER_00]: But when we were, and I’m sorry, and for the flavor profile, it can very, very widely.

14:17.635 –> 14:26.906
[SPEAKER_00]: But what I wanted with this product was it’s made of rice so and it’s made for not just from Nepalis, but also for you know, I want people all around the world to try this.

14:27.367 –> 14:29.750
[SPEAKER_00]: People who are used to drinking fine spirits.

14:30.291 –> 14:40.403
[SPEAKER_00]: So I wanted the profile to be soft with the sweet aftertaste and I think we’ve achieved that to a great degree less so of the botanics.

14:40.838 –> 14:53.897
[SPEAKER_00]: The other interesting thing about the local district in Kathmandu is that the flavor changes over time because I think when they put it now they put it in plastic bottles or you know empty bottles of Jimmy and Jack Daniels.

14:55.018 –> 15:10.440
[SPEAKER_00]: There was one sample we were trying in September and my friend who distilled it was like oh it tasted really different when I had it a month ago and how it’s totally different and then the proof had dropped to 55% from 70 and so yeah and that’s just in the bottle

15:10.893 –> 15:12.618
[SPEAKER_00]: it’s in the bottle, yeah, that was just in the bottle.

15:13.862 –> 15:21.325
[SPEAKER_01]: So oxygen causes the oxidizer, I mean, you know, that’s only thing is really changing, is the oxidization, that changes it, wow.

15:21.794 –> 15:29.208
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so it’s very, very widely, but we can obviously we kind of have any of that for a product we’re putting out in the international market.

15:29.248 –> 15:35.320
[SPEAKER_00]: So here in the bottle, it’ll stay at 50-40% for the foreseeable future.

15:35.340 –> 15:39.368
[SPEAKER_00]: And the taste profile is that soft subtle sweetness in the mouth.

15:39.909 –> 15:43.195
[SPEAKER_00]: And everyone, we’ve tasted this with,

15:43.175 –> 15:47.327
[SPEAKER_00]: members of the Nepali community as well as non-Napali community and it’s been very interesting.

15:47.728 –> 15:58.197
[SPEAKER_00]: So for folks who are non-Napali’s, if they enjoy drinking vodka, taquila and gin, they really, really like our

15:58.177 –> 16:05.587
[SPEAKER_01]: This is what I’m going to ask you, like, how is this enjoyed, is that a shot is it on the rocks, is it in a cocktail, I mean, it’s really interesting.

16:06.588 –> 16:09.833
[SPEAKER_01]: And in Nepal, are there other whiskeys, or are you the first whisky to come?

16:09.873 –> 16:10.814
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you said there is.

16:11.134 –> 16:15.000
[SPEAKER_01]: There’s been rice whisky per thousand a year, but are there other brands on the market?

16:15.861 –> 16:27.897
[SPEAKER_00]: So traditionally, it is consumed as shots, you know, like small, clean saucers, like tiny, clean saucers.

16:28.062 –> 16:28.783
[SPEAKER_01]: like Mescal.

16:28.803 –> 16:29.905
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, that makes for, okay.

16:30.486 –> 16:45.933
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, but we’ve also realized that it makes for really good isletinies, islet readers and islet pollutants, so you just replace your white spirit in your cosmopolitan margarita or martini, and it makes for a good cocktail as well.

16:46.394 –> 16:50.982
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think it’ll work really well as a mixer and I’m coming to you at a question, you know?

16:50.962 –> 16:57.948
[SPEAKER_00]: This is always made by families and towns or like community groups, so it has never been commercially sold as such.

16:58.028 –> 17:09.458
[SPEAKER_00]: There was one company some years ago that launched a commercial version of the Isla, but I think it was just like really high proof neutral green spirits and then people didn’t quite like it.

17:09.538 –> 17:11.300
[SPEAKER_00]: So I don’t even know if they make it anymore.

17:11.320 –> 17:19.247
[SPEAKER_00]: This is from Nepal, but internationally we’re the first rice whisky of the first Nepali rice whisky company and product out there.

17:20.594 –> 17:21.737
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, that’s a big challenge.

17:21.777 –> 17:23.019
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you got, you got your world.

17:23.039 –> 17:24.462
[SPEAKER_01]: How do you do it?

17:24.483 –> 17:37.090
[SPEAKER_01]: Education and all of that, you know, it’s, I’m excited to try it because this is very interesting, but I’m like, I’m also looking at you from a business sense and a collector sense and I’m like, man, this is a hell of a project.

