Indian Whiskey Rules the Roost in the World

The British ruled India for 190 years and gave many gifts to India. They also reduced Indians to second class status, but some of their legacies really helped India like the railways and the army. In addition the British also introduced whiskey and allied drinks in India. Once the products were introduced many enterprising Indians in collaboration with the British opened distilleries in India and some are now big names like Mohan Meaken and Kingfisher. These were referred to as IMFL or Indian made Foreign liquor

IMFL became popular in India and after independence and liberalization of economy foreign manufacturers of Scotch whiskey also started manufacturing their products in India. Indian made whiskey have now reached international standards in quality and good Indian whiskey is close to scotch in taste and flavor. India has gone forward and recently an international survey has shown that the 10 top selling brands in the world seven are from India. The only Scotch whiskey brand in the list is single malt Glen Livet. It is indeed surprising that 7 Indian brands are the top selling brands out of the first 10 in the world. The topmost brand with maximum volume in sales is Imperial Blue followed by MacDowell No 1.

The sale of Indian made foreign whiskeys has grown by geometric progression. One reason is the price as Indian whiskeys sell at 50% of the cost of similar Scotch whiskey. In a match with price and quality, IMFL scores and thus more and more buyers are drinking Indian made whiskeys. In Pakistan, UAE and even Europe Indian Whiskeys are stocked in the bars and there is no stigma attached to them. There is now a new development and top Scotch brands are now bottled and manufactured in India. Thus one can get Black Label, Chivas regal and other top brands made in India. Indian made whiskeys are indeed dominating the world. But one important point is that IMFL cannot compare with the rare brands of Scotch which have their own flavor. At high end parties the elite will still prefer Scotch whiskey, as a whiskey like Royal Salute cannot be duplicated in India.

Indian made foreign brands are becoming more popular and it’s a feather in the Indian cap that the out of 10 top selling brands in the world 7 are Indian. In the next decade it is possible that even the high end brands of Scotch could be replaced by Indian made whiskeys.