preferred booze brands as gifts

Kia Ora

A couple of years since my last visit to the mother land. Friends were always very happy with a bottle of Johnny Walker Black, or Chivas Regal. Are these still a good 'drop' to bring as gifts or has are the rumours true that the quality of IMFL Whiskey is now so good in India, foreign brands no longer coveted? Boozy gift suggestions welcome.

dil.

for a whiskey drinker, these brands would still be welcome, even though the IMFL whiskey quality has improved. and many non whiskey drinkers like myself still like to keep a bottle or two of scotch for special friends.

other suggestions: international brands (some) of rum or vodka are easily available. so, if i want to bring booze, i usually bring

-schnapps, but thats just for me!
- wine
- liqueor.

If you are willing to spalsh out for Chivas then I suggest getting a decent single/double malt, around the same price and probably better!!

Talisker springs to mind

as we all know, the percieved quality of booze is in the branding. so, even though you may get some top quality stuff in India, there is still a craving for some scotch that is made in scotland. the standard Johnnie Walker and Chivas are still coveted even thoughthey are now available in Indian stores. A bottle of Black label was Rs 3,500 ($76) in a grocery store in Bangalore -- thats twice the price of what I paid in the US. Stick with scotch. Other other major brands (Smirnoff, Bacardi) are being made in India and availabe cheap as duty is imposed on only the imported stuff.

A bottle of Chivas is certainly a prized gift for a typical Indian male. The average male in India usually drinks whisky rather than vodka, gin, rum etc. The exception to this rule are servicemen/ex-servicemen who normally enjoy their peg of rum which they buy from the canteen.

For a male who does not drink alcohol, a bottle of cologne/perfume is generally an appropriate gift. If the person in question has a small child then any toy as a gift would be eagerly accepted.

Depends on the person. For some of my friends who do know their drinks I will go by what CH said. For others better stick to Chivas or Walker or even VAT69... these are "known scotch" whiskies.