Explore Japanese craft malts on World Whisky Day

Indian markets are flush with Japanese brands, both single malt and blended

Love your whisky? Well, drink an extra dram on World Whisky Day today. Celebrated on the third Saturday of May every year, #worldwhiskyday is all about raising a toast to your favourite tipple regardless of its provenance.

While the loyalty of scotch drinkers will never waver, the Indian market has quite openly accepted Japanese single malt whisky in the last decade.

Ansh Khanna, the founder of the Goa-based Peak Spirits, collaborated with Japan's Mars Distillery to introduce new varieties of craft whisky. He launched Komagatake 2020, and the Iwai and Iwai Tradition blended whiskies late in 2021 with Sonarys Co-Brands, one of India's largest spirit importers.

Mars Distilleries in Japan is owned by the Hombo family, which has been in the liquor business since the early 19th century. Out of the decorated distiller's two facilities, Mars Shinshu and Mars Tsunuki, the former produces Komagatake at 2600 feet in the Nagano Alps.

Started initially by Kichiiro Iwai, a master blender and craft whisky maker, Mars is Japan's fourth-largest producer of single malt. But it is at a much smaller scale than its contemporaries like Beam Suntory, which brings its signature Yamazaki 12 YO, Hibiki and Toki whiskies to India.

"The Iwai range is more accessible, although it cannot be called inexpensive at a sub-5000 range," said Khanna to DH. "Komagatake 2020 Limited edition is a completely premium whisky while the Iwai and Iwai Tradition blended whiskies are more affordable."

Peak Spirits is a partner in the production of Indian single malt Kamet, which has earned a global reputation for its flavour profile.

"People want to try new world whiskies produced in India, Japan, Taiwan and even nations not historically known for whisky," said Khanna. "Undoubtedly, a dram lover will cherish and relish the original Scotch, but with Indian brands producing excellent single malts now, the market is maturing. Fewer trade barriers and more commercial opportunities make producers like us optimistic."

The House of Suntory's fourth chief blender, Shinji Fukuyo brought the grain component of the blend for Toki whisky from the Chita distillery, where the heavy-type grain whisky is distilled only twice on column stills. Fukuyo also sourced the malt component from the Hakushu distillery of Beam Suntory, which produces light, fruity malt similar to many Speyside distilleries.

These seemingly different but deeply accordant whiskies, together with select Yamazaki malts for additional depth and complexity, yield the blended Suntory Whisky Toki, which retails at an affordable range of INR 3200-6800 across India.

Other than the premium brands such as Yamazaki 12 YO and Hakushu, the global brand also retails Oaksmith Gold, a blended whisky celebrating Japanese craftsmanship and global collaboration.

Indian consumers have always welcomed the Japanese sweet and smoky malts, but supply barriers came in the way of mass appreciation. Vinayak Singh, who runs The Dram Club from Goa, said with more options available, demand for crafted whiskies of Japanese origin might increase in India.

"Scotch cannot be replaced, but there is always scope for the growth of traditionally distilled rich-in-flavour Japanese malts," said Singh.

Hemanth Rao, a Bangalore-based IT professional who started the Single Malt Amateur Club in 2011 to bring people together to share their love of scotch whisky, shares a pro tip on choosing a Japanese whisky: "Japanese whiskies are expensive. Since high demand has given rise to fakes, please read the label carefully for details on the distillery where it has been produced and matured.

(Chandreyi Bandyopadhyay is a marketing communications professional with a deep interest in food and alco-bev history and tracks new developments in these spaces.)