From colonial roots to international acclaim, India’s whisky story is richer than you would possibly anticipate.
India drinks extra whisky than another nation on Earth. In actual fact, it drinks almost half the whisky bought worldwide. But most individuals outdoors India know little or no in regards to the whiskies it produces. Some nonetheless assume Indian whisky is low high quality. Others don’t realise simply how a lot the class has modified. However that’s beginning to shift.
At the moment, Indian whisky is successful worldwide awards. It’s additionally drawing the eye of collectors, critics, and craft distillers from all over the world. Listed here are seven stunning belongings you in all probability didn’t learn about Indian whisky, and why it’s price being attentive to.
1. “Whisky” in India Doesn’t All the time Imply Whisky
In India, not all whisky is what you would possibly anticipate.
Many lower-cost Indian whiskies are made utilizing impartial spirit distilled from molasses. These are often known as IMFL (Indian Made International Liquor). They’re blended with a small quantity of grain or malt whisky to offer taste. Beneath U.S. and European rules, these spirits wouldn’t legally qualify as whisky.
That’s why Indian whisky has a break up identification. On one aspect, you’ve mass-market labels made for quantity. Alternatively, you’ve world-class single malts made with conventional strategies.
In case you’re purchasing for Indian single malt whisky, search for manufacturers like Amrut, Paul John, Rampur, or Godawan. These producers use malted barley and copper pot stills, and so they age their whiskies in oak. Their bottles meet worldwide definitions and provide one thing much more refined than the common IMFL mix.
“Indian whisky” can imply many issues. It’s price realizing the distinction.
2. India Drinks Practically Half the World’s Whisky
India is the most important whisky market on this planet. By a good distance.
Within the first half of 2024, India consumed a staggering 85 million bottles, in response to A Lush Life Guide. For comparability, the US consumed 54.6 million bottles in that very same interval.
The highest 4 best-selling whisky manufacturers globally are all Indian. Officer’s Alternative, Royal Stag, Imperial Blue, and McDowell’s No. 1 every promote tens of tens of millions of instances a 12 months. These numbers far exceed even international icons like Johnnie Walker, which is available in fifth place.
Regardless that solely a portion of India’s inhabitants drinks alcohol, the dimensions is tough to disregard. It’s not only a home phenomenon both. Indian whisky is beginning to form the worldwide market.
3. Indian Whisky Started With the British
The story of Indian whisky begins within the 1800s, throughout British colonial rule.
In 1820s India, British troopers and officers missed the whisky they drank again residence. To fulfill that demand, a person named Edward Dyer constructed India’s first distillery within the Himalayan city of Kasauli. He used gear imported from Scotland and relied on native spring water to duplicate a well-known style.
The distillery later moved to Solan, the place it nonetheless operates immediately. It’s often known as the Solan Brewery, a part of Mohan Meakin, and it holds the title of the oldest working distillery in Asia.
For a very long time, Indian whisky was made primarily for colonial tastes. Scotch was nonetheless seen because the gold commonplace. Indian-made spirits usually had Scottish-sounding names, however had been thought of decrease high quality.
That notion caught for many years. It wasn’t till the early 2000s that issues started to vary, and India began to make whisky by itself phrases.
4. India’s Warmth Ages Whisky in Quick-Ahead
India’s tropical local weather performs a significant function in how its whisky tastes.
In locations like Goa, Bangalore, and Rajasthan, summer season temperatures usually attain 90 to 100°F. This warmth causes the whisky to work together with the oak barrel extra rapidly than it will in Scotland or Eire.
Because of this, many Indian whiskies mature at a a lot quicker charge. One 12 months of growing old in India can produce taste growth much like three years in a cooler local weather.
However there’s a trade-off. The evaporation charge, often known as the angel’s share, is way increased. Indian distilleries usually lose 8 to 12 % of their barrel contents annually, in comparison with simply 2 % in Scotland.
