Heady growth of desi brands: The rise of India's single-malt industry
whiskey market has got heads turning as Indian-distilled single malt has been giving tough competition to popular Scottish brands such as Glenlivet.
A market once dominated within the country and beyond by foreign brands is now selling India’s domestically distilled single malt at a faster rate than anticipated.
In 2022, Indian single malt brands and Scotch brands locked horns in a head-to-head battle where the former sold approximately 2,81,000 cases with a 2.4 per cent increase in sales; while the latter sold 2,96,000 cases with a 35 per cent increase in sales, data accessed by TOI revealed.
“About 15 years ago Indian whisky was shunned as molasses. In 2013-2014, there were just two or three brands. Now, there are over 30,” said Hemanth Rao, founder of the Single Malt Amateur Club.
He added that Indian single malts have seen significant growth.
Rising sales
In 2022 sales, two Amrut offerings were on top of the heap, and bigger than Glenlivet, followed by Paul John. Amrut Fusion sold 99,000 cases and Amrut Amalgam 94,000. Solan Gold sold 20,000 cases, while Rampur was at around 10,000 cases.
The overall whisky market in India is at 242 million cases, which is around two-thirds of the overall spirits market, according to TOI.
Piccadily Agro Industries Ltd’s stock surged by its daily limit in two sessions for the trading week ending on Oct 6 after its single-malt Indri Diwali Collector’s Edition won the top prize at the Whiskies of the World Awards. The stock is now up 292% so far in 2023 with the push from the result of the annual US-based competition, reported Bloomberg.
“It is an exciting time for India, and Indian whiskies are not far behind as we are playing our part in the India story,” Siddharth Sharma,
