Indian Single-malts catching up in world whisky competition
Panaji: India is a growing and thriving single-malt Nation. The world’s largest consumer of whisky is India. Today, India is home to only eight single-malt distilleries despite such a huge populous country, among which Dr. Mohan Krishna led Cheers group is notable in bottling under their prized brand names.
For a fine example, Three Monkeys Single Malt, made using ‘six-row’ barley from the foothills of the Himalayas, distilled and matured in Goa and producing a complex, fruity spirit with a rounded mouthfeel that calls to mind Scotch from a bygone era!
The Cheers group has enjoyed incredible success in a relatively short period. The growth in demand for its Three Monkeys Indian single malt has allowed its distillery to expand further, and it is now eying to be one of the largest single-malt producers in the world. The huge success of Cheers Group’s brands in India, coupled with the global status of its single malts, is now inspiring it to aim high with the expansion of its malt reserves.
The heritage of Scottish whisky is, of course, incalculably stronger, and it is the work done in establishing Scotch as a luxury drink the world over that has set the scene for New World whiskies to emerge and they are uprising. The quality of these Indian single-malt whiskies simply gives greater choice for the single-malt and Scotch imbibers. It brings a leveling up, an egalitarianism to the category that should be welcomed by anyone who calls themselves a single-malt lover.
The Single-malt whiskies produced by Cheers group, using Scottish-style copper pot stills and the same traditional processes employed across Scotland, have found favour among its wide consumer base around the world.
“We have array of premium Single-malts, from Three Monkeys to Secret Island. These expressions are enjoyed by single malt lovers as much as anyone, who appreciate the complexity of their creation” says Ashwin Balivada, Executive Director, Cheers Group, who mastered Business Management from Cambridge University.
“Rather than being elitist, the attitude of whisky purists has changed to encourage new enthusiasts of all types. The days of bartenders advocating strict ways to drink whisky and insisting upon the need to take single malt neat are over. Anyone who has enjoyed a good Martini will be very familiar with how they react to high-strength spirits like single-malts– it’s your whisky, drink it however you like” says Dr. Divya Balivada, Global Creative Director, Cheers Group, who acquired business talent from Edinburgh University, Scotland.
Cheers group uses only the highest quality malted barley for distillation, resulting in a complex, rich, and malt-forward profile. This spirit is then matured in a mixture of former Sherry, French wine, fortified wine, and American bourbon casks, and often blended from single and double casks, at high strength and then bottled as per the required alcohol strength, resulting in the mature liquid flavorsome, robust and utterly delicious. Cheers!