17:37.130 –> 17:39.295
[SPEAKER_01]: You guys have wrangled your head around.

17:39.275 –> 18:04.320
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, you know, I mean, fortunately part of the reason we couldn’t take off or I didn’t think it was practical to take off in the years before 2025 was that, uh, the Nepali community around the world itself was still just nascent, but now we’re at a point where, you know, we have Nepali find dining restaurants and the palis have become a very high spending consumer group across America, also one of the fastest going, um, Asian communities in America.

18:04.300 –> 18:14.680
[SPEAKER_00]: So we have centers like Texas, California, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, where the Himalayan community and the Nepali language speaking community is really, really large.

18:15.461 –> 18:21.492
[SPEAKER_00]: And all of us need this for all of our life rituals and festivals and cultural activities.

18:21.953 –> 18:26.562
[SPEAKER_00]: So that is sort of like a

18:26.542 –> 18:34.595
[SPEAKER_00]: But I do have my site set on like I do want to introduce Nepal to Nepal experts to the general audience and the world out there.

18:35.095 –> 18:43.388
[SPEAKER_01]: So so hopefully with all of you, especially you talk my bourbon and Harry and Miss Unara, you know, you’re now like you’re you tweaking it a little bit to more to that palette.

18:43.749 –> 18:47.655
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I would imagine this is more of a Scotch drinker than it is a

18:47.635 –> 18:50.200
[SPEAKER_01]: Bourbon whiskey drinker or am I wrong?

18:50.360 –> 19:08.614
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, I think I think our age drives whiskey’s will will be more towards a Scotch drinker category and and that is sort of what I wanted to do because I wanted even members of the Nepali communities to see that something from their community can be as good as or can compete with

19:08.594 –> 19:12.097
[SPEAKER_00]: some of the best scorches out there and I’m not saying we’ll be able to do that immediately.

19:12.117 –> 19:17.282
[SPEAKER_00]: You’ll like I said our music artists in the cast for the next 12 to 15 years, but that’s the aspiration.

19:17.483 –> 19:25.330
[SPEAKER_00]: And this year we do hope to, you know, we also have American single malls that are easing in our barrels right now about 10 years old.

19:25.851 –> 19:32.677
[SPEAKER_00]: So we’ll be launching, yeah, so we’ll be launching other other spirits in the coming years.

19:33.138 –> 19:37.842
[SPEAKER_00]: I’m a gin lover, so we’re working on a gin with a

19:37.822 –> 19:39.744
[SPEAKER_01]: Makes sense because you like the botanicals.

19:40.284 –> 19:41.165
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, absolutely.

19:41.225 –> 19:42.527
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, absolutely, exactly.

19:42.967 –> 19:48.873
[SPEAKER_00]: So we have a gin in the works and I’m excited to launch the American single malt as well.

19:48.973 –> 19:55.179
[SPEAKER_00]: The last time we tried it last summer, it was just about nine and a half years old and it tasted fantastic.

19:55.239 –> 19:58.243
[SPEAKER_00]: So I’m looking forward to seeing how it’s going to look this spring.

19:59.384 –> 20:03.728
[SPEAKER_01]: Man, from a collector from everything you really jumped in, you know,

20:04.400 –> 20:13.736
[SPEAKER_01]: It’s kind of exciting now back now I’m excited listen like I said I got the bottle I’m looking forward to trying it.

20:13.796 –> 20:25.375
[SPEAKER_01]: I was kind of just intrigued by the whole process and it’s kind of cool You know hearing a tiny bit about your history with your dad and stuff and how it kind of cultivated your brain to be like, yeah, you know I kind of like this.

20:25.435 –> 20:26.998
[SPEAKER_01]: This is quite a journey

20:26.978 –> 20:52.395
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, as far as just going back for a second just to the world of, you know, um, other whiskey, um, you know, were you growing up with it and, you know, with any extended experiences in Hong Kong or anywhere else in Asia, you were like, you got to drink some crazy stuff or stuff you bought on auction that you’ve just been blown away that you kind of helped craft this journey you’re going on now with an

20:53.219 –> 21:10.350
[SPEAKER_00]: In Singapore, we’re actually not too long ago, in Singapore in 2019, I got to drink a Macallon 1974 limited edition, 25-year-old, and also a long-hawn ram 11 years old from that series, you know, the four different bottles that they had released.

