The History of Indian Whisky

the spirit of the east

Reading time: 10 minutes
Author: Master of Malt

1855

Foundation of Kasauli distillery

Edward Abraham Dyer founded Kasauli distillery in Himachal Pradesh in Northern India.

1860

Murree distillery founded

Murree brewery distillery founded in the Punjab in what is now Pakistan. It is still going to this day.

1943

Rampur distillery founded

Rampur distillery founded in Uttar Pradesh initially to make bulk alcohol.

1947

Indian independence

Indian independence and partition with the creation of two countries, India and Pakistan.

1948

Amrut founded

Amrut laboratories started by Shri J N Radhakrishna.

1959

Distillery founded by United breweries in kerala

Indian drinks giant United Breweries founded a distillery in Kerala which initially made brandy but would go on to produce whisky.

1968

McDowell's no.1 whisky launched

United Breweries launched a whisky (though because it contains molasses-derived spirits, it would not be classed as such in Europe) which would become India's bestselling brand.

1982

Amrut produced malt whisky

Amrut began production of malt whisky for blends.

1994

Mcdowell's signature launched

United Breweries launched a premium blend of malt whisky imported from Scotland and locally-produced spirits.

1995

Royal stag launched

Canadian giant Seagram released a premium Indian whisky made from grain spirits and imported Scotch alt whisky.

1996

Paul John founded

Paul John whisky founded in Goa by John Distilleries, producers of Original Choice. Initially only blends are produced here.

2004

India's first single malt released

Amrut launched India's first single malt in Glasgow to great acclaim.

2007

United Breweries bought Whyte & Mackay

The Indian spirits giant acquired a piece of Scotch whisky heritage. It would sell on Whyte & Mackay in 2014.

2008

Paul john began distilling malt whisky

The Goan distillery started to fill barrels with single malt whisky.

2010

Amrut single malt dubbed third best whisky in the world

Amrut Fusion awarded 97 points and third best whisky in the world in 'Jim Murray's Whisky Bible'.

2012

diageo buys into Indian whisky

Diageo takes a majority stake in United Breweries, which would later become Diageo India.

Paul John released its first single malt whisky.

2013

Officer's choice - world's biggest whisky brand

Officer's Choice (not technically a whisky by UE/ UK laws) overtook Johnnie Walker to become the world's biggest spirit brand. The following year it became the world's biggest spirit brand selling 28.4 million cases, more than Smirnoff vodka!

2016

Rampur's first single malt launched

Rampur released its first single malt whisky, Rampur Select.

2021

Indri's first whisky released

Indri malt whisky distillery, founded in 2012 in Haryana, Northern Indian, released its first single malt.

2022

Paul John joined whisky's hall of fame

Paul P. John, chairman of John Distilleries was inducted into Whisky Magazine's Hall of Fame joining such greats as Jim Beveridge and Rachel Barrie.

2023