India is becoming famous for more than just yoga, Bollywood movies, and delicious chicken tikka masala. Now, Indian single malt whiskey is making waves around the world! This unique whiskey comes from one distillery and has its own special flavor. With more people in India enjoying whiskey, distilleries are producing top-quality single malts that are winning awards.
For example, Amrut Triparva was recognized in the 2024 Best in Class list, and Indri Diwali Collector’s Edition 2023 won top honors last year. Many restaurants, like Bungalow in New York, see Indian whiskies like Indri selling better than famous brands like Macallan.
Sanjeev Banga, an industry leader, believes Indian whiskey is gathering attention just like New World wines did before. Excitingly, American whiskey makers are even using empty Indian whiskey barrels to create new tastes!
Indian distilleries are popping up everywhere. There’s GianChand from Jammu, Rampur in Uttar Pradesh, and Indri-Trini from Haryana, which uses local barley. Amrut is from Bangalore and kicked off India’s single malt journey back in 2004.
In 2023, Indian single malts outsold Scotch whiskies for the first time, making up about 53% of sales in the whiskey market! Big companies like Diageo and Pernod Ricard are now launching their own Indian brands. Pernod introduced Longitude 77, and Diageo has Godawan, both competing internationally.
Big plans are underway! Piccadily Agro, known for Indri, will invest a whopping Rs 1,000 crore to expand and even open a distillery in Scotland. Alexandre Ricard from Pernod believes that Indian single malt whiskey deserves its own category globally and is working to make that happen.
Currently, 24 distilleries in India make single malt whiskey, with more joining the industry. To help promote Indian whiskey globally, all manufacturers need to come together, and support from the government is crucial