The fourth-largest wine and spirits company in the world, Beam Global Spirits and Wine is planning to ramp up its presence in the country.

Having announced that that leading Scotch whiskey brand, Teacher's, would be the long term presenting sponsor for Superbrands Tribute Nite hosted by Superbrands India, Beam Global Spirits and wine is also planning to increase its portfolio of offerings in the country. (See: Superbrands partners Teacher's to commemorate India's best brands)

As a category, the American whisky and Bourbon segment in India is still in its infancy, catering to a niche of connoisseurs rather than the masses of the billion plus Indians. 

An American whiskey, Bourbon is a type of distilled spirit that is made primarily from corn. It is named for Bourbon County, Kentucky, and has been in production since the eighteenth century. 

In India, the whiskey has an almost insignificant market share. Indian scotch whiskey consumption borders on around half a million cases of Scotch whisky. Most of it is imported in bulk, bottled locally and then marketed via liquor marketing and distribution networks in the country. One case of scotch contains 12 bottles of 750ml each.

Moet Hennessy's Ashwin Deo said last year that in India's whiskey market, malt was a growing category and appealed to a wide footprint of consumers beyond the traditional malt drinker. With the segment of people who enjoy premium spirits growing, Jim Beam's endeavours come well in time to grow the market, just as its contemporaries are doing.

Jack Daniels is the most well-known American whisky brand in the country today, which has capitalised on a youth appeal in relation to rock music to attract its target segment. The whiskey has a number of Indians returning from the US as its brand ambassadors and evangelists, having experienced the product on home shores. Presently, bourbon sales are driven largely by Indians returning from the US.

Beam Global could well find a segment in IT professionals, almost 100,000 of whom have returned to home shores from the US during recent years. This niche would be instrumental in providing the initial sales, as well as spreading awareness and sharing the product with the Indian friends, and expanding their target market. Jim Beam brought its products to India in imported bottles a year ago, along with its Maker's Mark Bourbon. Company sources say that Jim Beam's products have started to catch on not just in the travel retail segment, but in key five-star hotels as well. Having tested the waters, Jim Beam is ready to make a more aggressive in the retail market. 

The UK-based market research company International Wine and Spirit Record estimates Jack Daniel's to be the fastest growing brand in the Indian market dominated by scotch whisky, currently selling around 50,000 cases a year.

Ashwin Deo, at the launch of Moet Hennessy's legendary highland single malt scotch whisky, Glenmorangie, in India last September had said that owing to the levies and taxes levied by the state, prices would vary from state to state across India. Pricing being dependent on the rules and regulations as mandated by the government of India, he had said that spirits had a tax of 200 per cent levied on them, over and above the 150 per cent import duty, which is why the range costs what it does. (See: Glenmorangie Highland single malt Scotch whisky comes to India) 

That pushes up prices of Indian-bottled foreign liquor beyond what is available at the duty free shops, which is where most of the target market of these brands shops for the whiskeys in India. Sales at duty-free shops at international airports make up around 40 to 60 per cent of sales of international companies such as Beam Global and Diageo Plc (Johnnie Walker) and Moet Hennessy. A 750ml bottle of Jack Daniel's costs in the range of Rs2,200-Rs2,500 in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. A bottle of Jim Beam costs around Rs1,400-1,700.

Industry sources say that at the kind of prices people pay for a bottle of these products, they don't really drink American or Scotch, bit rather drink brands.

Jim Beam's brands include Jim Beam Bourbon, Sauza Tequila, Canadian Club Whisky, Courvoisier Cognac, Maker's Mark Bourbon, Laphroaig Scotch Whisky, Larios Gin, Whisky DYC, DeKuyper Cordials and Liqueurs, Knob Creek Bourbon and Starbucks Liqueurs. 

For now, the company markets around 10 of these in India, including the single malt Laphroaig, the Sauza tequila, and the Canadian Club whisky. It also markets an Indian-made brand called DYC. 

India is being seen as an emerging market for scotch, the demand for which is propelled by the rising disposable incomes of the upper middle class in an economy growing at almost 8 per cent. 

The larger dark underbelly counterfeiting of imported brands in India might not be a worry for Moet Hennessy or Jim Beam. Speaking to domain-b last year at the launch of Glenmorangie, Moet Hennessy's Deo had estimated the total whisky market in India is around 70 - 75 million cases, of which imported whiskies account for around 300,000 cases per annum. 

Of these 300,000, malts account for a miniscule 20,000 cases per annum, and is growing at 35 - 40 per cent in India. It would therefore stand to reason, that while the product is niche, counterfeiting would not catch up at a fast pace. That would hold true for Bourbon as well, so the company can look forward to a couple of years of good business.