On the rocks or clubbed with soda, there is nothing more satisfying than a fine whisky that goes down smoothly and satisfies our palette. Whisky has always been synonymous with class and sophistication, available in various forms and price ranges. Amrut, the first single malt whisky to be manufactured in India is one of the top choices in the nation and overseas. A legacy brand created in Independent India by JN Radhakrishna Rao Jagdale is now one of the top-selling brands in the liquor industry. After the demise of Radhakrishna, his son, Neelakanta Jagdale, built Amrut Distilleries and expanded it into the competitive market. His administration has seen Amrut Distilleries grow into a multi-national brand respected for its exceptional quality as well as for his push for transparent practices by the IML industry, building on the strong foundations set by his late father.
The beginnings of Amrut
Amrut Distilleries began producing alcoholic beverages in 1948, just as India became an independent country, with a small starting investment. The determination of the Jagdale family’s succeeding generations to embrace value and excellence has enabled today’s success.
JN Radhakrishna Rao Jagdale, who is fondly called J.N.R established Amrut Distilleries Ltd. in 1948 in Bangalore, Karnataka. At first, the business produced Indian-Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), primarily supplying it to the Karnataka and Kerala states’ canteen stores departments. The main distillery as it stands today was constructed in 1987. It is situated in Kambipura on a 4-acre (1.6-hectare) site.
Amrut’s rebirth under Neelakanta Rao Jagdale
J.N.R. passed away unexpectedly in 1976, leaving his son Shri Neelakanta Rao Jagdale as the new Chairman and Managing Director. His administration has seen Amrut Distilleries grow into a multi-national brand that has expanded tremendously and grown as a top product in the industry.
While the majority of distillers in India were producing whisky using molasses, Jagdale had made the decision to make a premium whisky from barley mixed with malt in 1982. In 1986, Amrut Distilleries introduced Prestige Blended Malt Whisky in the Canteen Stores Department and started using locally grown barley in addition to molasses. It took only 18 months to complete the first batch of single-malt whisky. The business did not think about bottling it as a single malt because India did not have a tradition of drinking single malt at the time. To create MaQintosh Premium Whisky, the whisky was combined with liquor extracted out of sugarcane. Before combining it, Amrut first matured malt whisky for around a year. According to Surinder Kumar, who was the master blender at Amrut Distilleries, three years in Scotland’s barrels equals one year in India and they used the advantage of the warm climate to create the best single-malt whisky the country had tasted.
The time-tested traditions that the founder ingrained in the business have been the perfect counterpoint to the Chairman’s love of innovation and technology. Amrut Distilleries has developed into a global player from its beginnings as a single bottling operation serving primarily the Canteen Stores of the Ministry of Defence and consumers in and around Bangalore.
Neelakanta Rao believed Amrut bridges the gap between luxury and mass. According to him luxury is a matter of perception. “It is when the expectation of the customer is surpassed even at the highest price paid.” It’s this passion to meet the highest expectations that motivated the 61-year-old, to create a brand that that has stood the test of time and remained profitable.
Amrut’s roadmap to the world with Rakshit Jagdale
Neelakanta Rao Jagdale urged his son Rakshit, who was enrolled in an MBA programme at the time in Newcastle, England, to look into the possibility of selling their goods to that nation in 2001. Tatlock & Thomson Ltd of Scotland were appointed as consultants to help the company’s Bangalore distillery fine-tune its procedures. Amrut Distilleries tested their single malt whisky in blind trials in Scotland, where the majority of drinkers rated it favourably and compared it to Speyside single malt.
The whisky made its premiere on August 24, 2004, in Glasgow, Scotland, under the brand name Amrut Single Malt Whisky. Within two years of the brand’s UK premiere, it had extended to Scandinavia and Western Europe. Amrut single malt whisky was introduced in Australia in August 2009 and South Africa in 2008. And thus began its global domination.
Rakshit N. Jagdale took over as the Managing Director of the legacy brand after the demise of his father. Rakshit has made exceptional transformations to be at par with the contemporary market needs. Jagdale, in 2022 revealed that Amrut would be developing the umbrella brand “Single Malts of India”; this project would enable Amrut to market the base spirits it purchases from distilleries in various regions of India and age them with various characteristics. The Amrut Neidhal Peated Indian Whisky, distilled with base spirits from India’s coastal districts, was the result of the first “chapter” of this research. 1,200 of the 12,000 available bottles, selling for $5,996, were sold in India as per Mint Lounge reports.
The 12 YO- Chairman’s Reserve, Amrut’s third Greedy Angels release, was introduced in late 2016 to commemorate 12 years of Amrut’s successful entry into the global whisky market. The creation is priced at Rs 70,000 a bottle as per lifestyle Asia. The 12 YO- Chairman’s Reserve was only produced in 100 bottles, each of which was wrapped in a 750 ml crystal decanter with the name inscribed in gold ink. These are then placed in a classy box that also contains two Glencairn crystal glasses that have been personalised with the engraving “Greedy Angels.”
Amrut has stirred the whisky business in India and worldwide with its exceptional taste and unique blend and has successfully accumulated reserves that exceed Rs. 340 crore, while turnover has grown to Rs. 1800 crore a year as per their official website.
