AbonnéFood & Drink

India’s Homegrown Premium Whiskies Are Winning Top Global Awards

By Shilpa Dhamija16 octobre 2026

India’s massive whisky market has long been dominated by foreign brands. However, that's slowly changing. India is aggressively growing homegrown, premium whisky labels. They are not just gaining market share at home, but also sweeping top global rankings.

Amrut Expedition is India's oldest, rarest, and most expensive single malt whisky (Amrut)

Indian brands are winning over enthusiasts with liquid quality, varied small-batch expressions, casks, and finishes, rather than relying only on age statements or trying to appeal to everyone

Vikram Achanta, CEO of Tulleeho, a beverage consulting firm in India

This year at one of the alcohol industry's most closely watched competitions — the World Whisky Masters in the UK, a premium whisky brand from India - ‘Godawan’ - clinched the ‘Master Medal’. A year earlier, in a blind-tasting at the Las Vegas Global Spirits Awards, another Indian whisky ‘Indri’ secured the Best World Whisky title.

This isn't a one-off streak. Over the past decade, Indian single malts have swept nearly every major global whisky honor once dominated by Japanese and Scottish names.

But where did Indian whisky's journey to international fame really begin?

Amrut - a whisky maker from the south of India pioneered the ascent with one clever strategy.

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How India Built a Reputation for its Premium & Luxury Whiskies

Godawan Triple Cask Travel edition. The whisky is made in India (Godawan)

India has had an image problem. While it is the world’s largest consumer of whisky by volume, it has also been a price sensitive one. To cater to a large demand at low prices, whisky makers, specially foreign brands flooded the Indian market with low-malt, blended whiskies, influencing consumer tastes to change.

As the local market grew accustomed to cheaper blends, domestic manufacturers that were still making high-quality malts were left with good liquids maturing in barrels for years, and few viable customers in the homeland. Among them was ‘Amrut’, an enterprise founded by the Jagdale family that had been making single-malt whiskies in India for more than 70 years. Selling this premium liquid had become challenging, even outside India, as international critics had formed a poor reputation for Indian liquids.

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