Articles

How Premium Whisky Came to India

by Brahmaputra Samuel Blogger

Whisky is one of the most loved alcoholic beverage in the world. There are many types of whiskies available in the market today. There is premium whisky, Scotch whisky and blended whisky.  There are many premium whisky brands in India that you can choose from. A whisky connoisseur will tell you that each brand has its own specific taste and that is because each whisky brand has unique style of making their product.

Blended whisky brands from all over the world, from small to leading distilleries, have made their presence felt in India, especially in the Scotch whisky segment. Premium whisky makes for brilliant gifting idea for anyone who enjoys drinking.

Most of the premium whisky brands available in the market are international, but in the not so recent past India too has stepped into the production of premium whisky. The British first introduced whisky to India; but soon Indians fell in love with the alcoholic beverage and today are the producers of some unique Indian Scotch whisky brands in the world.  

The first whisky manufacturer in India was an Englishman named Edward Dyer. He opened the first distillery in the northern village of Kasuali and produced whisky with molasses. Since the climate in the mountains was similar to that of Scotland and spring water was available in abundance, his distillery was quite a success.

In 1982, Neelkanta Jagdale started producing whisky from malted barley under the name of Amrut Distilleries. However, during that time very few Indians were in the habit of drinking single malts and hence he started blending single malt with alcohol distilled from molasses and made the first Indian blended whisky, MaQuintosh.

Later in the 1990s and the early 2000s a lot of international whisky brands started entering the Indian market. These were considered more authentic and preferred by the consumers. This gave the Indian producers the impetus to improve and upgrade their produce. It was during this time that alcohol tycoon Vijay Mallya, under the banner of United Breweries, started acquiring Scotch distilleries across Scotland. These would then be mixed with Indian molasses whisky to create a unique blend.

The whisky that is brewed in India is still called Scotch whisky. The term Scotch is purely in reference to the process used to make them. Indian whiskies are made from different raw materials, produced in a different climate and most premium Scotch whisky brands in India prefer to produce blended Scotch whisky rather than single malts, because they sell more.

Sponsor Ads


About Brahmaputra Samuel Freshman   Blogger

11 connections, 0 recommendations, 42 honor points.
Joined APSense since, August 26th, 2016, From Mumbai, India.

Created on Nov 27th 2017 05:20. Viewed 476 times.

Comments

No comment, be the first to comment.
Please sign in before you comment.