Amrutthe Great Churn: The Global Story of Indias First Single Malt

About the BookTHE STORY OF AMRUT DISTILLERIES, THE BANGALORE-BASED COMPANY THAT CRAFTED AWARD-WINNING WHISKIES.One fine day in Ooty, Bangalore-based businessman Neelakanta Rao Jagdale mixed single malt whisky with peated whisky, both crafted in his family-owned distillery. This blend would put Amrut on the world map, succeeding beyond Jagdales wildest dreams. He had crafted nectar fit for the gods, much like the one that rose out of the great churn of the Puranas, a whisky that would captivate connoisseurs worldwideAmrut Fusion.India is a land of whisky-drinkersof the sort made from molasses, yes, but also premium Scotch. For the latter lot, anything Indian was anathema. Jagdale, a visionary, dared to dream beyond the molasses-based whiskies that India was known for. His strategy was clear: for Indian whisky to be acceptable to Indians, it would first have to be accepted by the Scots. And thus began the journey of Amrut Whisky and its many expressions, the most popular of which remains the Amrut Fusion.Business storyteller Sriram Devatha follows this exhilarating story, from Newcastle bars, where Rakshit Jagdale conducted blind whisky tastings, to UK sales head and chief distiller Ashok Chokalingams travels across the UK trying to sell Amrut. The book covers a lot of groundAmruts branding strategies, alcohol regulation in India, the dynamics of a family business, the Western bias against Indian whisky in the early days, the economic imperative towards premiumisation and, most importantly, the science and creativity that goes into distilling world-class whisky.Amrutthe Great Churn: The Global Story of Indias First Single Malt is the tale of how a home-grown brand attained international cult status. But it is also more than that: the story of an India that not just consumes global products, but makes for the worlda tale of resilience, innovation and the pursuit of excellence.About the AuthorSriram loves telling brand stories across mediums, from an Instagram reel to a 200-page volume of narrative non-fiction. His writing is influenced by his learnings as a senior brand manager at a start-up, visiting faculty teaching storytelling for entrepreneurs and even delivering lectures on German grammar and audio engineering. As Consulting Editor at YourStory, he probes the nuances of crafting memorable brands through conversations with founders. In his downtime, Sriram enjoys swimming with his children, teaching them to bubble and even count for their plunges into the pool. He lives in Bangalore.