India, Feb. 17 -- There are whiskies and then there is The Macallan. In the world of single malts, few names carry the kind of institutional weight and legacy as the Scottish distillery. A few reasons come to the mind. Above all it is craftsmanship and creativity, glassified with the spirit, and shaped with patience that can't be hurried. Every bottle meant to cherish, with curved shoulders cradling liquid gold that needs no further embellishment, possessing the promise to convert patrons into collectors. Beyond careful consideration defined by long-term discipline-when it comes to wood and maturation philosophy-it's also the consistency while still evolving with changing cultures, climates and cuisines.

And India, be rest assured, is a ...