Alcobev company Kyndal today said it will launch its luxury single malt whisky 'The Macallan 12-year brand' in the country, possibly by this month end.
"We will start distribution of the luxury single malt - The Macallan (12-year brand). We are looking to start distribution within this month, if we get the clearance. This brand is part of Edrington portfolio coming to us," Kyndal Group Brand Director Pushpanjali Banerji told PTI.
Kyndal and Edrington, a Scotch whisky company, had set up a joint venture company, the 28-year-old Pushpanjali said, without divulging details on the initial capital invested.
Edrington is involved in blending, bottling, distributing and marketing. It produces blended brands such as The Famous Grouse and Cutty Sark and premium single malts The Macallan and Highland Park.
Pushpanjali was in the city for the Seventh Audi Ritz Icon Awards Ceremony where several celebrities including actors Vidya Balan, Vikram and Ram Charan, along with GMR Group Chairman G M Rao graced the occasion and were bestowed awards.
To a query, Pushpanjali said Macallan will be launched in Delhi and Bengaluru markets because these cities boast of consumers who go for luxury brands - in this case would be Highland Park and Macallan, which are priced over Rs one lakh and above.
Asked why particularly Bengaluru to start with, Pushpanjali said "Bengaluru is basically the trend-setter in the South the way Kolkata is for North-Eastern states. Bengaluru is a very interesting market because it has independent tastes and consumers do not have herd mentality," she said.
"Bengaluru has always been one of the key markets. Even
for our Bols brandy, Bengaluru was our first market. If you could work in Bengaluru every other city you can trap because this is the market which has its own flavour; it has its own taste. They know what they are going in for. You can't beat around the bush. So, it puts your marketing abilities to test," Pushpanjali added.
Asked how many cases the company targets to sell Macallan brand, Pushpanjali said, "We are not thinking in terms of cases because Macallan is too important brand, that it should be done in the right way. For us, number of promotional events are important, not how many volumes we are going to sell because it is too expensive brand," she said.
"We are going to be starting with a modest number. We have a very good relation with our partners - Edrington. We have a long term view because it is a luxury brand. It is not even a premium brand."
Asked about the marketing strategy to boost sales, Pushpanjali said, "We will bring into play Macallan's market initiative because it is a global brand. It has its own consumers ... So we don't want any variance of how it is played in India."
"They have very big event such as Toast a Macallan. They have whisky lovers who come together to attend a very personalised tasting sessions. They give 14 years old and 16 years old limited editions to taste. It is a very personalised tasting session which helps Macallan as a brand," she said.
To a query, Pushpanjali said the company does not want to start off the distribution from many cities until it gets the feedback on how the brands would do in Bengaluru and Delhi markets.
"The niche consumers are around Delhi and Bengaluru. For any brand for that matter, I think we need to start with capital cities and metros. We don't want to spread everywhere. We want to work our way through, and get the feedback and incorporate it in our plans, and see how things go ahead."
Kyndal Group is an independent alcobev company that manufactures markets and distributes premium brands in the Indian sub-continent, Far-East and the Middle East.
Kyndal manufactures markets and distributes through its various joint ventures Cutty Sark Blended Scotch Whisky, BOLS brandy, Bootz Brandy, Bols Premier XO Excellence brandy.
Bols is a market leader in the premium brandy segment.
Kyndal was set up in 2002 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Whyte & Mackay (then called Kyndal Spirits UK), Pushpanjali said. Her father Siddharth Banerji led a management buyout of Kyndal Spirit's rights in the Indian subcontinent in 2006.
