Old Monk creator, Padmashri Kapil Mohan dies of cardiac arrest

Mumbai: Kapil Mohan, the mastermind behind famous rum brand Old Monk, passed away on Monday night at the age of 88.

Mohan, who was the chairman and managing director of Mohan Meakin, the first known brewery in India, had a fatal cardiac arrest at his residence in Ghaziabad.

He was also a recipient of the Vishisht Seva Medal and a brigadier at the time of his retirement from the Indian Armed Forces.

Launched in 1954, Old Monk was the largest selling dark rum in the world for a long time.

Recently, however, the sales had dropped and Old Monk saw a 54 per cent decline in sales between 2010-14, according to a report in Times of India. This was about a quarter of the sales it had had in the 1960s.

Mohan was honored by the Government of India, in 2010, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of the Padma Shri.

After the news broke on social media, twitteratti paid tributes to the legendary entrepreneur by clinking their glasses.

Mohan is survived by his wife Pushpa Mohan and nephews Hemant and Vinay, between whom he had distributed the responsibilities of his various companies, as he was unwell for the last few years.