Humidity additionally impacts how the whisky evolves. In drier areas like Rajasthan, extra water evaporates than alcohol, which might truly enhance the alcohol content material. In coastal areas like Goa, extra alcohol evaporates, which softens the spirit over time.
This climate-driven growing old offers Indian whisky a daring profile, with intense fruit, spice, and oak notes, even at comparatively younger ages.
5. Indian Single Malts Are World-Class
For a very long time, Indian whisky had a poor repute overseas. That modified in 2004 when Amrut Distilleries launched India’s first single malt. They launched it in Glasgow, not in India, to show it might stand as much as scotch by itself phrases.
Amrut Fusion, which blends Indian and Scottish barley, earned reward from critics and rapidly constructed a worldwide following. Its success opened the door for different Indian distilleries.
At the moment, names like Paul John, Rampur, and Indri are producing award-winning single malts utilizing conventional strategies: malted barley, copper pot stills, and oak cask growing old.
One of the vital adorned current entries is Godawan, made within the desert area of Rajasthan. In 2024, it was named Finest Single Malt Whisky within the World on the London Spirits Competitors, scoring 96 factors.
Worldwide producers are additionally taking discover. In 2024, BHAKTA Spirits launched a 10-year-old Indian single malt, distilled in India and completed in French Armagnac casks. It was one of many oldest Indian malts ever bottled and marked a brand new degree of ambition for the class.
6. Colonial-Period Legal guidelines Nonetheless Form Indian Whisky
A few of India’s whisky legal guidelines date again to British rule. One instance is the usual bottling power: 42.8% alcohol by quantity. This uncommon quantity was initially tied to a colonial-era tax bracket. It helped distillers keep away from increased taxes, and over time it grew to become the business norm.
One other problem is India’s complicated authorized system. Every of India’s 28 states units its personal alcohol guidelines. Meaning pricing, availability, and even labeling legal guidelines fluctuate broadly from one state to a different.
Imported whisky additionally faces steep tariffs. For years, international spirits had been taxed at charges of 100 to 150 %. These excessive duties helped shield home manufacturers, but in addition sparked commerce disputes with international producers.
Issues are starting to vary. Commerce talks are slowly opening doorways for extra whisky to circulation out and in of India. However the legacy of regulation nonetheless shapes how Indian whisky is made, bought, and priced immediately.
7. Indian Whisky Gives Extra Selection Than You Suppose
Indian whisky isn’t only one type. At the moment’s distillers are experimenting with a variety of flavors, methods, and cask varieties.
Amrut Fusion blends Indian and Scottish barley and delivers daring spice and smoke. Paul John Nirvana (which I used to be fortunate sufficient to attempt at The Whiskey Jar in Manchester a few weeks in the past) is unpeated, honeyed, and easy-drinking. Rampur produces malts influenced by the Himalayan local weather, wealthy, fruity, and clean.
One of the vital progressive producers is Godawan. Made within the dry warmth of Rajasthan, it makes use of distinctive finishes like cherrywood casks and Indian botanicals. These components create deep dried-fruit and spice notes not often present in different whiskies.
New entries like Indri-Trini herald triple cask maturation, whereas BHAKTA’s Indian Single Malt exhibits how Indian whisky can pair with worldwide growing old methods.
Whether or not you want peat, sherry, bourbon cask, or experimental kinds, Indian whisky has one thing to supply. And most expressions ship huge character at a comparatively younger age.
A Type Value Watching
India’s whisky scene has come a good distance. It’s now not nearly high-volume blends or molasses-based spirits. At the moment, Indian whisky consists of daring, complicated, and globally acknowledged single malts made with care and custom.
The local weather shapes it. The historical past explains it. And the innovation retains pushing it ahead.
In case you haven’t tried Indian whisky but, now could be the time. Pour a glass from Amrut, Paul John, Rampur, Godawan, or Indri and expertise how far Indian whisky has come.
