Indian whisky is no secret to the trade. Consumers may still look at you with an air of scepticism when you tell them it’s the biggest producer of whisky in the world, and that more Scotch is drunk there than any other country. Of course, much of this ‘whisky’ is molasses based and therefore wouldn’t meet European standards, but in Drinks International’s Millionaires’ Club there are 12 brands which sold more than a million 9-litre cases in 2022 – the majority are blended Scotch-style whiskies owned by either Pernod Ricard or Diageo’s Indian subsidiary United Spirits. However, over the past two decades a new wave of premium single malts has emerged, largely led by Paul John, Amrut and Rampur, and now some new faces are helping to mute the sceptics.

In Eleanor Yates’ report on the category last year, the consensus was that these premium producers were taking caution over economic uncertainty as inflation continued to hit parts of the world following the pandemic and the prospects of a UK-India free trade deal began to fade. Yet 12 months on, and negotiations with Britain rekindled, these concerns appear to have faded.

“Indian whisky is on fire at the moment and this category is growing very fast and strong,” says Ashok Chokalingam, head of distilling and international sales at Amrut Distilleries. “Since the Indian economy is doing well compared with the west, I think this trend will continue for some time unless any macro-economic situation evolves and poses any significant threat to this.”

Amrut produced India’s first commercial single malt in 2004 and has since emerged as one of the leading figures in premium whisky.

“Our core focus, from the sales point of view, would always be Amrut Single Malt (the brand’s entry level whisky) and our flagship brand Amrut Fusion Single Malt Whisky. We’ve found Amrut Single Malt Whisky is gaining momentum across the world as the current master distiller made significant improvements to cater to the wider audience internationally.

“Amrut is certainly focusing on all the possible markets where there is potential and appetite for single malts. We are selling in 52 countries around the world. However, Europe and North America will be our main focus.”

Category potential

One of the latest members of the new wave is Indri, produced by Piccadily Distillers and launched in 2021. Even in a short time frame the brand is recognising the potential of the category.

“The Indian single malt whisky market is on a boom,” says head of international sales Madhu Kanna. “The consumers in India are aware and benchmark Indian single malts on par, sometimes better and different from other reputed single malt brands from around the world. Thanks to increasing awareness created by the international awards that Indian single malts have won, news articles and social media. People are feeling the pride in consuming an indigenously made, world-class product.”

Yet for Indri, the attention isn’t coming just from overseas, as Kanna explains: “For Indri, both the domestic and international markets are equally important. The rise in consumption of Indian single malts domestically has been very encouraging – currently 75% of what we produce is consumed here in India.

“Internationally, our focus is on markets where the awareness and openness to enjoy a New World single malt is already high. Indri is currently available in over 18 countries including the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, France, the UAE, Australia and Singapore. However, we are working hard on building awareness and knowledge in markets like Japan, Taiwan and other Southeast Asian markets, where people are still discovering Indian single malts.

“We want to grow at the rate at which the overall market is growing for the Indian single malt category, which is a 35% increase year on year.”

This ambition is met with the plan to launch a 10-year-old in the future to go alongside the existing portfolio of three whiskies plus a travel retail exclusive. In production both Amrut and Indri have followed the Scotch whisky regulations, probably as a guarantee of quality, but Diageo’s latest single malt hasn’t. Godawan was launched by the spirits giant in spring last year and is based in the state of Rajasthan. Its first release experimented with botanical-seasoned casks to create a different style of whisky – which makes sense in a country three times the temperature of Scotland on average – and we can expect more unusual launches imminently.

In a report by Alice Lascelles for the Financial Times, Indri’s Kanna sums up the category’s bright horizon nicely: “A lot of Indians are travelling and seeing what’s happening abroad, and it’s led to a big boom in Indian spirits. I expect to see at least four or five new single malt distilleries opening in the next few years.”