We see Indian single malts as a stepping stone to luxury malts: William Grant & Sons’ Sachin Mehta and Brian Kinsman
William Grant & Sons’ Sachin Mehta and Brian Kinsman on how the world’s third largest whisky maker is strengthening its luxury play in India.
William Grant & Sons is the world’s third largest Scotch whisky maker as well as the largest independent whisky company in Scotland. Its portfolio of brands includes Glenfiddich, which is among the world’s largest-selling single malts, Balvenie, another legendary Speyside whisky, and Hendrick’s, one of the world’s biggest selling gin brands. In India, it also sells Grant’s and Monkey Shoulder. The spirits giant entered India only in 2014, but has since then ramped up its presence with a slew of launches in the world's largest scotch whisky market. In 2018, it inked a deal with Modi Distilleries for bottling, its first outside Scotland. Late last year, it launched the Glenfiddich Gran Reserva, its 21-year-old expression, in India. (Also read | Amrut Distilleries ED Thrivikram Nikam: ‘A collaborative approach is needed to protect the Indian single malt category’)
The Gran Reserva, which is matured in a combination of American and European oak casks and finished for four months in bourbon barrels seasoned with Glenfiddich’s own Caribbean rum, retails for ₹31,500 in Mumbai. In this interview with Hindustan Times, Sachin Mehta, William Grant’s country director for India, and Brian Kinsman, master blender (the sixth in the company’s 137-year-old history), shed light on its luxury play, flavour appreciation trends across spirits, and the categories the company is keeping a close eye on. Excerpts.
Brian, in 2010 you took over from David Stewart, an absolute industry legend, who looked after Glenfiddich and Grant’s for nearly 40 years, and is still involved with Balvenie. How did you approach your job?
Brian Kinsman: I went into the job with one goal: don’t mess it up. The biggest responsibility is looking after what we’ve got. We’ve got a tremendous legacy of very high quality whisky made in a very traditional manner. So, a big part of what I do is maintaining that and ensuring this, kind of, continuity. Because, obviously, the whisky we are distilling today, the very first time we will sell any of that will be around 2036 . So, I have to be confident that what we are making today will be of the right quality twelve, fifteen, eighteen, forty years down the line. In the same way that the whisky we are selling today was made by the previous generation.
Where do you see consumers going in terms of flavour appreciation across spirits?
BK: The big pull right now is authenticity of flavour. So, the big positive with whisky is that the flavour is all completely naturally derived. And, I think, if you look at global trends in terms of understanding where your food comes from, where your drink comes from, and knowing the people who make them, we have a supply chain that’s very transparent in terms of making the product.
Sachin, has the recent boom in Indian single malts made William Grant & Sons reassess its approach to the Indian market?
Sachin Mehta: It’s really encouraging to see that the work that has been put in by Scotch malts has encouraged people across the world to enter and operate in this space. These trends have been seen across the world, of local versions of successful categories that have never been counterproductive to international companies such as ours. The other thing is, if we look at an Indian-whisky-to-(Scotch)-single-malt price ladder, it’s a significant jump to get to that. So, the offerings that the Indian single malts are bringing in, are a good step on that ladder, a stepping stone to Scotch and premium malts that we have to offer.
Would it be accurate to say that their rise is making you focus on consolidating your luxury play?
SM: We are definitely strengthening it. India does offer great potential for European luxury malts such as the kind William Grant has to offer. Yes, it has to be advocated and yes, sometimes we can’t meet the entire demand but with the rise of ultra-high-net-worth individuals and high net worth individuals and this whole trend of premiumisation, that is the right way to go for us. This is where we can offer great brands for that type of consumer.
You also got into local production in 2018 and bottle Grant’s at Modinagar, in Uttar Pradesh. What is your roadmap with regard to the premium blended whisky segment?
SM: We have two variants of Grant’s in India. One of them is, of course, Grant’s Triple Wood which is the same version sold globally and the other is the Distinction that is bottled in India and sold in a few markets. We believe there is this whole ladder that offers great space for standard scotch and Grant’s has been able to show promising growth. We will continue to focus on that space. There will definitely be 12-year-old and more Asian flavours. In the deluxe segment, Monkey Shoulder is a big one for us. Its success is spurring us on to also focus on deluxe scotch and luxury categories. We are also keeping a close eye on Irish whiskey and tequila. Tequila is a very attractive trend and in Milagro, we have a very strong brand to fit that space.
You make Hendrick’s, a global bestseller. How do you read the craft gin story in India?
SM: I think gin will continue to grow in India. It’s still not saturated. The thing is, it’s no longer a ‘mother’s drink’. It’s now become a ‘long-evening’ party drink and that’s how it is being consumed.
