GI Tag – A must for Indian Single Malt Whiskies

It’s high time Indian single malt whiskies, blended whiskies and craft spirits get their due. For two decades and counting, Indian Single Malt whiskies have created a niche for themselves, not only in the domestic market, but also global-ly, particularly in Europe, UK and the US. It is heartening to see Indian Single Malt Whiskies being showcased in top duty free outlets, retail vends, bars and hotels in top cities across the world including New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Rome, Dubai, Singapore et al.It all began more than 20 years ago with Bangalore-based Amrut Distilleries launching India’s first single malt whisky.

Since then, many India AlcoBev manufacturers have entered this ultra-premium segment, be it Rampur from Radico Khaitan group, Indri from Picadilly, Solan Single Malt from Mohan Meakins, GianChand from DeVans Modern Breweries, Crazy Cock from South Seas Distill-eries or Doaab from Globus Spirits. With growing demand for the Indian single malt whiskies, we are soon going to see many more brands hitting the retail shelves of AlcoBev outlets (off and on trade), both in India and abroad.

Apart from this, a host of Indian companies are launching luxury premium blended malt whiskies such as Royal Ranthambore from Radico, Amrut Amalgam from Amrut, Arthaus from ABD Ltd, Singhasan from Modi IIlva etc. Not only whiskies. Indian companies are now creating a name for themselves with crafted spirits such as Gin (Stranger & Sons, Terai, Jamun and Jaisalmer), Rum (Camikara, Two Indies, Bella), Mahua (Mahura) etc.

India is the largest whisky consuming market globally. The Indian Alco Bev market is expanding fast and has been registering a robust growth over the years, but what has surprised everyone is the 20-30% growth of the Indian single malts market. The domestic market for the Indian single malt whiskies has been growing remarkably with Indian single malts accounting for nearly 53 per cent of total single malt sales in India, overshadowing sales of top global Single Malt Brands. Even exports have grown well.

And it is for this reason that there is an ask of the govern-ment for a revised definition and standards for the Indian single malt whiskies. Though, the food sector regulator -Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) amended the Food Safety and Standards (Alcoholic Bever-ages) Regulations, 2018 whereby it defined Single malt whisky as “a distillate obtained from fermented mash that uses malted barley without adding any other grain, which is distilled in pot still only and produced in a single distill-ery”.

What is missing in the Regulations is a stricter definition for the Indian single malt whiskies. Indian single malt whiskies have won many presti-gious awards globally. Connoisseurs today distinguish Indian single malts from other single malt whiskies. So why should there not be a separate category recognising the India single malt whiskies. This will help maintain the sanctity and reputation of Indian single malt whiskies which are now exported to over 60 countries. In fact, given India’s tropical climate, a one-year-old matured Indian malt spirit is as good as an imported three-year-old matured malt spirit, and a three-year-old Indian malt spirit is equal to a 10-year-old plus imported single malts.

Today due to the lack of clear definition of the Indian single malt, many misleading brands have started flooding the market which is eroding the brand value and niche which the Indian single malt category has created for itself.

We have been requesting the government for a “Geographical Indication” (GI) tag for Indian single malt whiskies which will enhance the brand’s credi-bility and standards. It will help in keeping a check on the emergence of smaller and dubious single malt whisky brands. Those not following proper standards should be restrained from claiming themselves as Indian single malt whisky.

Indian players are setting up and maturing Indian malt spirit, using malted Indian barley. Some are doing it in Karnataka, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana HP Uttarakhand and Punjab, each having its distinctive flavour and charac teristic. In true terms, each Indian Single Malt whisky is unique in itself. So. when we can have Scotch, American, Irish, Japanese, and Canadian whiskies, why not the Indian Single Malt! We also urge excise authorities such as UP to revise their malt spirit matura-tion loss clauses as in India, with warm to hot temperatures most of the year, spirit losses are substantial year on year. We request UK, EU and other West-ern countries to revise their nomenclature on whisky definition and have a separate one for Indian Single Malt Whiskies and Indian blended whiskies.

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Consulting Editor- Gopal Joshi