Mithuna means 'Gemini' in Sanskrit, the third sign of the zodiac, and this release is the third instalment in Paul John's Zodiac series — a small-batch line celebrating the apex of what John Distilleries can achieve. Jim Murray crowned it World Whisky of the Year in his 2021 Whisky Bible, scoring it 97 points and propelling Indian single malt onto an entirely new global stage.
This is unpeated Paul John at full cask strength — 58% ABV, non-chill-filtered, naturally coloured — drawn from a tiny selection of bourbon barrels that the Goan climate has interrogated relentlessly. The tropical maturation does its now-familiar magic, but here the cask interaction reaches a kind of concentrated extravagance you rarely encounter outside much older Scotch.
The texture is the first thing that astonishes: viscous, coating, almost confectioner's. Then comes the avalanche of dried fruit and dark sugar, the espresso bitterness, the sandalwood spice that feels distinctly Indian. There is no peat to hide behind, and none is needed.
Mithuna is not cheap, and its scarcity has only grown since the Murray accolade. But for anyone wanting to understand just how serious Indian whisky has become, this is the bottle. It is generous, complex, perfectly balanced, and unmistakably of its place.
