INDIA. With Indian whisky carving out a more prominent place on the global stage, Piccadily Agro Industries is taking one of the country’s best-known emerging single malt names to a wider international audience.
As India’s largest independent malt manufacturer and seller of malt spirit, Piccadily has developed several of the country’s notable whisky brands, including Indri Single Malt. The brand has surpassed 100,000 cases in sales for two consecutive years and continues to build its presence across key whisky markets worldwide.
Building on that momentum, Piccadily is placing travel retail firmly at the heart of its next phase of growth. The company is preparing to showcase the brand at next week’s TFWA World Exhibition & Conference in Cannes (K7, Red Village), with the support of distribution partner Alfa Brands.
Ahead of the exhibition, Piccadily Agro Industries General Manager – Global Travel Retail Manmeet Kaur speaks to The Moodie Davitt Report Associate Editor Camille Bersola about Indri’s proudly Indian roots, its international ambitions and how the brand is positioning itself for growth in the global travel retail channel.
Born from the rich agricultural landscape and distilling heritage of India, Indri is helping redefine what the world expects from Indian single malt – pairing local grain, terroir and craftsmanship with a boldly global ambition.
Developed by Piccadily Agro Industries, Indri was conceived not simply as an Indian single malt, but as a whisky capable of challenging established perceptions of Indian whisky on the global stage.
Established in 1994, Piccadily has grown into a prominent force in India’s alcoholic beverages industry, becoming the country’s largest independent malt manufacturer and malt spirit producer, with its six-still Scottish-style distillery producing 4 million litres a year.
Piccadily’s ambitions extend beyond single malt, with innovation at the heart of its vision for a global luxury spirits house from India. The focus is on distinctive, premium spirits rooted in Indian ingredients, craftsmanship and provenance, rather than simply following global trends, the company said.
That philosophy is already evident in Camikara, its pure cane-juice aged rum, and Cashmir, an organic craft vodka made with Sona Moti winter wheat and glacial water from Kashmir. Together with Indri, they reflect Piccadily’s broader approach: taking India’s ingredients, landscapes and traditions and translating them into contemporary spirits for a global audience.
“Piccadily Agro began with a clear ambition: to build something enduring from India’s strengths in agriculture, distillation and craftsmanship,” Piccadily Agro Industries General Manager – Global Travel Retail Manmeet Kaur comments.
That philosophy is reflected in every stage of Indri’s production, starting with six-row, non-GMO barley from Rajasthan.
The grain provides a distinctly Indian foundation, while Piccadily’s distillation expertise and local terroir contribute to the whisky’s character during maturation.
Kaur says: “We always saw Indri as a global Indian whisky: proudly rooted in India, but made to stand alongside the world’s great single malts. The idea was never to ask the world to make room for Indian whisky, but to create something that makes people look at Indian whisky differently.”
Indri’s rise comes as India’s single malt category enters a period of rapid growth, with homegrown brands gaining increasing recognition both in the domestic market and internationally. Piccadily is positioning Indri at the forefront of that evolution, with ambitions to help redefine the global perception of Indian whisky.
“In a relatively short time, we’ve built significant scale and momentum, which also gives us a responsibility to help shape what comes next for Indian whisky.
“Indri was created to lead this change, not follow it. The ambition was never just to prove that India could make a great single malt,” Kaur says.
Winning on the world stage
Indri’s rapid rise has been marked by a series of milestones that have helped shift perceptions of Indian single malt.
The Diwali Collector’s Edition won Best in Show at the 2023 Whiskies of the World, putting Indri firmly in the international spotlight. That momentum continued with Indri Dru, named Best Indian Single Malt at the 2024 World Whiskies Awards.
That same year, Indri also reached a major commercial milestone, becoming the world’s top-selling single malt.
The Diwali Collector’s Edition added another major milestone in 2025, winning Best World Whisky at the Las Vegas Global Spirits Awards with a score of 99.1/100.
This year, the recognition extended across Indri’s wider portfolio, sweeping the Indian single malt podium at the International Whisky Competition. The Diwali Collector’s Edition led the field with 93.53 points, followed by Dru at 90.87 and Agneya at 89.70.
Kaur says, “That was particularly meaningful because it demonstrated that the strength of Indri is not confined to one expression – it runs across the portfolio.”
Indri’s growing presence in global travel retail received another boost at the 2026 TREX Awards, where Indri Triple Cask Single Malt Indian Whisky took Gold in the Spirits category.
She continues, “If I had to distil Indri’s journey into one idea, it would be this: the brand has moved from proving India can make exceptional single malt to demonstrating that an Indian single malt can win, sell and command attention on the global stage.
“And that is perhaps the most important milestone of all. Indri is no longer simply participating in the rise of Indian whisky. It is helping define the ambition, confidence and global relevance of the category.”
A portfolio built for exploration
Across the Indri portfolio, a distinctly Indian sense of place provides the starting point, with six-row Rajasthan barley, in-house distillation expertise and India’s distinctive climate shaping the foundation for different cask and maturation approaches.
Triple Cask establishes the range with a three-cask approach, bringing ex-bourbon, ex-French wine and PX sherry casks together in India’s first triple-cask single malt. Each contributes its own character while allowing the spirit to remain at the centre.
Dru is characterised by its intensity, with selected ex-bourbon barrels and cask-strength bottling delivering greater depth and character.
Ilika features a more nuanced profile, bringing subtle peat, Spanish sherry and ex-American bourbon oak together in a layered whisky created with travel retail and collectors in mind.
The Diwali Collector’s Edition and Founder’s Reserve 11 Years Old bring rarity, age and collectability to the Indri portfolio, while giving the master blender greater creative freedom.
Kaur says, “The portfolio is ultimately about range without losing identity. India is now beginning to write its own chapter.
“Indri’s ambition is to make that chapter as diverse, distinctive and globally consequential as the whisky itself.”
Bringing the Indri story to travel retail
As Indri takes its Indian whisky story to the global stage, travel retail is emerging as an important channel for connection and discovery.
Kaur explains, “Travel retail is helping us build familiarity, credibility and curiosity simultaneously. Every airport, every tasting and every bottle becomes an opportunity to move the conversation from ‘Indian whisky?ʼ to ‘Indian single maltʼ.
“And that is the global story we are excited to build putting Indian single malt firmly on the radar of whisky drinkers around the world.”
She also views travel retail as a space that gives Indri greater freedom to innovate for a global, curious consumer, from exclusive expressions and limited editions to distinctive formats available through the channel.
“It is also a powerful test-and-learn platform, helping us understand what resonates with diverse international audience and use those insights to shape our next wave of innovation,” Kaur says.
She adds, “We want the travel retail channel to make discovering Indian single malt feel exciting, exclusive and memorable, giving travellers a reason to discover something new with every journey.”
For Indri, innovation goes beyond adding more SKUs. Each travel retail expression is designed to offer consumers a fresh way into Indian single malt, through the liquid, cask selection, production story or the airport experience.
Kaur says, “That is the real opportunity: to make the airport not the last stop before a journey, but the first stop in discovering Indri.”
Indriʼs next global chapter
Indri is focusing on its next wave of innovation, exploring new cask profiles, age statements, limited editions and distinctive expressions, without losing sight of the provenance that defines the brand.
Kaur concludes, “Travel retail will be a key part of this journey. We see it as a global platform for discovery, where exclusive expressions, city-specific releases and our City Series can create something genuinely unique for the travelling whisky consumer.”
Indri is also targeting international markets where it sees opportunities to build a meaningful presence.
The USA and UK are central to that strategy, supported by priority markets across Europe, the GCC, Asia and Australia. ✈
