Whiskey is a type of alcoholic mixed drink manufactured from fermented beer boiling or grain smash. Several grains are utilized for different crops, including rye, corn, barley, and wheat. Whisky is chronological age in wooden casks, conventionally produced of scorched white oak. With numerous groupings and forms, it is a strictly regulated spirit nationally. The traditional ties that bind the various groups and classes together include the brewing of grains, diffusion, and processing in wooden crates.
Whiskey is without a doubt one of the most popular alcoholic beverages in India, and through time it has become one of the world’s top producers and distributors of whisky. 13 Indian whisky brands were recognized as the world’s top-selling whiskies in Forbes’ poll of the “25 Greatest Whisky Brands in The World.” McDowell’s and a few more Indian icons, including Blender’s Pride, Imperial Blue, and Royal Challenge, also took the top spots in terms of popularity. Let us talk about some of India’s most popular and appropriate whiskey brands.
1. Royal Stag
Indian alcoholic beverage brand Royal Stag was introduced in 1995 and is also known as Seagram’s Royal Stag. It is available in a variety of pack sizes in many different countries throughout the world. According to sales, it is the most popular Pernod Ricard item. It consists of a blend of foreign Scotch malts and wheat spirits. The product’s packaging features a deer species known for its antlers as its icon. It was the first whisky company to be established in India without the use of artificial flavors.
In 2011, Royal Stag outsold Absolut Vodka to surpass it as Pernod Ricard’s highest-earning company in terms of sales of its widely consumed alcoholic beverage. It is a blend of grain spirits and Scotch malts produced abroad and is sold in a variety of bottle sizes, including 60ml, 90ml, 180ml, 375ml, 750ml, and 1 liter. It is one of the best-reviewed whisky items on the Indian market that costs less than 1000 INR.
2. Officer’s Choice Whisky
Officer’s Choice, sometimes known as OC, is an Indian whiskey product produced by Allied Blenders & Distillers, formerly BDA. It is regarded among the top spirits producers in the world. Officer’s Choice overtook Smirnoff vodka in 2015 to earn the title of nation’s finest alcoholic beverage. In 2014, the company sold 28.4 million units, more than any other alcohol trademark around the globe. In particular, Officer Choice is made from grain as opposed to other Indian whisky brands, which are often made from treacle (consequently effectively making them rums).
Price – Rs. 300 for 750 ml
Alcohol percentage – 42.8 %
Launched Year – 1988
Whisky color – Brown
Available Variants – Officer’s choice black, Officer’s choice Blue, Officer’s choice rum
3. Mc Dowell’s No. 1
Former Asare-Takyi breweries of McDowell’s No. 1 are now owned by United Spirits Limited, a division of Diageo (USL). It is the largest awning whiskey product on the market and a recognized brand of USL. It comes in three varieties: whisky, brandy, and rum. The business was established in 1963–1964 with the release of McDowell’s No. 1 Brandy. The firm’s branding bears the motto Mera No. 1. The Scottish “distillation king” Angus McDowell formed “McDowell and Service” in India in 1898. This was the “McDowell of Scotland” division on a global scale. The UB Group, owned by Vittal Mallya, bought “McDowell and Group” in 1951.
The company was founded in 1999 under the name McDowell Spirits Private Limited, then on April 1st, 2000, the name was changed to McDowell & Company Ltd. The organization once more rebranded the name to the official title of USL, which took effect on October 17, 2006. Claessens Global, a London-based design agency, was hired in 2000 to overhaul the McDowell No.1 collection’s entire bottle forms and labels. The company terminated its existing Paul Simmons & Associates contract.
