Antiquity is a brand of Indian whisky, manufactured by United Spirits Ltd (USL), a subsidiary of the United Breweries Group. It was launched in 1992.[2] It is available in two variants - Antiquity Blue and Antiquity Rare. Antiquity Blue is made of Indian and Scotch malt whisky blended with grain spirit. Antiquity Blue was awarded "Silver Best in Class" in the Spirits Tasting competition by the International Wine and Spirit Competition, held at the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) Conference, which took place in Las Vegas, United States from April 2 to 5, 2012.[1] In a taste test by GQ magazine, Antiquity Rare received a rating of 4.2/10. The magazine said that the whisky had "won few admirers among the judges, with complaints of a perfumed, nearly acetone taste – except for one diehard fan". The brand's main national competitors are Blenders Pride from Pernod Ricard and Peter Scot from Khoday India Limited,[6][7] as well as competition from other USL whiskies in the same price range such as Royal Challenge and Signature.

[9] In some states, Antiquity also competes with Haig Gold Label from Diageo[10][11] and Rockford Reserve from Modi Illva. Antiquity was launched in 1992 by Shaw Wallace.[13] United Spirits Ltd (USL), a subsidiary of the United Breweries Group (UB Group), acquired Shaw Wallace in July 2005.[14] On 1 April 2008, Shaw Wallace was merged with USL and Antiquity officially became a USL brand. In April 2008, the UB Group appointed London-based design firm Claessens International to revamp the packaging of Antiquity. The primary reason behind the revamp was to retain the heritage character and incorporation of the Shaw Wallace name on the bottles of the brand that was formerly owned by SWC. Antiquity was introduced in the United States by American United Beer & Spirits (UBS) at the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) Conference, held in Las Vegas from April 2 to 5, 2012.[19] Antiquity Blue Rare Premium was launched in China on 11 May 2007, which at the time was the most expensive Indian made whisky.

Antiquity Rare Premium whisky saw 50% growth in sales for the year-ended 30 June 1998, over 1996-97. The brand held a market share of 44% in the premium whisky segment of the Indian market, with another USL (then SWC) brand Royal Challenge grabbing 49% of market share.[23] Antiquity and Seagram's Blenders Pride were the highest selling whisky brands in the super-premium Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) category in 2002-03.[24] On 2 February 2005, Shaw Wallace stated that Antiquity Rare Premium whisky had a growth in sales of 40% over the previous year. In April/May 2012, American United Beer & Spirits signed Indian model and television personality Nina Manuel to represent Antiquity whisky in the US. ^ United Spirits Limited (USL) - Who We Are | » » Come November 8 and tipplers have to pay extra for his favourite drinks KOLKATA: Come November 8 and tipplers have to pay extra for his favourite drinks. A Kingfisher beer can of Rs 90 may cost Rs 20-25 more while an one litre bottle of whisky like Blenders Pride may cost Rs 50-55 more.

Well, the state excise department has decided to revise the price of both India Made Foreign Liquors and country liquors upward from November 8. The increase in excise duty across different categories will be ranging from 2.67% to almost 6%. The hike will be lower for regular categories while for premium ranges the hike would be more. According to excise circular, for IMFL with MRP less than Rs 266, excise duty would go up from current level of 49% to 51.67%. hamilton beach blender bbt0650The duty will be 42.33% from 38.5% for Rs 266 to Rs 450 category. black and decker cyclone blender walmartFor Rs 450 to Rs 1000 segment, the duty would be 35.18% from 30.45%, the most popular category for whisky and Vodka. kitchenaid blender coupling melted

The duty will be 31.44% and 26.78% respectively for Rs 1000 and above and Rs 1,500 and above segments from 26% and 21%. The price increase will be maximum in the imported liquor category. An excise official pointed out that it is expecting that the moderate hike in the price is not going to affect the demand in a big way. Incidetally, the state government has collected a revenue of Rs 2,800 crore till October 31 of this year and it has a target of Rs 4,700 crore for the whole year. vitamix tnc 5200 attilaIn last two months, September and October, there was an average 30% increase in excise revenue collection. The figure was Rs 441 crore for October and Rs 461 crore for September this year. Last year the excise revenue was close to Rs 4,100 crore. According to excise officials, the liquor companies have not yet notified the department about the new prices. "They will do it in next few days. The increase in price pf liqor may not be in the same magnitude of excise hike.

This could be either little more or little less," an official added. An official of a leading liquor compay said that it is working on new price structure and will announce the new structure soon. However, Pradyut Saha, the secretary of All Bengal Excise Licensee Association feels that a hike in price always incentivise spurious liquor. "We shall try our best to co-ordinate with the government but price increase of legal liquor leads to prolifiration of illegal trade," he added. Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.From Around the WebMore From The Times of India An advertisement for Bagpiper whisky on a building in Pondicherry Distilled alcoholic beverages that are labelled as "whisky" in India are commonly blends based on neutral spirits that are distilled from fermented molasses with only a small portion consisting of traditional malt whisky, usually about 10 to 12 percent. Outside India, such a drink would more likely be labelled a rum.

