India’s alcobev industry aims to soar to 313 billion litres by 2025 and even if it is a cause for good cheer, the cup of joy is never full. Alcohol consumption deals with moral judgments, health warnings and excess taxes. Every State has its unique excise policy aimed at boosting the government’s coffers. Brands have to cut past red-tape besides finding unique ways for surrogate advertisements as direct promotional messaging around a ‘vice’ is banned. In this sensitive market, to have top-of-mind recall and to land an emotional hook is an arduous task. Over the years, some products like Old Monk and Kingfisher have delivered on these counts despite stiff competition.

Through the last few decades, Amrut Distilleries waded into this sector. This may have seen like Don Quixote tilting at the windmills as the Bengaluru-based behemoth was largely known to play the volume game, selling entry level spirits both in the general public and defence sectors. However, this alcobev major wanted to do one better: sell a single malt whisky and gain international acclaim.

Breaking the monopoly

This feverish dream yielded Amrut Fusion, the one that was placed third in Jim Murray’s iconic Whisky Bible’s 2010 edition. In a single malt terrain known for snobbery and an obsession with everything Scotland, Amrut broke through the monopoly. This storm in a whisky glass, a genuine one at that, needed to be chronicled and it is one that Sriram Devatha achieves in Amrut The Great Churn.

Written in an easy accessible manner, Devatha literally gets into those old casks to unearth a story that will age well in the manner of all fine spirits. The author meticulously paints a vivid portrait of an alcohol company that is family-owned, old-fashioned and is prepared for the future. An enterprise launched by JN Radhakrishna Rao Jagdale, found wings through his son Neelakanta Rao Jagdale and now the third generation through Rakshit N Jagdale is at the helm.

Whisky is often about the many layers it allows its consumer to perceive. About Amrut Fusion, Devatha offers a glimpse into what Murray felt at his first tasting: “The whisky’s profile was a mix of zest, coffee and dark chocolate. Its aftertaste was long, with the sweetness of marmalade standing against the sharpness of cloves. Just perfect!”

Amrut’s Fusion adventure was a thought that originated when NR Jagdale was holidaying in Ooty. He worked on the idea, got his team of blenders and distillers to deliver a product and used his son and the latter’s England university friend Ashok Chokalingam, who joined their firm, to finesse and sell the classy liquor. It was never easy as poor sales in the UK and the reluctance towards premium offerings in the Indian market, nearly forced NR Jagdale to abandon his single malt dreams. At a park in England, the senior Jagdale stared at a Mahatma Gandhi statue. “What if he had given up? India would still be a British colony,” the father quipped and it was a cue for the son that Amrut Fusion would stay on.

From that tipping point in 2006 to the latest moment with the drink finding constant accolades overseas and within India, Devatha pens down the initial tough days, especially through the personalised accounts of what Ashok went through in England. Later the gaze becomes broader, factoring in Indian rivals like Paul John’s single malt endeavour and Amrut’s own forays into premium rums like the Two Indies.

NR Jagdale’s demise in 2019 is dealt with respect, his was a legacy cherished both within India’s alcobev sector and in the nation’s sporting swimming category. For those familiar with old Bangalore, Jagdale was this reassuring presence at swimming pools both as an administrator and generous corporate donor. And as the book winds down, Devatha aptly writes: “Amrut paved the way for Indian single malts, pioneering a category through sheer grit.”

The reviewer is Sports Editor, The Hindu