New Delhi, May 31 -- "How does one address an Earl?" was the thought swirling through my head as I waited to meet Richard de la Poer Beresford, the Earl of Tyrone and heir to the title of Marquess of Waterford. It turns out I needn't have worried too much about it as the 37-year-old Earl introduces himself as Richard when he walks into Pickwick's at Delhi's Claridge's Hotel with a duffel bag bulging with Irish whiskey and just as many stories about his family.

The family's estate is Curraghmore in southwestern Ireland, which is known for producing some of the world's highest-quality malted barley that makes Irish whiskey unique. The estate was part of the land grant made to his ancestor Sir Roger le Puher by Henry II in 1167. It is the o...