Open Sale of Foreign Liquor, Delight Lounge Bar to Close

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Reports about illegal selling of foreign liquor at certain bars in the city have recently surfaced. Acting on customer complaints, a sudden raid was conducted by the Excise department at Delight Lounge Bar in Chandmari on Saturday. The raid revealed that the bar was illegally serving liquor from Shillong and Arunachal Pradesh in their premises to the customers. A huge quantity of foreign liquor was seized from the bar upon which a closure notice was served to the establishment. According to the officials from the concerned department, similar raids will be conducted in various other bars in the city. The Delight Lounge Bar is ordered to immediately cease services until further notice.

Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) is the official term used by governments, businesses and media in India to refer to all types of hard liquor manufactured in the country other than indigenous alcoholic beverages such as fenny, toddy, arrack and others.

IMFL is also referred to spirits that are produced in foreign countries and imported to India in bulk quantities and bottled in an Excise Bonded Warehouse by the Importers.

A common characteristic of many IMFLs, distinct from spirits elsewhere in the world, is that irrespective of the final product the starting ingredient is a neutral spirit distilled from molasses, a byproduct of the sugar industry. This neutral spirit at 96% alcohol by volume is first reduced to 42.8% using demineralized water, whereupon flavors and other spirits are added. Caramel coloring is added at this stage to impart colour to the spirit. Most commonly, grain or malt-based whisky, which may include imported Irish or Scotch whisky is blended with the spirit.

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