India consumes 48% of the world’s whiskey. It is the fastest-growing market and the largest producer of the spirit. But what exactly are we making and drinking?
When the Kenyan chef-restaurateur Kiran Jethwa visited India earlier this year to shoot Spirited Traveller, a show aired on Fox Life that discovers a country through its favourite beverages, he made Fried Whisky Ice Cream—chocolate ice cream flavoured with whisky, oranges, and pistachio, dipped in jalebi batter, deep-fried and served with sugar syrup—for the Delhi episode. “I was told that people in Delhi love whiskey and fried food,” Jethwa said. “So here’s my tribute to that spirit.”
Whisky is decidedly the spirit of choice in India—we consume almost half the whiskey produced worldwide. From the cheapest Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) variant—whisky makes for almost 90% of IMFL—to limited-edition single-malt Scotch, people are drinking more whisky today than ever, spending anywhere between Rs50 per 25ml peg for a McDowell’s at a Paharganj bar in Delhi to Rs1,500 for a small Johnnie Walker Blue Label at a five-star hotel. While gin is going through something of a resurgence, it is still whiskey that racks up the numbers, with a more-than-healthy lead over every other alcoholic beverage.
“Though the entire alcobev (alcoholic beverage) industry has grown steadily over the last decade, whiskey is the flag-bearer in India,” says Thrivikram G. Nikam, executive director at Bengaluru-based Amrut Distilleries Pvt. Ltd. Part of the growth is because whiskey has gone through an image makeover. It is not considered an old man’s drink anymore. Just like James Bond single-handedly legitimized the vodka martini and Carrie Bradshaw made Cosmopolitan the drink of choice for young women, Don Draper has made the Old Fashioned sexy again in the 21st century.
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