ABD to launch premium whisky by December

Largest domestic liquor maker Allied Blenders & Distillers (ABD), promoted by Kishore Chhabria of the Shaw Wallace fame, will be entering the premium whisky market by December to cash on in the 'premiumisation' trend.
"We hope to launch our first premium whisky brand by this December. The proposed product will have an entirely new brand name and brand positioning. We are done with the OC (Officer's Choice) brand extension and the new brand will really be a premium as we already have a semi-premium whisky in Officer's Choice Black," vice-chairman and chief executive Deepak Roy told PTI in an interaction.

Explaining the rationale for entering the premium segment, Roy said, "while we have a premium brandy in Kyron, and a semi-premium whisky OC Black, we have been missing a premium brand."
"This is a calculated move as the industry has been on a premiumisation drive for some time now. Moreover, the margin is much high in this segment and this will complement our existing bouquet of brands," he added.
Earlier this year, ABD had entered the semi-premium whisky segment with the launch of Officer's Choice Black. "This is the last brand extension for OC," Roy added.
ABD has achieved record sales last fiscal for its flagship brand Officer's Choice whiskey, which is in the mass market, by selling a record 25 million cases, clocking a growth rate of 14 per cent over the previous fiscal. OC is the largest selling regular whisky with 32 per cent market share.

Also, ABD already has a premium brandy brand under the label of Kyron, launched 20 months ago, and grew 20 per cent in Andhra and Kerala respectively.