In 1986, Amarlal Bajaj was in Goa setting up a distillery when his family asked him to return to Mumbai and take over the family business. His father, Giridharlal, one half of the Mohan Brothers, was a leading importer of premium liquor in India and longtime associate of Mohan Meakin, India's oldest brewing company. Bajaj's job, however, was to helm operations for the relatively young spirit, Doctor's Brandy Reserve No.1 Pure VSOP. "I thought my father would offer me a cushy post. Instead, he asked me to fill in for a tempo driver. After three months, I was upgraded to a godown keeper," he laughs. He was later given a sales job, where he had to meet retailers and develop marketing channels. After 18 months of work, Bajaj was told to head the business. "I must say, I really got my hands dirty and learnt the trade inside out, from distillation and maturation to blending and bottling."

Brandy is made from wine (fermented fruit juice), whether from grapes or another fruit, and aged in oak casks. Almost every country has its own national brandy; grappa in Italy, slivivitz in Poland, shochu in Japan and pisco in Peru. Doctor's Brandy Reserve No.1 Pure V.S.O.P happens to be the first-ever homegrown brandy to carry the Very Special Old Pale designation—a guarantee that it has been aged for at least four years. Aged for over six years in oak barrels, the grapes that go into the spirit are sourced from Nashik and Baramati and are of the same variety that are used to make sparkling wines. "I believe the secret is the high quality grape spirit and the way it is blended," says Bajaj, who went on to become the director of Mohan Brothers. "We still make the brandy the way we did back in 1972. Of course, with better technology, we are able to deliver a smoother blend."