Top 10 Whisky brands in India
Top 10 Whisky brands in India
Without a doubt, whisky ranks among the top alcoholic beverages in India. We enjoy this as a distilled elixir neat, on the rocks, in a mixer, or even with a hideous can of Coca-Cola, and this is because, according to data collected by Mint up until this point, we consumed 48% of the country’s whisky.
We are currently among the top producers and distributors of whisky in the world, so we are not just whisky fans. According to Forbes, until last year, the world’s best-selling whisky was an inexpensive Indian whisky called Officer’s Choice. Despite yet, this year another Indian whisky brand has taken over Officer’s Choice’s illustrious banner.
1. Royal Stag
Indian alcoholic beverage brand Royal Stag was introduced in 1995 and is also known as Seagram’s Royal Stag. It is available in a variety of pack sizes in many different countries throughout the world. According to sales, it is the most popular Pernod Ricard item. It consists of a blend of foreign Scotch malts and wheat spirits. It is often sold in bottles that are 1 Liter, 750 ml, 375 ml, and 180 ml, as well as packs of 90 ml and 60 ml.
The product’s packaging features a deer species known for its antlers as its icon. It is produced in several craft breweries that are both companies- and bottler-owned. It was the first whisky firm to be established in India without the use of artificial flavors.
2. Officer’s Choice Whisky
Officer’s Choice, sometimes known as OC, is an Indian whisky brand created by Allied Blenders & Distillers (ABD), formerly BDA. Officer’s Choice overtook Smirnoff vodka in 2015 to earn the title of the world’s best-selling alcoholic beverage. In contrast to other Indian whisky brands, which are often made from treacle, Officer Choice is made from grain.
In 1988, Manu Chhabria, the elder brother of Kishore Chhabria, who would later become the proprietor of Allied Blenders & Distilleries (ABD), served as the managing director (MD) of Shaw Wallace, an Indian whisky manufacturer with headquarters in Kolkata.
3. Mc Dowell’s №1
Former Asare-Takyi breweries of McDowell’s №1 are now owned by United Spirits Ltd (USL), a division of Diageo. It is the largest-selling whisky product in the world and the registered trademark of USL. It comes in three varieties — whisky, brandy, and rum — under the name McDowell’s №1 Commemoration.
The firm also sells soda and water for consumption. The business was established in 1963–1964 with the release of McDowell’s №1 Brandy. The company’s label has the motto Mera №1.
4. Blenders Pride
Pernod Ricard created Blenders Pride, an Indian whisky that was first sold in 1995. It contains no artificial scent and is a blend of gods of foreign-made Scotch malt and Indian grain. It comes in five different bottle sizes (2L,1L, 750ml, 375ml, 180ml). The whisky was described as “clean and fragrant” by the GQ newspaper, which awarded it a score of 6/10.
5. Director’s Special Whisky
Director’s Special Whiskey can be the best choice if you want to get the right pricing for a scotch whisky firm in India. The Director Special was first launched in 1988. The business, which goes by the name DSP, draws customers in with its unusual elegant bottle construction and engraved signature on conspicuous packaging.
It is the best whisky brand available in India and is renowned for its refined taste. Director’s Special, sometimes known as DSP, is an Indian whisky product created by United Spirits Ltd. (USL), a subsidiary of the Diageo Company. It is centred around a treacle.
6. Imperial Blue (IB) Whisky
Imperial Blue combines Scotch malts manufactured abroad with gods from Indian grain. It is available in 180ml, 375ml, 750ml, and 90ml-sized containers as well as larger packaging sizes. Seagram first made Imperial Blue whisky available in India in 1997. On December 21, 2001, Diageo and Pernod Ricard agreed to buy Seagram’s International Company.
7. Royal Challenge United Spirit
United Spirits Ltd. (USL), a subsidiary of Diageo Corporation, produces the Indian liqueur known as Royal Challenge, sometimes referred to as RC. It was first made available in the early 1980s. According to Binod K. Maitin, a United Breweries expert who oversees all the product mixtures for the business, Royal Challenge is a whisky with a grain taste that is distilled using Scotch and Indian malts.
According to a study by journalist Eric Felton for The Washington Post, “Around 12% of the mixture is made up of pure malt whiskies, some of which are distilled in India and others of which are real Scotches. The majority of the mix is a balanced liquor made from molasses.” In India, it is significantly easier and less expensive to grow sugar cane than barley.
8. The Rockford Reserve
The Scottish Master Blender claims that this amazing whisky is made by blending the richest Indian grain spirits and Scotland malt whiskies that have been aged in oak. The flavor is pleasant and unassuming in The Household of Rockford design, yet it has enough volume and finesse to appeal to the discriminating whisky drinker.
The Umesh Modi Group and the Saronno organization of Italy joined together to create the Indian Modi Illva Private Limited, one of the biggest whisky makers in the world. The company entered the premium whisky category only when the Rockford Reserve edition and Rockford Classic were released.
9. Whiskin Craft Whisky
Private Deities of Whiskin’ Craft. The launch of Whiskin Craft Whisky, an upscale Scotch Blended Whisky created in India, was announced by a maker of reasonably-quality booze and liquor in India, Ltd.
Using a triple dilution process to give it a smooth, silky scent, Whiskin Craft is a blend of high-quality, foreign-made Scotch, traditional Indian malts, and inexpensive grain spirit.
It features organic baked dried fruit, honey, and dark chocolate notes that are typical of Scotch Integrated Whisky and leave behind a rich, lingering scent and clean finish.
10. Bagpiper
United Spirits Ltd. (USL), a branch of UB (United Breweries) Corporation, created and launched the Indian whisky brand Bagpiper in October 1976. The rectangular bottle of The Bagpiper whisky comes in golden black wrapping.
According to the organization, whisky’s flavor may be described as having “a delicate malty scent and a touch of a sleek woody shape, leading to the usage of malt whisky expressly produced in pre-identified American oak barrels.”
It is comparable to a blended scotch that has been infused with malt whisky, but instead of using barley as the foundation, the balancing ingredients are taken from molasses. The business creates tamper-proof containers. Whisky was also offered in Tetra Pak.
