According to the Associated Press, wealthy Indians have a taste for fine wine and spirits, and cheap local rum mixed with a cup of cola won’t do anymore.
India is one of the world’s fastest-growing markets for spirits, according to the London-based International Wine and Spirit Research marketing group. Whiskey still dominates, but spirits such as vodka and gin are the fastest growing segment, and liqueurs are becoming more popular as well.
The interest in premium spirits comes from the amount of wealthy people that are starting to pop up in India. The number of Indians worth at least one million dollars rose 51 percent in 2009 to 126,000, according to a study by Merrill Lynch and the Capgemini consulting firm.
“There is a certain set of people that are becoming more discerning,” says Rohan Jelkhie, a bartending instructor with Tulleeho Beverage Innovations. “They know what quality is. With drinks, there was a time when people would have anything they were given, but not anymore.
India is Asia’s largest alcohol producer, but two-thirds of the 700 million cases consumed annually is undeclared-made in remote villages or bought by bootleggers. Now, local favorites such as Old Monk rum and Bagpiper whiskey are on the shelf with Johnnie Walker and Macallan. This has forced Indian distilleries to step it up, and last year the “Whisky Bible” named Amrut Single Malt, an Indian whiskey, the world’s third best.