21:10.330 –> 21:20.260
[SPEAKER_00]: And the rum, that rum was eye-opening to me because in Nepal we generally just have sweet spicy rum and that rum really opened up my eyes.

21:20.901 –> 21:34.195
[SPEAKER_00]: But the interesting things that we drank, you know, like growing up from that collection, it was more of being an audience rather than drinking it, because Dili’s and Sheridan, this is what very contained to you.

21:34.175 –> 21:38.722
[SPEAKER_00]: But that has translated into our own making of the Hakuchapu coffee liquor.

21:38.742 –> 21:49.499
[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, the easiest way to describe it is like Mr. Black, but it’s rice whiskey with organic Nepali coffee from Nepal, and no sugar at all, just dark molasses.

21:49.599 –> 21:50.641
[SPEAKER_00]: So, just three ingredients.

21:51.442 –> 21:55.168
[SPEAKER_00]: But some of my standout, I mean, I bought this from an auction.

21:55.208 –> 22:02.359
[SPEAKER_00]: I think at bought a 1979 four roses in a decanter,

22:02.339 –> 22:03.781
[SPEAKER_00]: pretty exceptional.

22:03.821 –> 22:09.870
[SPEAKER_00]: I shared it with a bunch of in the whisky community and they really seem to have enjoyed it too.

22:09.970 –> 22:13.254
[SPEAKER_00]: I still have one unopened bottle left, so saving out.

22:13.274 –> 22:20.044
[SPEAKER_01]: And I was like, you know, you know, the big risk buying the canters because unfortunately, they just the seals aren’t amazing.

22:20.024 –> 22:21.346
[SPEAKER_00]: Exactly, exactly.

22:21.406 –> 22:25.874
[SPEAKER_00]: So the one that I did end up opening was the one that I’d evaporate slightly.

22:26.735 –> 22:30.942
[SPEAKER_00]: The one that I’m still holding on to is pretty full after the neck level.

22:31.644 –> 22:36.752
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, I mean, most recently, you know, believe it or not, it’s almost embarrassing to say this.

22:36.772 –> 22:42.522
[SPEAKER_00]: But I finally tasted cracked open Glendron at 12 Sherry Cask.

22:42.721 –> 22:46.464
[SPEAKER_00]: My God, it really lives up to the hype I have to say for it to a level.

22:46.484 –> 22:48.246
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that’s Sherry is, you know.

22:48.266 –> 22:51.289
[SPEAKER_00]: It’s just, it really did live up to the hype.

22:51.829 –> 22:54.652
[SPEAKER_00]: So now I’m looking forward to trying out their older expressions of Sherry.

22:54.972 –> 23:04.020
[SPEAKER_00]: I gotta say, you know, there was a couple of years ago, as back in Nepal and a friend of mine, we did a high school costume union, all the boys and we went to a club.

23:04.821 –> 23:12.728
[SPEAKER_00]: And before you knew it, my friend who was hosting the evening and I, between the two of us,

23:12.708 –> 23:17.275
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it was a fun night, but not so much a font and fun morning.

23:17.295 –> 23:19.439
[SPEAKER_01]: That makes me sad.

23:20.060 –> 23:26.791
[SPEAKER_00]: And then another friend of mine invited me for dinner that night and he cracked open a Yamazaki.

23:26.831 –> 23:36.707
[SPEAKER_00]: And it was just, there was no way I could enjoy that Yamazaki that evening because there was just too much of us we got in there.

23:36.687 –> 23:43.247
[SPEAKER_00]: But I am more of a, I have definitely more of a sharey cost for some than a smoky whiskey.

23:43.989 –> 23:46.758
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you’ve got it definitely also just on the Asian tip.

23:46.778 –> 23:49.887
[SPEAKER_01]: You’ve got to try the Kavalan sharey casks.

23:50.052 –> 23:50.893
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, yes, I did.

23:50.953 –> 23:52.635
[SPEAKER_00]: Actually, I got a chance.

23:52.715 –> 23:55.318
[SPEAKER_00]: So my wife and I were in Kentucky and neat.

23:55.518 –> 23:58.001
[SPEAKER_00]: The bar had just recently opened.

23:58.782 –> 24:10.916
[SPEAKER_00]: And so the owner is, and we got talking, and he was so excited that he went back to his office and brought out a bottle of Kavalan, Sherry Cask, and Bourbon Cask, and we tried it at his bar.

