Brummell: Sukhinder, you are in your mid-fifties, so how can you be celebrating 50 years in the business?

I have worked in the business full-time for around 30 years, but I wanted to tell the whole story, and that begins when I was a child. My parents were the first Asians in the UK to get a licence to sell alcohol, in 1972 – it was called The Nest in Hanwell, between Ealing and Southall. We lived above the shop, so my brother Rajbir and I would play behind the counter, then, as soon as we were old enough, we’d stack shelves and then ring up on the till.

The shop was my family’s life; it took up my parents’ time and we spent our school holidays in there. So, to be honest, I didn’t like the business back then!

The 1970s whisky – 50 YO Blended Malt (£1,250, 49.5%):

I’ve been very disappointed in some of the 50-year-old single malts that have been released in recent years; I feel some big names are releasing them just because they have them, but this is just stunning. We found a few casks of this Speyside whisky from 1971 and 1973, aged in ex-sherry butts. We have to call them a blended malt, as the distillery where they were ageing cannot 100% confirm they are a single malt. This is from a 1971 cask. I find it quite honeyed, with a little citrus oil, jasmine tea and eucalyptus, plus a little waxiness, for that extra layer of texture.

Moving to the 1980s, did you come to like the spirits trade a bit more?

The 1980s were when our family business grew and grew. Our biggest sellers were blended whiskies – we were one of the biggest stockists of the premium blends such as Royal Salute 21 and Ballantine’s 30. We began to stock Japanese whiskies too – we were one of the few places and we had cases of the stuff! We even had Louis XIII cognac. But my father stocked a huge array of quirky things – a lot of rums (and we had a large Afro-Caribbean clientele who would travel across London to buy from us) and interesting liqueurs. So I began to be fascinated by these bottles of different colours and shapes.

I also noticed there was a clientele (usually middle-aged men in suits) who came regularly for single malts, and I remember one customer I tried to impress by remembering he bought Talisker the previous time, but he said, no, he wanted to try something else because each single malt has its own character. That stuck with me.

The 1980s whisky – Caol Ila 1982 40 YO (£1,700, 49.5%):

Caol Ila is one of my favourite distilleries – I think it gets missed among the Islay distilleries. For me, it strikes the perfect balance between peat and fruit. This is from a parcel of stock I bought some time ago and have nurtured it ever since. Over time the peat smoke mellows into more of a complexity and structure, rather than being in your face.

You’re known as one of the foremost whisky collectors in the world. When did that start?

It started in the 1980s but really took off in the 1990s. Initially, I collected miniatures – first all spirits, but then concentrating only on whisky. That took me to travelling around Scotland to acquire collections. But I also started visiting distilleries, and began nosing and tasting whiskies, as well as learning about the history. The real eureka moment for me was when Black Bowmore was released in 1993. The packaging was sensational, the liquid was incredibly dark and people loved it but often couldn’t find it. But I could, so I started buying and selling whiskies like that by mail order from the back of my dad’s shop.

Eventually, in 1999, the family decided to sell The Nest. I suggested to my brother that we start a new business specialising in whisky. We looked at opening a shop in London and, in fact, we nearly bought Milroy’s twice! But instead, we decided to open online – The Whisky Exchange.

The 1990s whisky – Clynelish 1995 26 YO (£375, 51.5%):

For me, the biggest attraction of Clynelish is that textural element, how beautifully it coats the mouth. When we started in 1999 and moved into supplying the on-trade as well as customers directly, Clynelish was one we always used to encourage them to buy. This is a combination of Clynelish’s two styles, rich and fruity and fresh and fruity.

How did the early 2000s go for you?

That was the most important decade in the business for me – the interest in whisky really took off and we were there at the right time. At the start, it was just Raj and me doing everything (including taking the packages to the post office to dispatch), except for building the website, which was not done by some dot.com bubble IT company charging millions, but by a friend of Raj’s from college.

What really made it work was that independent bottlers such as Douglas Laing and Duncan Taylor were making single malt available from wonderful distilleries that were only distilling for blends, not bottling their own. We sold those, but also decided to bottle whiskies ourselves, as well as invest in casks for the long term.

We released our first independent bottling in our first year, 1999, a Glen Grant 31-year-old. And that has become a larger and larger part of the business, under our Elixir Distillers division. We acquired a lot of the stock of Karuizawa, the Japanese ghost distillery and have bottled much of that. We created the Elements of Islay brand in 2008, where we were one of the first to release non-age-statement single malts – my idea was to encourage people to focus purely on the liquid.

In 2004, we started Speciality Drinks to serve the on-trade; in 2006, we opened our first shop, inside Vinopolis, near Borough Market. And in 2009, we launched the Whisky Show. Ours wasn’t the first whisky show, but it was the first where distilleries could bring their best liquids because the tickets were at a premium price that justified them pouring it.

So, yes, a very exciting decade.

The 2000s whisky – Ardbeg 2000 22 YO (£495, 53.4%):

I bought these casks about 15 years ago but the barrels themselves were not in great condition, so we recasked them into ex-Jack Daniels casks to bring them back to life. I find it very chewy, quite herbacious, but also with that lovely pineapple note which is a hallmark of Ardbeg. The peat gives it a sooty and salty element.

What’s changed in your most recent decade in whisky?

The past decade or so has seen the growth of a new, younger and more diverse demographic being interested in whisky. We’ve gone from strength to strength so, to make sure The Whisky Exchange has the resources and infrastructure to deliver the next stage of business development, we sold the brand to Pernod Ricard. Meanwhile, as Elixir Distillers, we have acquired Tormore Distillery in Speyside and we’re building Portintruan distillery on Islay.

We have increased the number of shows we organise: the Cognac Show, Rum Show, Champagne Show and the Whisky Show: Old & Rare, which is even more premium. Cognac, in particular, along with Armagnac and Calvados, has huge potential – it is at that very exciting stage, with incredible value available for great liquids.

We opened our shop in Covent Garden in 2016, then Fitzrovia in 2019 and London Bridge in 2020. The reason we’ve taken the opposite journey to most – from online to physical shops – is that whisky and spirits overall are more complicated than ever. Our shops provide education to customers, with a personal touch.

Soon we’ll be opening the London Distillery School at London Bridge to educate people even further, with hands-on experience using mini stills.

The 2010s whisky – Linkwood 2011 10 YO (£62.95, 52.2%)

Linkwood was one of the first distilleries I fell in love with. This is a great fresh single malt which marries whisky from an ex-bourbon barrel with that from new-oak hogsheads. It’s packed with orchard fruit and blossom – particularly Granny Smith apples and Williams pear eau de vie – and soft spice, vanilla and a touch of white pepper. Really drinkable.

Sukhinder Singh’s 50^th Anniversary Bottlings are also available as a complete set (£3,750); thewhiskyexchange.com