India’s ABD To Launch New Premium Whisky Brands

By Richard Thomas

India’s Allied Blenders and Distillers (ADB) is set to compete with brands like Blenders Pride and Signature for the premium end of India’s domestic whisky market.

ADB is the maker of Officer’s Choice, which at 23.8 million cases sold in 2013 makes it the world’s largest, topping Johnnie Walker by a factor of three. Although many Indian whisky brands wouldn’t qualify as whisky by European standards due to being blended with de facto rum, the three expressions in the Officer’s Choice line are not among them, as they are listed as blends of Scottish malt with Indian grain whisky.

However, Pernod Ricard’s Blenders Pride wouldn’t qualify as whisky outside of India, as it is a blend of neutral grain spirits and Scottish malt whisky. United Spirits’ Signature Whisky counts, as it is a blend of Scottish and Indian malt whiskies, as do other expressions in the Signature line.

The new and still-unnamed premium whisky will be priced to compete with Blenders Pride, and will reportedly have a peaty flavor profile.