COOKED IN WOOD, TEMPERED WITH TAXES

Indians have taken a liking to made-in-India single malts. But brands are struggling with supply and taxation troubles

-  Sayantan Bera

The warehouse in Haryana’s Karnal, off the busy highway connecting Delhi to Chandigarh, is in a village named Indri. The village now lends its name to a new single malt brand launched in mid-2021. Branded Indri-Trini, the premium three-wood whiskey crafted by Piccadily Distilleries is made from six-row Indian barley grown in Rajasthan and matured in three different casks. The imported barrels which once stored bourbon, wine and sherry add an array of flavours and aroma as the malt interacts with the wood while ageing.

To qualify as a single malt, the whiskey must be a product of a single distillery, though the malt can be matured in different casks.

Indri earned itself some bragging rights within a short span. In the year to March 2023, Piccadily sold 15,000 cases (of nine litres each) of Indri, an impressive count going by industry standards. Since its launch, it has won a handful of international awards, including a gold tasting award at the International Spirits Challenge, London, and another gold from Dominic Roskrow who ran a ‘New Wizards Awards’, both in 2022.

Dominic Roskrow, a maverick whiskey critic and writer, died late last year. He was an authority on ‘new world whiskies’—or whiskey crafted beyond traditional hubs like Scotland and USA.

The rise of single malts from India, the world’s largest whiskey market, follows a long journey which began more than two decades ago. Even 10 years back, Indian whiskies were frowned upon internationally as most distillers used molasses, a by-product of sugar production, which was in abundance. Within India, it was sold as whiskey but the world liked to call it rum. Faced with a crippling shortage of food post-independence, for years, distillers shunned making whiskey from grain spirits.