Rum sales raise the heat this winter

CHANDIGARH: It's "kill-the-chill" time for city's liquor consumers and the perennial alcoholic favourite of winter, rum, is back in vogue. The daily consumption of this cane-based liquor has risen to 17,000 bottles per day for various high and low-end brands.
During the past fortnight, when the temperature hit the lowest in the season, the residents here went through 2.5 lakh bottles of rum.
Rahul Pathania, who heads the operations of high-end Scottish rum-maker, Angostura, in the area, said, "We arrived here just two months back and our variants like Angostura 1919 and 1824, which are aged eight and 12 years, respectively, and priced at Rs 2,500 and 4,500, sold quite well. We supply to just two stores in the city and even there, 100 bottles have moved in recent days," he added.
He said they had exhausted their stocks and sought more cases from Scotland.
"We had limited expectations from the market and so, did not have enough stock of our rums and whiskys. Now, as there is a winter break in Scotland, we won't be getting any fresh stock before the third week of January," he said.
Rajeev Goyal of Supermall, a modern liquor store in Sector 7, said, "We have been selling more than 100 bottles of rum from our store every day for the past fortnight. While the maximum demand has been for Old Monk rum, other favourites include McDowells and Contessa. Bottles of high-end whisky brands are also being grabbed in large numbers these days. We hope to continue with this sales pattern for another month as the chill is here to stay."
A leading liquor vendor in Sector-19 said,"This year's winter sales have been surprising and unprecedented. We have been selling more than 150 bottles of rum and whisky on every day. Low end brands that cost abort Rs 120 a bottle are in great demand. And with such weather conditions, we will have to buy a lot more stock."
One of the consumers said, "With day and evening temperatures remaining at a record low these days, there is no substitute for rum to beat the cold. It goes well with non-vegetarian food."