August, 2009. Independent whisky expert Jim Murray finds himself in an armchair, contemplating a tulip glass filled with Amrut Fusion. He appears to be rather taken by its flavour and aroma and is incredulous that the whisky originated in India, as described in the first chapter of Amrut: The Great Churn, a new book by the Bengaluru-based author Sriram Devatha.
Sriram Devatha | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
This discovery led to an epic moment in the brand’s history. Amrut Fusion soon made its way into the 2010 edition of Murray’s Whisky Bible, often touted as the world’s leading whisky guide. The book then travels a few months back to the cool January morning that same year when this single malt whiskey was alchemised, in a bar in Ooty by the late Neelakanta Rao Jagdale (NRJ).
Amrut Fusion, a vatting of 25% Scottish peated barley and 75% unpeated Indian barley, “a bottled symphony of India and Scotland,” became the blend “that would alter Amrut’s fate,” writes Devatha. “From Britain to India and back, the exchange of whisky had come full circle.”
Silver Award 1991 | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Born in Bengaluru
Amrut: The Great Churn tells the story of how India’s very first single malt came into being, going back to 1948 when J.N. Radhakrishna Jagdale (JNR) set up Amrut Laboratories in Bengaluru to manufacture alcohol for his pharmaceutical company, Associated Drug Company. It then recounts the important events that mark the history of the company: its decision to make rum for the armed forces, its foray into malted whisky, JNR’s untimely demise and the entry of his second son, NRJ, into the business, the global expansion of the business and the personal histories of some of the people behind Amrut.
In the book, Devatha also tries to capture the grit of the family behind Amrut, the Jagdales. “What is inspiring is how this family-run firm with limited resources decided to make an Indian malt whisky, end-to-end,” he says, adding that few brands have such a clear understanding of their own identity and positioning.
“What clearly came through from the interviews was that, for NRJ, doing these cutting-edge things was the high, and profit was only a by-product. If that is your motive, you already got your reward by the time you’ve accomplished it,” he says.
The book also delves into the history, background and current status of alcohol in Indian society. According to Devatha, even though Indian society also has a “queasy sociological bond” with alcohol, it continues to be a significant contributor to the Indian economy.
He brings up a 2018-19 Reserve Bank of India report on the budget, which reveals that the total excise duty on alcohol collected by Indian states and union territories was ₹ 1.51 trillion, and adds, “In Karnataka alone, 21% of its revenue in 2023-2024 is excise. This is also why, during COVID, the first thing that opened up was the booze shops,” he says, pointing out that most states cannot function without alcohol trade. “You know what the Indian army budget is — ₹ 1.55 trillion annually,” he says. “Just to give you a sense of the quantum…we collect enough tax on alcohol that can nearly cover the budget of the second largest army in the world.“
Packaging of the whisky. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The power of stories
In the preface of this book, Devatha draws a seemingly implausible parallel between writing and creating a pitch deck. While at first glance, they “are as different as curry and custard…you will find that there is one thing common to both: good storytelling.”
Devatha, who in an earlier avatar worked as a senior brand manager at an ed-tech start-up, talks about how he discovered this interesting similitude during the pandemic. “I was there when major shifts were happening in branding, in terms of logo design, the messaging, the tonality, how the brand cohesively communicates, who is our target audience…,” he says. As a result, he found himself presenting multiple pitch decks to top management at this organisation, and that’s when it struck him that branding was essentially storytelling. “I realised that it was very similar to crafting a character in a novel,” says Devatha, who was just about to finish his book of short stories, Indogene: Stories of Indians Across the Globe.
He published this book of stories and was thinking about what to write next when he encountered Sumath Karnad, a senior from his engineering days “It turned out that he was managing Social Media for Amrut, the well-known distillery,” says Devatha, who realised that the story of a family business that had built this world-class brand deserved to be told. Karnad soon put Devatha in touch with the brand’s head distiller, Ashok Chokalingam.
Over the next three-odd years, Devatha immersed himself in the genesis, history, and evolution of this home-grown whisky brand, relying on multiple interviews with Amrut’s top management, whisky experts, and retailers from all over the world to tell a nuanced, lucid, eminently readable story of this Bengaluru-based brand. He also conducted his own secondary research — and, yes, attended many whisky-tasting sessions — to help tell this layered story of Amrut and the people behind it.
“I am writing this for the general audience…trying to bring management to the average person and make them look at entrepreneurship in a much more inspiring light,” says Devatha, who will be speaking at the upcoming Bangalore Business Literature Festival on September 14. “The idea was to show what it takes to build something world-class out of India.”
Amrut distillery. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Entrepreneurial spirit
For Devatha, who thinks of himself as a “media and genre agnostic storyteller,” Amrut: The Great Churn is also an ode to the country’s entrepreneurial spirit. He firmly believes India is rising, “the one economic bright spot in a gloomy world.” He argues that while we need the hard power of economic growth, creating varied narratives about the country on a global stage is also important. “We do have Bollywood and yoga, but surely, in a country this size and with this diverse population, there’s supposed to be more,” says Devatha.
In Devatha’s opinion, yoga has garnered global popularity because “health is universal” as is entrepreneurship. India’s start-up ecosystem — the third largest in the world — offers a rich source for inspiring stories, Amrut being one of them. “The Indian single malt is looked at as a reputed liquor now. We are no longer a country that is looked at as producing only molasses-based cheap liquor,” says Devatha. He thinks of the love and recognition that the brand commands worldwide as “soft power at its best. If you have money or military strength without narratives, you’re missing half the firepower you need as you move up in the world,” he says.
Published - September 11, 2024 09:00 am IST
