William Grant & Sons to begin local bottling of Grant's Whisky in Uttar Pradesh

William Grant & Sons, world's largest family-run scotch whisky-maker, will soon begin local bottling of its largest brand, following an agreement with the Uttar Pradesh-based Umesh Modi group for bottling, a senior company official said Wednesday. For the 130-year-old Scottish distiller, India will be the first bottling facility outside its home market.

The company will soon begin bottling its largest brand-- Grant's Whisky--in Uttar Pradesh. The Grant's Whisky is the third-biggest scotch brand in the world and also, the largest international scotch brand from their stable. William Grant has been in the country since 1909 but has only under 1 per cent of its global volume in the country, which is the world's biggest whisky market.

The distiller had opened its own marketing office in the country in 2009 and began imports in 2013. "India will be our first bottling facility outside Scotland," William Grant & Sons India managing director James Pennefather said. The company launched 'Grant's Distinction,' the latest variant of its blended scotch here Wednesday. "With the launch of the Grant's Distinction whisky in India, we are targeting over 20 percent growth every year for the next decade. This growth will be driven by a combination of a portfolio of imported scotches and locally bottled scotch whisky," Pennefather told PTI. In view of the large youth population and the rising disposable income, the distiller considers India as a key strategic market.

Increased local bottling through the Modi group should help drive growth, he said, adding the bottling agreement with the Uttar Pradesh-based Modi group was driven by the demand for more locally bottled products. "We have decided to move into local production with Grant's Whisky, which is the third-biggest scotch in the world and our largest scotch brand international. This will now be bottled in India," he said. "We are one of the world's leading distillers. India is the biggest whisky market in the world. We have been importing bottled products to India and the market for bottled scotch is one-tenth of the total scotch market," he said.