The Birth of Whisky Legend in India
From distributors to world famous distillery, is not an unimaginable outcome in the whisky industry. We have seen Auction uniting to release unique collections, Rock stars, basketball icons, and politicians – all ending on the production side of the scale. One similar story lines India’s whisky industry.
In 1953, Kedar Nath and Sons was founded in Doraha, Punjab, as a liquor distributor by Kedar Nath Sharma. Kedar Nath and Sons quickly grew and gained all the major liquor contracts in the Punjab region.
In addition, K.N. Sharma launched Picadili Restaurant and Bar in Chandigarh, which was the only standalone bar in Chandigarh for more than 35 years. K.N. Sharma, influenced by London’s Picadilly Circus, brought that same energy to Punjab.
The Birth of Whisky Legend in India
However, it would be these three important projects that really created the legend.
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- The success in Picadili led to more locals in Chandigarh and the opening of Picadilly theaters in 1972 in Amritsar and Jalandar.
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- In 1975-1976, they launched Picadilly Hotel in Chandigarh, and expanded to five other cities.
- In 1994, the family purchased a sugar mill and distillery and entered the alcohol manufacturing and distillery business.
Notably. it was not until 2008 that the distillery received a license to use cane juice to produce whisky. When distillation began in 2009, Piccadily used American oak barrels for maturation. The world-famous Camikara cane juice rum brand debuted in 2022.
According to Piccadily Distillery, its goal by 2010 was to develop a whisky distillery to rival those found in Scotland. The company embarked the on production of high-end, premium malt spirits adhering to Scottish and EU regulations.
Raj Industries was commissioned by Piccadily to renovate the Indri distillery in 2010 and the Bawal distillery at Bawal, Haryana in 2018. The aim was to phase out molasses-based whisky. Whisky bottling began in 2020 for the local market, initially with the production of Whistler Blended Whisky.
