From the glacial waters of Mt TITLIS

Jenith Aiyappa and Swapnil Yalgi dreamed of producing three luxury spirits for the Asian market.

- Brinda Gill

My grandmother gave us a bite of Bird’s Eye Chili for any ailment we had and it invariably cured us!” says Jenith Aiyappa, of the fiery chilli native to Coorg, where he hails from. Coorg is a district in Karnataka state, famed for its forested hills and coffee and spice plantations. Now based in Bangalore managing businesses, Jenith and his brother-in-law, Swapnil Yalgi, an engineer based in Switzerland saw a gap in the market and thought of producing artisanal spirits in Switzerland, a country they believe signifies luxury and premium brands, for the Indian and other Asian markets.

To achieve their dream of bringing handcrafted Swiss-quality spirits to the Asian market Swapnil and Jenith founded Royal Alpine Distilleries GmbH, a private limited company based in Turbenthal, Switzerland.

“After the company was formed, the quest to be unique in the market took over,” says Swapnil. “While brainstorming for symbols that would appeal to consumers of Swiss alcoholic beverages, the one that stood out was Mt Titlis, the highest summit at 3238 metres in a long chain of mountains in the Alps capped with a glacier.”

The water flowing from the Titlis glacier was formed by a process that took place over several centuries. It is the result of the accumulation of layers of snowfall that have become compacted and transformed into ice over time. The pressure exerted by the upper layers causes some of the ice to melt. This incredibly pure water flows into the Engelberg valley joining a river called the Engelberger Aa, which ends its journey at the mouth of Lake Lucerne, at an altitude of 455 metres.