Meet the new crop of India’s single malt whisky makers
By Murali K Menon | Jan 27, 2024 01:51 PM IST
The Chinoys couldn’t have chosen a more opportune time to launch their single malt. 2023, after all, was a year of several distinctions for whisky in India.
Hormazdyaar Chinoy’s family has been making alcohol for generations. His forefathers brewed toddy and distilled liquor from exotic fruits and flowers before setting up distilleries in the 1920s in Aswa, in Dahanu, Akkalkot, near Solapur, and Jawahar, near Palghar, on the invitation of the then rulers of the respective principalities. They were among the first to obtain a distillery licence after Prohibition was lifted in Maharashtra in 1972. South Seas Distilleries, set up by the Chinoys in 1984, is among the country’s largest privately owned malt spirit suppliers. They have also been contracted to make single malt whiskies for multinational liquor giants. Late last year, with the launch of Crazy Cock, Hormazdyaar’s father Viraf achieved a cherished ambition: launching his single malt brand.
“The ‘Cock’ in the name is inspired by the Year of the Rooster in which it was conceived (2017); the ‘Crazy’ is an ode to our father who set up one of India’s largest maturation warehouses way back in 2007. He’s been waiting for this moment,” says Hormazdyaar. The whisky is available in two expressions, Rare ( ₹8,900) and Dhua ( ₹12,500); the former is matured in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, while the latter is mildly peated.
The Chinoys couldn’t have chosen a more opportune time to launch their own single malt. 2023, after all, was a year of several distinctions for whisky in India and especially the single malt category. Against the backdrop of Indians becoming the world’s largest consumers of scotch, sales of homegrown single malts from Amrut Distilleries, Paul John, and Piccadily Distilleries outstripped offerings from multinationals. The IWSR Drinks Market Analysis projects the consumption of single malt to grow 13% a year against scotch’s 8% until 2027. And, in a sign of the category’s potential, Pernod Ricard became the second multinational after Diageo India to launch its own made-in-India single malt.
Kartik Mohindra says Pernod Ricard India worked on the Longitude 77 for about six years. “Longitude 77 is at the top of the whisky tree – in a category that is really exciting.
