India sets a new tone

Indian whisky has had its ups and downs over the years, but distillers’ talk of a quality revolution suggests it’s back in the ascendant. Dominic Roskrow reports

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HAS ANYONE ELSE noticed the weird phenomenon of the disappearing world whisky brand? One month you can’t move for features on whiskies from some exciting new part of the world, the whiskies are being showered with awards, and everyone wants a taste of the action. The next month, nothing. The circus has left town and normal service is resumed… until next time. It happened with Australian whisky. It happened with Japanese whisky. And now it seems to be happening with Asian whisky and, in particular, Indian.

Why? Well, partly because the media is a fickle beast and once the story’s gone writers move on like a group of hungry soldier ants. But there’s more to it than that. All the awards and attention create demand, prices rise, supply struggles. From wanting to talk to anyone and win everything, the producers shy away from publicity that will create an even greater demand they can’t meet, possibly alienating and annoying potential consumers. And, in turn, that leaves a void for some new country to try to fill.

But the main reason is growing pains. Think about it: you’re a world whisky producer and everyone’s talking to you and about you. It’s great that you’re selling everything you produce. But what next? You have choices: stay small and esoteric; grow gradually; focus on your best markets and ditch others; raise funds, invest heavily and go global; or look for an overseas partner and shoot for the stars.

More than that, what are you going to do? You like making whisky, but do you want to be the head distiller, the managing director, or a global brand ambassador?

Decisions, decisions. And as expansion for whisky makers means a hefty time delay, any of these factors can result in you exiting stage left – at least for a while. Question is, will someone have moved into your seat when you return?

Never is this issue more acute than in the Indian market. Internally India has always been a huge whisky market, made up of some internationally-backed huge brands and countless spirits drinks made with molasses and described as ‘whiskies.’

But 12 years ago, along came Amrut, a distillery in Bangalore making single malt whisky. Not only that, but showing a remarkable ability to think outside the box and set whisky enthusiasts alight with stunning, innovative, creative whiskies. For a while there, Amrut was the toast of world whisky.

Then, in many world territories, it all went quiet.

EXPANSION PROJECT

So what happened? Ashok Chokalingam, general manager for international sales & marketing at Amrut, who has moved back to India from the UK, reveals that the distillery is in the process of expanding and hints that it’s not all been plain sailing.

“We have been working on moving in the right direction,” he says. “We are also working on the distillery expansion project where we will be building a new malt distilling plant adjacent to where we are now. Our Indian market is gaining momentum for our single malts and Europe is getting stronger.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Amrut has faced a battle in some territories to hold its position, first from Taiwanese distiller Kavalan and, more recently, from India’s John Distilleries, which has launched a range of single malts under its Paul John brand.

The new whiskies – a mixture of peated and lightly peated at cask strength and 46% – were launched to the same flurry of activity. And then nothing. The global brand ambassador left, there were rumours of stock damaged in a ship fire, and plans for expansion were put on hold for at least a year as the company quite literally took stock.

But, according to Krish Kumar, John Distilleries general manager, international sales & marketing, the company has made major strides forward in the past year or so. Paul John is now exported to more than 20 countries and can be found in some of the most exclusive travel retail outlets in the world.

“Currently all markets for us are up and coming and are performing well,” he says. “The focus will be to strategically develop each market depending on its individual trends. We have seen a great increase in interest in France and Germany recently.

“Having established a presence in the UK and Europe, we will be focusing more on the US and Australia this year. However, we believe every market has great potential and that there is always scope for growth across markets.”

According to Chokalingam, one of the most surprising trends for Amrut is the growing acceptance of its whiskies in India itself.

“In India, the mindset of consumers has been changing,” he says. “We are gaining acceptance among the early 30s age group and acceptance of Indian products is gaining momentum which is a great sign for us. In the global market we are gaining momentum which is stretching beyond the whisky geeks who have been our main market over the years. This is certainly encouraging.”

Both Paul John and Amrut believe that recent months mark a lengthy calm before a fresh storm for Indian whisky. Amrut has two new whiskies planned for later in 2016, including one that it reckons will surprise and delight the ‘whisky geeks’. There are two new Paul John malts on the way, including an oloroso sherry cask finish, as well as a couple of single cask expressions.

There are signs, too, that India is set to produce more of its own whisky. Two or three distillery projects are in the pipeline and Rampur Distillery has announced firm plans. So, is Indian whisky set to return to the world stage? It seems so.

“Overall it is all very encouraging and I believe India will have a [single malt] category of its own shortly,” says Amrut’s Chokalingam.

“More Indian whiskies are on the horizon. Growing interest in Indian culture will be an integral part of the Indian whisky phenomena. The future will be exciting and challenging and we are up for it.”

John’s Kumar agrees. “We hope that we are spearheading an Indian whisky revolution,” he says. “There is a willing and receptive consumer market the world over for Indian whiskies, so we are sure many more may follow.

“We definitely hope to keep creating and delivering great whiskies from

our end.”