Kapil Mohan, the man behind Old Monk, dies at 88

Kapil Mohan, Chairman and MD of Mohan Meakin since 1973, passed away on January 6. Mohan, considered to be the man behind the rum Old Monk, was 88 years old. 

According to reports, Mohan was extremely unwell in the last few days and died of a cardiac arrest in Ghaziabad's Mohan Nagar Area.

Brigadier (retd.) Kapil Mohan led the reins of the first known brewery, Dyer Meakin Breweries. He was also the managing director and chairman of the Maringer Mohan Hospital in Ghaziabad. 

Brewed in the Himalayas by Mohan Meakin, the famous Old Monk rum is one of the cheapest rums sold in India. He, as the managing director of Mohan Meakin, once said, "We do not advertise. I will not, and as long as I am in this chair, we will not (advertise)."

A Padma Shri recipient, Mohan worked at the Trade Links Pvt Ltd. before 1966. He was also a recipient of Vishisht Seva Medal and has also retired as a brigadier in Indian Armed Forces. 

He worked in various business areas such as malt houses glass factories, breakfast food, fruit products and juices, malt extract factories, cold storages and engineering works among others.

Mohan Meakin was founded in the early 1820s when Edward dyer had set up a brewery in Himachal Pradesh. Mohan Meakin produced Asia's first beer Lion. In 1949 NN Mohan, an Indian, purchased the stakes from the Britishers who were leaving India after the country’s Independence and changed the name of the company to Mohan Meakin.