William Grant & Sons Looking To Enter The Whiskey Market In India

William Grant & Sons is looking into a partnership with the Bengaluru-based Amrut Distilleries to bring its alcohol brands to India, according to Economic Times. World’s third largest scotch whiskey producer, William Grant & Sons hopes to enter one of the largest whiskey drinking countries in the world by partnering with Amrut for local bottling of its brands.

Expanding Market Share 

Established in 1887, William Grant & Sons currently has several brands in its product portfolio including Grant’s blended whiskey, Balvenie and Glenfiddich single malt and Hendrick’s Gin. The company has a market share of nearly 10.4 percent, behind Diageo and Pernod Ricard. Although bottling of single malt whiskeys are not permitted outside Scotland, the company will introduce its secondary brands into one of the largest whiskey markets in the world. 

Amrut’s Fusion

The 130-year-old company was looking for the proper method to enter into the Indian market with several distillers aiming to capture a deal. But Amrut Distillers have moved past others due to the significant attention it gained through its own brand of single malt whiskey, Amrut Fusion. The single malt whiskey was named in Jim Murray Whiskey Bible in 2005 and 2010. Amrut Fusion single malt whiskey was named the third best single malt whiskey in the world by Murray.

Although the partnership has not been finalised between the two companies, there is progress in bringing several of Willam Grant’s brands to India. Speaking about the brands entry into the country, James Pennefather, Country Head of William Grant & Sons, said, “We are investigating local production options in such a fast-growing and important whisky market and until our plans our finalised, we are unable to comment further.” Amrut Distilleries also declined to comment about the partnership. Speaking to Times of India, Neelakanta Rao Jagdale, Chairman of Amrut Distilleries, said, “I have known William Grant’s family for a long time and we would be willing to look at helping them.”