24:10.996 –> 24:17.764
[SPEAKER_00]: He was generous enough to share a shot of each, and I remember them being very, very fantastic.

24:17.947 –> 24:33.323
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I mean, just, you know, the hawkishu sherry cast from, you know, from Sun, uh, the cobble on sherry cast is something you definitely want to, you know, going into the Asian market, try their sherry cast because they’re, they’re renowned, renowned.

24:33.691 –> 24:35.333
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, dude, I can’t thank you enough for coming on.

24:35.373 –> 24:37.275
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much for sending the bottle as well.

24:37.315 –> 24:43.382
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you want to share with my listeners, all your Instagrams, and all that good stuff as well, that they can follow you?

24:43.442 –> 24:44.924
[SPEAKER_00]: Cause this is going to be a hell of a journey, man.

24:45.865 –> 24:46.326
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, thank you.

24:46.506 –> 24:52.693
[SPEAKER_00]: And the one thing I do want to mention is in this journey, the journey, you know, without the team, the journey doesn’t happen.

24:52.793 –> 24:59.361
[SPEAKER_00]: And one of the reasons I could go all in and get this done with my wife Lilo last year was because

24:59.341 –> 25:02.668
[SPEAKER_00]: of my partner is Nira Chresta from North Carolina.

25:03.068 –> 25:05.954
[SPEAKER_00]: He was our first and I appointed him the first chairman of the board.

25:06.375 –> 25:11.345
[SPEAKER_00]: We’ve been, for instance, agreed three Santos Bussnet, who lives out here in California as well in Marin County.

25:12.026 –> 25:14.852
[SPEAKER_00]: He is now the chairman and last year he was the director.

25:14.832 –> 25:22.863
[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, between my wife Lilo, Neeraj and Santosh, and myself, you know, that this wouldn’t have been possible without the three of them around.

25:23.583 –> 25:27.108
[SPEAKER_00]: And to follow us, our website is pretty easy, theNapaliSpirit.com.

25:27.268 –> 25:29.571
[SPEAKER_00]: Our socials are the Nepalese spirit.

25:30.533 –> 25:34.077
[SPEAKER_00]: And, yeah, on Instagram and Facebook is where we’re most active.

25:34.257 –> 25:35.980
[SPEAKER_00]: Just add the Nepalese spirit.

25:36.520 –> 25:39.304
[SPEAKER_00]: And our first product, Kathmandu, allies out in the market.

25:39.284 –> 25:41.407
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, that’s that Gavin, dude.

25:41.867 –> 25:42.468
[SPEAKER_00]: I’m excited.

25:42.768 –> 25:43.069
[SPEAKER_01]: All right.

25:43.089 –> 25:43.930
[SPEAKER_01]: I will crack it open.

25:44.030 –> 25:44.831
[SPEAKER_01]: I will give it a try.

25:44.871 –> 25:46.814
[SPEAKER_01]: I’m going the way this weekend for some kids stuff.

25:46.874 –> 25:50.498
[SPEAKER_01]: I’ll bring the bottle with and I’ll let you know, but seriously, thank you for coming on.

25:50.558 –> 25:51.460
[SPEAKER_01]: It was awesome to learn.

25:51.500 –> 25:56.486
[SPEAKER_01]: I’m excited to see your journey because, you know, as a as a collector, it’s been fun watching you as well.

25:56.506 –> 25:57.607
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, God, they’re hunting.

25:58.328 –> 25:59.229
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much, Gavin.

25:59.249 –> 26:01.292
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for having the Nepali spirit on your show.

26:01.441 –> 26:02.182
[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely pleasure.

26:02.202 –> 26:03.365
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you everyone for listening.

26:03.385 –> 26:03.826
[SPEAKER_01]: Definitely.

26:03.846 –> 26:04.447
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you, my man.

26:04.547 –> 26:05.689
[SPEAKER_01]: Everyone, please go listen.

26:05.749 –> 26:07.512
[SPEAKER_01]: I can’t thank you enough for all your help.

26:07.913 –> 26:15.147
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, the last couple of years on this podcast, and I’m just excited to keep bringing you great, great guests who are truly passionate about the spirit.

26:15.628 –> 26:17.431
[SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, here we’ve got to learn something new.

26:17.471 –> 26:20.737
[SPEAKER_01]: So thank you everyone for listening and we will see you on the next show.

26:20.758 –> 26:21.559
[SPEAKER_01]: That’s a wrap.