Cheers to the Finest Whisky, It’s Indian

An Indian whisky, Indri Diwali Collector's Edition 2023, was recently recognized at the annual international tasting competition, Whiskies of the World Awards. Scotch whisky imports from India surpassed those from France in the past year. Although these imports are only a small part of the total, premiumization is rapidly gaining popularity among Indian whisky drinkers. Diageo and Pernod, two global market leaders, are seeing their quickest growth in Asia, which is expected to overtake Europe as the largest market for whiskey exports in the near future. When combined with the success of other Asian distillers, Indian brands have the potential to challenge the supremacy of Europe and the United States, where whisky consumption has leveled off.

The recent success of a Haryana, India-made malt over one hundred international brands has a knock-on impact on the exports of other, similar domestic brands. It makes use of the worldwide campaign to increase the price of whisky. Distillers in India face a more manageable challenge than their New World counterparts did when they had to compete with Europe's hegemony in the wine industry. California wine now competes with French wine for prime shelf space. India and Britain are in the midst of trade agreement negotiations, and local distillers are using the FTA as a springboard to international success. This takes advantage of international brands' reluctance to establish factories in India to produce premium whisky for export.

India is the world's second-largest exporter of whisky and a major importer of Scotch whisky for mixing purposes. This provides our distillers with an opening to boost value addition. It also helps small distilleries have more access to the market. An increase in competition is possible if tariffs on imported malts are reduced. There is place for Indian whisky on British store shelves, just as there is for bottled Scotch sales to expand in India. A group of courageous distillers in the area are teaching industry giants new tricks. The insights learned here can be applied to improving other high-end Indian products.