India now accounts for almost one in every two bottles of whisky sold in the world. The planet’s most populous country also recently leapfrogged France to become the world’s biggest market for Scotch. The country is a big consumer of whisky and it’s a major producer too – no fewer than seven of the top 10 global whisky brands, by volume, are Indian. You may not have heard of Officer’s Choice, Royal Stag or McDowell’s, but these Indo-Scotch blends do huge volumes on their home turf.
“A lot of Indians are travelling and seeing what’s happening abroad, and it’s led to a big boom in Indian spirits,” says Madhu Kanna, head of international sales. “I expect to see at least four or five new single malt distilleries opening in the next few years.” Both Indri and Amrut are made according to strict Scotch whisky rules – but some newcomers have exploited India’s rather looser regulations to produce malts that are more experimental.