Indian Made Foreign Liquor

Indian Made Foreign Liquor
Indian Made Foreign Liquor, often abbreviated IMFL, is a term used to denote western-style hard liquors such as whisky, rum, vodka, etc, which are manufactured in India. It is used to differentiate them from indigenous recipes such as fenny, toddy and arrack, which are collectively called country liquor (in Hindi: desi sharab).
While the term Indian Made Foreign Liquor may sound oxymoronic or humorous, it is the official term used by government, business, and print media in India.

Manufacture
A common characteristic of many IMFLs, distinct from spirits elsewhere in the world, is that irrespective of the final product the starting ingredient is a grain neutral spirit distilled from molasses*, a byproduct of the sugar industry. For example, whereas a whisky in most countries would be distilled from grain, Indian whisky is made by adding whisky-like flavoring and coloring to grain neutral spirit obtained from molasses. The same applies to other IMFL spirits, like rum or vodka. This is even true of multinational brands like Smirnoff. However some recent entrants like Seagram's distill spirits per traditional methods even when manufacturing in India.
* Molasses is a viscous byproduct of the processing of sugar cane or sugar beets into sugar.

Indian whisky
Indian whisky is a distilled alcoholic beverage that is labelled as "whisky" in India. Much Indian whisky is based on spirits that are distilled from fermented molasses. Outside of India, such a drink would more likely be labelled as rum (some brands can be about 12% malt whisky, with the rest fermented molasses).

Indian whisky and Scotch whisky
The drinking of Scotch whisky was introduced into India during the nineteenth century, during the period of the British Raj. Scotch style whisky is the most popular sort of distilled alcoholic beverage in India, though India has traditionally been thought to lack a domestic drinking culture. Whisky, however, has become fashionable for wealthier Indians, and as such the market for whisky among affluent Indians is one of the largest in the world.

90% of the "whisky" consumed in India is molasses based, although India has begun to distil whisky from malt and other grains. Brand names of Indian molasses whisky, including "Bagpiper", "McDowell's No. 1", and the partially malt based "MaQintosh" suggest that the inspiration behind the Indian whiskies is Scotch whisky, despite these products being chiefly made from molasses.

Indian Whisky Brands
Mcdowell's No.1
Signature
Bagpiper
Seagrams Blender's Pride
Royal Stag
Imperial Blue
Royal Challenge
Director's special
Colonel's Special
Officer's Choice
Solan No. 1
Black Knight
Red Knight
Aristocrat
Binnie's Fine Whisky
Green Label
Senate
Diplomat
Delight Fine Whisky (www.premierdistilleries.com)
Malabar Malt Whisky (www.premierdistilleries.com)
Cosmopolitan
Trade controversy
The consumption of native distilled molasses based whisky in India is encouraged by tariff barriers that impose a significant markup of up to 52.5% on imported whiskies in India. Imported Scotch whisky bottled under its own brand makes up only 1% of the total market share. The substantial tax markup on imported whiskies has been categorized by the Scotch Whisky Association as "pure protectionism".

Under Vijay Mallya's direction, United Breweries has been acquiring a number of noted whisky brands and distilleries in Scotland, including Dalmore, Isle of Jura, and Whyte & Mackay. United Breweries has been increasing production at its Scottish facilities, and has moved to double the production of whisky at Invergordon. Some of the Scotch whisky so produced is used to blend with the Indian molasses whisky.

Indian distillers, by contrast, accuse the European Community of erecting its own sort of trade barriers by means of rules that forbid the marketing of molasses based spirits as "whisky". Mallya has objected to the EC's refusal of entry to molasses based whiskies, claiming that the "imposition of British imperialism is unacceptable". In a lawsuit brought in India by the Scotch Whisky Association, the Delhi High Court enjoined Indian whisky manufacturers from labeling their product with the words "Scot" or "Scotch".

Manufacturers of Indian whisky
United Spirits, a division of United Breweries
Amrut Distilleries
Shaw Wallace
Mohan Meakins
Jagatjit Industries
Som Distillery
Khoday
Premier Distilleries


Courtesy: Wikipedia