A host of super-premium liquor brands is targeting a growing market in India.
India’s favourite homegrown tipple is the Rs 150 bottle of Old Monk. Unfortunately, it doesn’t do anything for Jorge Galbis who is CEO of RCP, the company that owns Zacapa, a Gautemalan rum that has just been introduced in India for an intimidating Rs 10,000.
Rs 10,000 for a bottle of rum? “It’s made from the first pressing of virgin sugarcane juice,” Galbis says. Old Monk, on the other hand, like 95 per cent of the rums around the world, is made from molasses, which is a byproduct of sugarcane juice from which the sugar content has been removed. As a result, the distillate for Zacapa has a sweeter finish than Old Monk or Contessa or that army staple Hercules XXX ever will. “That’s just the starting advantage,” explains Galbis.
Zacapa could well be the single malt of the rum world, its distinctive taste the result of pampered ageing in as many as five different barrels — the first American oak in which bourbon is aged, the second American oak again, but charred so it results in a toasted nutty flavour, and later in barrels used for ageing sherry before, finally, an oak vat “to balance out the different flavours”. By this time the Zacapa in your bottle could be anywhere between six and 23 years old.
The younger vintages might be a little more affordable at Rs 4,700, in the hotel bars and in duty free stores, which is where the brand is initially available for sale in India. “The product lends itself to the Indian market, which favours brown spirits,” Galbis says, “and its intrinsic quality of sweetness is conducive to Indian palates.”
After a little stagnation in the market, luxury spirits marketers are back in India, and the price of the peg is becoming irrelevant as brands push for their space in the bar. Spirits major Diageo has just introduced Ketel One, possibly the most expensive vodka in Indian retail for Rs 3,200 a bottle in Mumbai and Bangalore (Rs 2,500 in Delhi), but you need to be somewhat loaded if you’re wanting to open a bottle of bubbly. Till recently, the most expensive champagne in the market was Armand de Brignac (Rs 60,000 plus taxes at the Taj group of hotels), but it’s been pipped to that honour with the opening of the Aman New Delhi which stores Champagne Salon Blanc de Blanc in its cellar, something it’s only willing to plonk in the cooler once you’ve agreed to sign a cheque for Rs 2,45,000. The taxes, yes, are extra.
Even that’s nothing compared to some rare Macallans that were made available on offer in India recently when malts director Ken Grier was in town to position it innovatively. In truth, these bottles of Macallan “fine and rare” span 36 vintage years from 1926 to 1976 and were in a private collection that has recently been acquired by the Macallan Company in Scotland.
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Only 17 of those malt vintages are available in India and could blow a hole in your bank vault. For instance, 16 bottles of the 1947 vintage are on offer for sale in India and Asia — and since the vintage commemorates India’s independence, each bottle is available for Rs 25- lakh to Rs 28 lakh in Indian hotels (after taxes). “Every bottle comes with a certificate of authenticity,” says a company spokesperson, “and you can only buy directly from the company, which will then import it for you from Scotland where the stock is kept.”
The market for single malts was first developed in India by Sandeep Arora, who has grown that segment with whiskies “for those who are discerning, so the impact of the slowdown has been minimal”. It is evident that the drop in tourist traffic has affected inventories in hotel bars, but Arora says “home consumption has increased”.
Arora is quick with numbers. You want an expensive malt, pick up the Glenfiddich 1937 at Hong Kong duty free for £35,000 (Rs 25 lakh). Something a little cheaper? A Glenfiddich 40 Years for £1,700 (Rs 1.25 lakh) or Girvan 1964 for £500 (Rs 36,500). But in India, in his repertoire, the most expensive malt is Glenfiddich 50 Years, a dram of which is for Rs 90,000 and the full bottle for Rs 15 lakh at hotel prices. You could, of course, get it cheaper at duty free for just £8,000.
Which makes the Zacapa a whole lot more affordable. It might be just Rs 10,000, but it is the first crush of virgin sugarcane juice — remember?