Whisky, no more a colonial hangover

India, the world's biggest market for whisky by volume, is undergoing its swadeshi moment at the value end. Connoisseurs are replacing Scottish single malts with local brands like Indri and Rampur. Growth is slowing for scotch, and even more rapidly for American and Irish whisky, while sales of premium Indian whisky are powering ahead. India holds the distinction of having four whisky brands that globally outsell Johnnie Walker. But these are inexpensive brews for the local market. They are blended with bulk scotch, which makes up an overwhelming share of imports. High-end Indian whiskies are announcing their arrival on the international stage and could, in future, compete with scotch for blending. That would take swadeshi whisky to its logical conclusion.

It won't be a walk in the park, though. Premium Indian whisky brands emerged in a market protected by duties on bottled scotch that are about to be dismantled. The Britain-India trade treaty, which becomes operational on July 15, will dismantle taxes on scotch and could bring prices in line with those of local competitors. Scotch brands will then have the benefit of global scale over Indian minnows. They enjoy far greater brand recall among India's young whisky drinkers. Esoteric Indian brands are yet to make the transition to mainstream Indian consumers. Imported whisky sales could recapture some of the Indian market's premiumisation drive as lifestyle choices become more international.

The whisky war will not be fought in India alone. Single malts from Britain and India will have to slug it out in emerging whisky markets. Indian mass-market whisky exports are booming, with companies strongly asserting the quality of Indian single malts. The country is targeting both volume and value exports for whisky, a hard-to-match combination. Bulk scotch shipments to India stand to benefit from the Indian export initiative. Like cricket, India could take the lead in popularising a quintessentially Brit export.