An Evening in the Company of Indian Single Malts was the inaugural event for the Worshipful Company of Distillers’ New Livery Members Committee (NLMC), held at Diageo’s London headquarters on 3 December 2025
A world‑first for Indian Single malts
The inaugural NLMC event brought together newer Liverymen and industry guests for a brand‑agnostic exploration of India’s rapidly rising single malt category, now accounting for more than half of single malt sales domestically with exports to over 44 countries.
It was the first time for all these Indian Single Malts (ISM) brands to be present in the same room.
Liveryman Ruchira Neotia, drinks consultant and India expert, was our evening’s curator and led a cross‑country journey through India, highlighting how geography, climate and craftsmanship are shaping a new generation of globally acclaimed whiskies. We started with a tasting of Rajasthan-born Godawan and Dōaab, moving on to GianChand in the Himalayas before crossing to Rampur & Indri in the Himalayan foothills. The journey then moved south with an exploration of the ‘OG’ Amrut to the tropical Paul Johns and ended with the latest entrants to the ISM category.
It was an interactive evening allowing guests to discuss the intricacies of the innovation in the sub-continent including sustainability initiatives such as water stewardship, and the importance of Indian provenance as a distinct whisky identity.
We are grateful for the support and attendance of Master Daniel Szor – his enthusiastic encouragement led to an oversubscription of the event.
“This booming category now holds a bigger share of the world’s largest whisky market than all imported whiskies combined — so ignore it at your peril, or better yet, taste it for yourself.”
Master Daniel Szor
Special guest Craig Wallace, Master Blender for Diageo’s World Whisky Portfolio, travelled in especially for this event and provided us with firsthand insight into Asia’s growing whisky dominance and how Indian single malts stand out on the global whisky landscape. The Company extends warm thanks for his generous support of this landmark evening. The Committee also expresses its gratitude to Diageo UK for hosting at Great Marlborough Street and to all Liverymen, Freeman (new & prospective) who attended this relaxed, convivial gathering.
For any new Livery members wishing to learn more about the NLMC, future events or opportunities to get involved, please contact NLMC Chair Chris Porter or Liveryman Ruchira Neotia.
This was the first of many such events to allow our newer members to feel welcomed and to get the full social and networking benefit of having joined our Company.
