How Indian whisky moved from back-street dens to pride-of-place
The thought of Indian whisky once made even the least discerning spirits-drinker shudder. Now the price of it does. Bangalore is a long way from Islay but its distillers have changed the way we think about Indian spirits.
Leading this charge is Amrut, a distillery founded in Karnataka in 1948 and initially producing spirits including dark rum and blue grape brandy. Solan No 1 is the first single malt whisky made by Amrut, although its whisky making heritage dates back further, with its popular MaQuinosh Premium whisky blended with sugar cane.
Amrut soon discovered one of the main problems of distilling in a hot climate: after only a year of maturing its first malt it discovered that the agnels had taken more than their fair share, with evaporation accounting for more than 10 per cent of each barrel, compared to around two per cent in Scotland.
Text by Sushmita Sundaram. Photographed by Wamika Gera
Amrut Distilleries shook up the scene in 2010 when their flagship single malt won global recognition in Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible as the third-best whisky in the world. Ten years on, home-grown single malts are still fighting for a seat at the table, where Amrut has set the gold standard
One evening in November last year, whisky experts from across the world gathered over a Zoom call to celebrate the launch of Bengaluru-based Amrut Distilleries’ latest single malt, Fusion X. Despite the video glitches and crackling audio, the mood was convivial. Whisky connoisseurs from Bengaluru rubbed virtual elbows with Scottish distillers whose families had been in the business for centuries.
Text by Sushmita Sundaram. Photographed by Wamika Gera Amrut Distilleries shook up the scene in 2010 when their flagship single malt won global recognition in Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible as the third-best whisky in the world. Ten years on, home-grown single malts are still fighting for a seat at the table, where Amrut has set the gold standard
Text by Sushmita Sundaram. Photographed by Wamika Gera Amrut Distilleries shook up the scene in 2010 when their flagship single malt won global recognition in Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible as the third-best whisky in the world. Ten years on, home-grown single malts are still fighting for a seat at the table, where Amrut has set the gold standard
Amrut Fusion | Verve Magazine vervemagazine.in - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from vervemagazine.in Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.