One of the newest names to be making waves in the Indian whisky market is Indri.
Launched in 2021, Indri is a single malt whisky offering from the Piccadily Distilleries in North India. Across its 3 distilleries, Piccadily currently produce spirits for 3 different brands. 2 of these focus on molasses-based spirits, but with the Indri, Haryana distillery they are focussed on single malt whisky production only.
The distillery uses a local, traditional barley variant and even names the farmer (Goda Ram) whose family has used the “six-row cultivated method” on their farm for 4 generations in Bundi, Rajasthan.
The brand launched with their flagship expression Trini (from Trinity), which claims to be India’s first triple cask influenced single malt, using ex-bourbon, ex-PX sherry, and ex-French wine casks.
The Triple Cask expression reviewed here uses a similar formula but is their travel retail exclusive release. Using that same trio of cask types, this single malt is bottled at 46% ABV (actually a higher percentage than the flagship offering) without chill-filtration or colouring.
Nose
Sweet. Tannic. Tangy. Oaky. There’s barbecued bananas, dark toffee, and sweet vanilla, bringing some real dessert scents up front. Underneath there’s oak, sandalwood, nutmeg, and clove (big on the wood and spice). It’s quite a perfume-y nose.
Taste
The texture is very soft and buttery and it seems to bring a big selection of bagged sweet treats: Fruit Salads, fruit gums, and Werthers Originals are all at play [ed: Fruit Salads were raspberry and pineapple favour, it transpires after a quick Michael Googlé]. Bananas and mango provide additional fruit notes. A little nuttiness and gentle spices join the fold with a soft cinnamon and clove combo bringing some warmth to the experience.
Finish
Soft spices simmer with a black pepper finale.
Verdict
I’m not very well versed in Indian whisky but of the ones I have tried, they seem to be at one end of the spectrum or the other: too sweet or too harsh. This sits somewhere in the middle – closer to the sweeter side of things.
Though there were malty/butterscotch type flavours in there, this was a really sweet whisky overall and even with the heat of the 46% ABV, it has loads of tropical fruit sweet-ness and tangy-ness to it. The barbecued banana flavour from the nose, carries on through the palate and finish. I don’t want to think that the Indian origin is making that banana connection in my mind, [ed: they are the worlds largest producers of bananas, after all] but it really smells and tastes like it’s there throughout.
After a few sips, the softness of the texture makes it almost seem like sipping on a liqueur. If this was presented at 40% ABV then it would probably become insipid or even sickly sweet. For its additional strength though it has some backbone and malty credentials to its name.
As this is the travel retail expression currently available from Indri, I’d be keen to see how it stands up to their main release, Trini as they both feature a blend of ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, and ex-wine cask matured spirit, albeit likely to be in different proportions to one another.
With Amrut, Rampur, and Paul John having been such key players in the Indian market, it’s good to see another name emerging, and with quite the list of awards/accolades already under the Piccadily/Indri belt – how ever much credence you give to those things.
Overall, an enjoyable something else to try and one for easy/frequent sipping.
M
Sample disclosure: Not my bottle, but one kindly enjoyed with another from the Unplugged family, who picked it up from the airport on their travels. All notes are intended as an honest, fair, and independent review of the whisky, and not as a promotion. Please drink responsibly. Please drink wisely.
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