[2] According to the Scotch Whisky Association's 2013 annual report, unlike the European Union (EU), "there is no compulsory definition of whisky in India, and the Indian voluntary standard does not require whisky to be distilled from cereals or to be matured. Very little Indian 'whisky' qualifies as whisky in the EU owing to the use of molasses or neutral alcohol, limited maturation (if any) and the use of flavourings. Such spirits are, of course, considerably cheaper to produce than genuine whisky."[5] Ninety percent of the whisky consumed in India is molasses-based,[6] although whisky wholly distilled from malt and other grains, is also manufactured and sold. The drinking of Scotch whisky was introduced to India in the nineteenth century, during the British Raj. In the late 1820s, Edward Dyer moved from England to set up the first brewery in India at Kasauli. The brewery was soon shifted to nearby Solan (close to the British summer capital Shimla), as there was an abundant supply of fresh springwater there.

The Kasauli Brewery site was converted to a distillery becoming India's first distillery, which is currently operated by Mohan Meakin. Production of alcohol from grain was hampered by shortage of extra grain, due to food shortages. Allowing grains to be used for alcohol manufacture is an emotive subject in India, due to poverty and alcohol's ambivalent reputation. The manufacture of whisky from malted grains in India was pioneered by Amrut Distilleries. In 1982, Neelakanta Jagdale, Chairman and managing director of Amrut Distilleries, decided to create a premium whisky from a combination of malted and unmalted barley,[10] while most distillers in India were manufacturing whisky by converting molasses to alcohol. Amrut Distilleries began procuring barley from farmers in Haryana,[10] Punjab and Rajasthan, in addition to molasses,[11] and launched Prestige Blended Malt Whisky in the Canteen Stores Department in 1986.[12] The first batch of single malt whisky was ready within 18 months.

Because India had no culture of consuming single malts at the time, the company did not consider bottling it as a single malt. Instead, the whisky was blended with alcohol distilled from sugarcane to produce MaQintosh Premium Whisky.[13] According to Neelakanta Jagdale, "The alcoholic beverages industry was not a priority in the country. Although we received help to a certain extent from the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), we had to find our own ways to learn about improved distilling methods". After liberalisation in the 1990s, import duties were reduced moderately, to about 35%, giving distillers access to better technology.[14] Another factor was the entry of foreign players to the market, whose brands seen as more authentic and attractive by affluent Indian consumers. Indian distillers were forced to upgrade to keep up.[9] This led several Indian manufacturers to acquire foreign liquor companies.[9] Under Vijay Mallya's direction, the Indian company United Breweries acquired a number of noted whisky brands and distilleries in Scotland, including Dalmore, Isle of Jura, and Whyte & Mackay.

[15] 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. Amrut Distilleries launched Amrut, the first single malt whisky to be made in India, on 24 August 2004.[17] The production of Amrut single malt whisky was the result of the distillery having malt that was ageing far in excess of what was needed for its medium range Prestige Malt Whisky.[10] Initially, Amrut aged malt whisky for around a year before blending it. However, due to changing customer preferences, less malt whisky was being added into blended variants.[12] Surinder Kumar, the master blender at Amrut Distilleries, has estimated that because of climate differences, one year of barrel ageing in India is equal to three years of ageing in Scotland.[10] John Distilleries had been making blended whisky since its foundation, but decided to manufacture single malt whisky in 2008[18] in an attempt to enter the premium end of the market.

John Distilleries chose to use Indian ingredients in the first bottling, to give the whisky characteristics of its country of origin. The first bottling of Paul John whisky, branded "Paul John Single Cask 161 Whisky", was officially launched on 4 October 2012.[19] The brand's second release, also in 2012, was "Paul John Single Cask 163 Whisky".[20] Following the single cask release, Paul John released two single malt whiskies in May 2013.[21] They were branded Paul John Single Malt Whisky Brilliance and Paul John Single Malt Whisky Edited. In terms of volume, India is the biggest consumer of whisky in the world.[23] It has a complex tax structure with taxes levelled by both Central and State Governments. Import taxes are applied by the Central Government on imported spirits. State level taxes are levied by each individual State, with taxation levels and methods varying significantly. The sale of alcohol is also prohibited in some States. Whisky accounts for nearly 60% of the Indian-made foreign liquor market.

India accounted for nearly half the global whisky market by volume in 2010. The market is generally divided into segments based on price. The consumption of native distilled molasses-based whisky in India is encouraged by tariff barriers of up to 150%[26] that impose a significant markup on imported whiskies in India. Imported Scotch whisky bottled under its own brand names makes up only 1% of the total market share. The substantial tax markup on imported whiskies has been categorised by the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) as "pure protectionism".[16] Indian distillers accuse the European Union 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 EU's refusal of entry to molasses-based whiskies, claiming that the "imposition of British imperialism is unacceptable".[16] In a lawsuit brought in India by the SWA, the Delhi High Court in April 2006 enjoined Indian whisky manufacturers from labelling their product with the words "Scot" or "Scotch".

[27] However, on 27 May 2008, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of distiller Khoday India Limited, allowing the company to keep its Peter Scot whisky brand trademark. India is the world's fifth largest Scotch whisky market by volume (16.42 million litres of pure alcohol) and 19th largest by value (£61.59 million / ₹5321.0 million)[29] as of 2012. See also: List of whisky brands § Indian whisky Amrut Fusion Single Malt Whisky Indian Single Malt Whisky from Paul John, John Distilleries Following is a list of whisky producers in India in alphabetical order. The location of the company headquarters is given in brackets. The following manufacturers have ceased operations. ^ "Where 'Whisky' Can Be Rum", from The Wall Street Journal, 26 August 2006, accessed 27 January 2012. ^ "India stretches whisky market lead", Beverage Daily, 13 January 2004, accessed 25 June 2007 ^ Official web site of Amrut Distilleries, accessed 25 June 2007. ^ Whisky in India.