A category that is almost entirely consumed locally, according to IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, Indian whisky is going from (cask) strength to strength, seeing strong growth, despite global economic challenges. Most recently the category, like most, had to overcome the challenges posed by the pandemic, only to be faced with concerns of a looming recession as its growth is on the rise. In 2020 the category declined, but saw growth in 2021 of 16% in volume versus 2020 and 20% in value. Today, Indian whisky has a positive forecast, as it performed well in India in the first half of 2022, with volumes 5% higher than in H1 2019, according to IWSR.

Single malt movement

The single malt movement is part of the force driving growth of the Indian whisky category. Paul John Whisky head of communications Asa Abraham says: “The single malt movement has been gaining a strong momentum in the past decade and is growing stronger. The single malt category is growing at a 25% CAGR basis in India.

“More Indian single malts are coming into the fray from domestic Indian producers as well as from multinationals in India. From a consumer point of view there is a significant shift from blended whiskies to Indian single malts, with consumers appreciating better-quality premium products,” Abraham adds.

The fact that people are appreciating more premium products was noticed by Rampur, and Sanjeev Banga, president of international business at owner Radico Khaitan, says: “The malt connoisseurs as well as whisky drinkers are very knowledgeable and willing to experiment and try new brands. Indian single malts are different yet unique and add a pleasant dimension to the whisky drinking experience. We anticipated this shift in consumer preference and tripled our malt distillation and storage capacity a couple of years ago.”

Similarly, Amrut has found the demand to be in the premium single malt category, however this has resulted in the brand operating at full capacity in terms of how much it can produce. Ashok Chokalingam, head of distilling and international sales at Amrut Distilleries, says: “As far as Amrut is concerned, I think we kind of hit the ceiling in terms of capacity to produce. So that means, pretty much, we have pre-sold everything we could possibly do as far as single malt is concerned.

“We are at present distilling close to one million litres at cask strength, meaning I can pull 5,000 barrels in a year if it is a 200-litre barrel. So now, that is the maximum I can produce in terms of spirit production at the current facility that Amrut is located in.

“So the next four or five years the maximum quantity that we can bottle is stuck at 60-70,000 9-litre cases a year, and that is it. If we want to produce anything more than this, we have to build a new distillery. We have pretty much occupied every possible space in terms of the equipment and the cask maturation barrels,” Chokalingam adds.

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Domestic market

With nearly all of the category consumed domestically, it had to adapt during the pandemic, which saw disruptions to the local market, such as the ban of alcohol sales for a period in 2020. Chokalingam notes: “The domestic market was affected for two to three months, because they had a lot of lockdowns, the sale of alcohol was prohibited. So, the domestic market suffered but the export market did extremely well during the pandemic, to our surprise. I presume one of the possible reasons could be, in western countries in particular, people were still able to order their whiskies online.”

Rampur also felt the varying buying behaviour during the pandemic, and Banga saw a “shift in the channels”, leading to growth in online and off-trade with more consumption from consumers at home, “drinking less but better”. However, the brand differs from other Indian whisky brands, as Banga adds: “In fact, for us it is the other way around. Rampur is currently available in around 40 countries with a limited presence in India and that too of only one expression. Our single malt is currently on allocation, but we expect a lot more liquid to be available in the next 15-18 months. Thereafter, we will be expanding distribution to other markets as well as within India.”

Paul John Whisky felt disruptions during the pandemic in the way of its supply chain and disruptions for dry goods, such as bottles, corks and capsules.

Abraham notes: “The on-premise shutdown affected us severely as awareness of our brands is built on experiential consumption, however some of it shifted to home consumption. But with the world opened up we are now seeing an on-premise revival.” The brand is also seeing growth momentum in domestic and exports, with domestic growth being “near explosive”.

Looking ahead

With booming recovery post-pandemic, Indian whisky, and in particular single malt Indian whisky, is seeing a strong performance, but the road ahead is still uncertain.

For Amrut, Chokalingam says: “I’m not sure how we are going to be next year, because the recession is looming in America possibly and then in the UK as well. I don’t know how it’s going to affect sales, possibly it will. But this year, we have had good growth as a business and on the single malt side in particular, we have grown by 15-16% this year.”

Paul John has plans to increase its Select Cask portfolio with one or more expressions in wine cask finishes, while entering new countries, including Greece, Hungary, Andorra, South Korea and Luxembourg, with Rampur releasing more expressions to its Jugalbandi range, so the category is pushing forward, unfazed by global economic uncertainty.

As Chokalingam adds: “Living in the macroeconomic situation is something that is not in your hand or in mine. So we have to go with the flow next year and the year after to see how things unfold based on the global economy.”