Indian whisky
Indian whisky is a distilled beverage that is mostly Indian-made foreign liquor and is labelled as "whisky”. Blends based on neutral spirits are commonly distilled from fermented molasses with only about 10 to 12 percent creating traditional malt whisky. Outside India, such a drink would more likely be labelled a rum.
An advertisement for Bagpiper whisky on a building in Pondicherry | |
| Type | Distilled beverage |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | 13 |
| Country of origin | India |
| Introduced | 1855 |
| Alcohol by volume | 42% - 71% |
| Colour | Caramel to pale yellow |
| Flavour | Fruity and sweet (Vanilla. caramel, citrus, spices, chocolate, honey) |
| Variants | Single malt, Grain whisky |
| Related products | New world whisky |
| Website | https://indianmaltwhisky.org/ |
Molasses-based blends made up 90 percent of the spirits consumed as "whisky" in India in 2004, although whisky wholly distilled from malt and other grains, was also manufactured and sold. By 2004, shortages of wheat had been overcome and India was one of the largest producers. Amrut, the first single malt whisky produced in India, was launched in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2004. After expanding in Europe, it was launched in India in 2010.
By 2022, India produced many whiskies both for the local market—the most lucrative market for whisky in the world—and export. Indian single malts comprised 15% of the local market in 2017, increasing to 33% in 2022. In the three years to 2022, sales of Indian malts increased by an annual average of 42%, compared with 7% for imported rivals.