Mcdowells To Unveil New Scotch Brand

UB group company McDowells is set to launch a new scotch brand in India and plans to take its popular brand, Kerala Malt, national.

"We should have a brand launch within three to six months," UB Group, vice-president, spirits division, Alok Gupta said. He said the entire exercise is at a research stage, and the division plans to launch an extension of its existing brand, Black Dog as well as launch a regular scotch.

"We are looking at both the routes. An extension of Black Dog as well as a regular scotch," Gupta said. Blackdog, a 12-year-old scotch has two-third of the market share in its segment.

 

Gupta also said the division may have a soft nation-wide launch of its popular Kerala Malt. "We will identify new areas and launch the brand there," he said.

The UB Group Spirits Division is the largest spirits' manufacturing and marketing company in India with a market share of 35 per cent with 26 million cases a year. Its nearest competitor Shaw Wallace has a market share of 12 per cent.

Among its other brands, in the regular segment, Bagpiper whisky, which has recently been launched in a new packaging and is available in lookalikes in halves and quarters of its classic quart bottles, has a market share of around 30 per cent.

McDowell's whisky, was launched as an extension of its successful No 1 McDowell's brandy. The brand sells over 3.5 million cases and is growing at 20 per cent. It expects to cross the 4 million-mark by end-fiscal.

Signature rare whisky which is blend of Indian malts and rare aged scotch is one of the fastest growing brand in the McDowell portfolio. It sells over 1.5 lakh cases. The brand has grown five times over the last two years. The brand is expected to carve out a market share of 17 per cent by the end of the current fiscal.