Price – Rs. 410 for 750 ml
Alcohol percentage – 42.8 %
Whisky color – Brown
Available Variants – McDowell’s whiskey, McDowell’s Brandy, McDowell’s rum
4. Blenders Pride
Pernod Ricard created Blenders Pride, an Indian whiskey that was first sold in 1995. It contains no artificial aroma and is a blend of gods of foreign-made Scotch malt and Indian grain. It is available in five different bottle sizes, and GQ magazine gave the whisky a 6/10 rating while describing it as “clean and pungent”. In order to expand its whiskey market in India, Pernod Ricard has launched Blenders Pride as one of the five fundamental types of businesses, along with Chivas Regal, Imperial Blue, Royal Stag, and 100 Pipers.
In 1995, Seagram established Blenders Pride in India. Pernod Ricard and Diageo both made simultaneous purchases of Seagram’s sizable firm on December 21, 2001. The Indian operations of Seagram were carried over to Pernod Ricard. Pernod Ricard began operating in the Indian market by acquiring a 74 percent stake in United Agencies Ltd, which has a brewery in Kolhapur, Maharashtra.
Price – Rs. 1000 for 750 ml
Blenders pride ABV (alcohol by volume) percentage – 42.8 %
Whisky color – Brown
Available Variants – Blenders Pride, Blenders Pride Reserve
5. Director’s Special Whisky
The Director Special was first launched in 1988. The business, which goes by the name DSP, draws customers in with its distinctive elegant bottle construction and etched signature on conspicuous packaging. It is the best whisky brand available in India and is renowned for its refined taste. Director’s Special, sometimes known as DSP, is an Indian whisky product created by United Spirits Ltd. (USL), a subsidiary of the Diageo Corporation. United Spirits Ltd (USL), a part of the United Breweries Group, acquired Shaw Wallace in July 2005. On April 1, 2008, Shaw Wallace and United Spirits Limited merged, making DSP a legitimate USL product. The UB Group recruited the London-based architecture firm Claessens International in April 2008 to create fresh advertising.
Director’s Special Black is an extension of the Director’s Special liquor brand into the luxury whisky category in the Indian market. Shaw Wallace also presented it in 1988. If you want to get a respectable whisky product for less than Rs 2000, this is one of the best whiskies in India. It is one of the best scotch whiskey products made in India, made from hand-selected malt and barley.
Price – Rs. 650 for 750 ml
Director’s Special ABV (alcohol by volume) percentage – 42.8 %
Whisky color – Brown
Available Variants – Director’s Special, Director’s Special Black
6. Imperial Blue (IB) Whisky
Imperial Blue, often known as Seagram’s Imperial Blue and abbreviated IB, is a Pernod Ricard-produced Indian whisky that was first introduced in 1997. It combines Scotch malts made abroad with gods from Indian grain. It is available in 180ml, 375ml, 750ml, and 90ml-sized containers as well as larger packaging sizes. Seagram first made Imperial Blue whisky available in India in 1997. On December 21, 2001, Diageo and Pernod Ricard agreed to buy Seagram’s International Company. Pernod Ricard joined the Indian market by acquiring a 74 percent stake in United Agencies Ltd, which has a brewery in Kolhapur, Maharashtra.
UAL was merged with Seagram’s Indian company and continued operations under the name Seagram Manufacturing Ltd. The decision to merge UAL into Seagram was made because of the latter’s more extensive activities in the area. Imperial Blue (IB) had a makeover in 2002, focusing on men between the ages of 25 and 35 with the slogan “Men Will Be Men.”
Price – Rs. 600 for 750 ml
Imperial Blue ABV (alcohol by volume) percentage – 42.8 %
Available Variants – Imperial Blue Whisky
7. Royal Challenge United Spirit
United Spirits Ltd. (USL), a subsidiary of Diageo Corporation, produces the Indian liqueur known as Royal Challenge, also referred to as RC. According to Binod K. Maitin, a United Breweries specialist who oversees all the adapt to the demands of the endeavor, it was first offered as a grain-flavored whiskey in the early 1980s. It was distilled with Indian and Scotch malts. Sugar cane is significantly easier and less expensive to grow than barley in India because molasses, a balanced liquor, is derived from it. Technically speaking, Royal Challenge is essentially just rum compounded to seem like whiskey, like the majority of Indian “whisky.”
