Indians invent laser to detect fake whisky

Nov. 2: Indian researchers in Scotland have invented a laser test to identify fake whisky from genuine scotch malt.

Their invention could save distilleries and bars millions of pounds in Asia where counterfeit whisky is big business but knowledge of single malts is rare.

Police in India and other Asian countries regularly uncover fake whisky rackets in which organised gangs buy empty bottles, print their own labels, and mix genuine Scotch with cheap local whiskies, to pass them off as aged single malts.

Last year they discovered a Delhi-based gang passing off a mix of two Indian whiskies ' Bagpiper, popular with Indian truck drivers, and Signature, another local blend, as Johnnie Walker and Chivas Regal blends and Glenfiddich single malt.

But a new invention by three Indian physicists at St Andrews University could have uncovered the scam in a two second test. Their device fires a micro-laser beam through a tiny drop of the suspect scotch to establish its alcohol content.

In their report, published in the scientific journal Optics Express, Praveen Ashok, Kishan Dholakia and Bavishna Praveen, said their test had made possible the development of a hand-held device which could test for counterfeit drinks and deliver authoritative results within seconds.