Price – Rs. 1250 for 750 ml
Royal Challenge ABV (alcohol by volume) percentage – 42.8 %
Whisky color – Golden amber
Available Variants – Royal Challenge Whisky
8. The Rockford Reserve
Rockford Original is a perfectly balanced whisky with a smooth, alluring aroma and a deep golden color. The Scottish Master Blender claims that this amazing whisky is made by blending the richest Indian grain spirits and Scottish malt whiskies that have been aged in oak. The flavor is pleasant and unassuming in The Household of Rockford design, yet it has enough volume and finesses to appeal to the discriminating whisky drinker.
The Umesh Modi Group and the Saronno organization of Italy joined together to create the Indian Modi Illva Private Limited, one of the finest whisky makers in the world.
The company entered the luxury whisky category only when the Rockford Reserve edition and Rockford Classic were released. The Rockford Reserve and Classic edition of Indian whisky is one of the fastest-growing products in the market. This finely distilled whisky has a deep golden color and an exceedingly smooth and alluring aroma. Although the flavor is subtle and cool, oak and fruit provided refinement and a delicate scent to complement the complexity.
Price – Rs. 800 for 750 ml
Rockford whisky ABV (alcohol by volume) percentage – 42.8 %
Whisky color – Golden
Available Variants – Rockford classic Whisky, Rockford reserve edition Whisky
9. Whiskin Craft Whisky
The launch of Whiskin Craft Whisky, an upscale Scotch Blended Whisky created in India, was announced by It a manufacturer of fair quality alcohol and liquor in India. Using a triple dilution process to give it a smooth, silky scent, Whiskin Craft is a blend of high-quality, foreign-made Scotch, traditional Indian malts, and inexpensive grain spirit. It features organic baked dry fruit, honey, and dark chocolate notes that are typical of Scotch Integrated Whisky and leave behind a rich, lingering scent and clean finish. Scotch from the best sources in Scotland, grown in sherry oak casks, and natural tastes from the main sources in France, combined with an expert French food processor, are how this whisky’s ingredients are extracted for a widely known assessment.
Spirits of Whiskin Pvt. Ltd., which was founded in 2013, is an Indian manufacturer of excellent booze and beverages. With a variety of products, Whiskin Spirits aim to provide exceptional performance and a natural blend of ingredients. In the last three years, two whisky brands—Whiskin Craft Whiskey and Glider Whiskey—as well as two rum brands—Bronco Rum and Jogger Rum—have all been introduced.
Whiskin Craft whisky costs Rs. 500 for 750 ml, and its alcohol by volume (ABV) content is 42.8 percent.
Golden-colored whisky
Whiskin Craft Whisky and Glider Whisky are the available varieties.
10. Bagpiper
United Spirits Ltd. (USL), a branch of UB (United Breweries) Company, created and launched the Indian whisky brand Bagpiper in October 1976. The rectangular bottle of The Bagpiper whisky comes in golden black wrapping. According to the organization, whisky’s flavor can be described as having “a delicate malty scent and a touch of a sleek woody shape, leading to the usage of malt whiskey explicitly distilled in pre-identified American oak barrels.” It is comparable to a blended scotch that has been infused with malt whiskey, but instead of using barley as the core, the balancing ingredients are taken from molasses.
The business creates tamper-proof containers. Whisky was also offered in Tetra Pak. The bagpiper was the seventh-largest marketing whisky by volume in 2010, according to London-based IWSR (International Wine & Spirit Research), a provider of alcohol analytics. The business held 16.92 million 9-liter cases in the same year. It was ranked ninth in 2009.
Price – Rs. 390 for 750 ml
Bagpiper whisky ABV (alcohol by volume) percentage – 42.8 %
Whisky color – Brown
Available Variants – Bagpiper Whisky, Bagpiper Gold Whisky