Surrinder Kumar: The Master Behind India’s Whisky Revolution | Indri Single Malt Whisky

Surrinder Kumar is one of the defining figures in the rise of Indian single malt whisky — a master distiller and blender whose career has helped shape how Indian whisky is viewed around the world today. 🇮🇳🥃 In this special Whisky Newspaper documentary, I sit down with Mr Surrinder Kumar to explore the mind, experience and philosophy behind a remarkable career spanning decades in Indian whisky. Surrinder's story is closely connected with two of the most important chapters in modern Indian single malt. During his long career at Amrut Distilleries, he played a major technical role in developing the whisky that helped introduce Indian single malt to an international audience. Amrut would go on to challenge long-held assumptions about whether world-class single malt could be produced in India's climate and became one of the brands that helped open the door for Indian whisky globally. Decades later, Surrinder Kumar became an important figure in another extraordinary success story — Indri. At Piccadily Distilleries, his knowledge of distillation, maturation, blending and cask management has helped shape Indri into one of the leading names of the new generation of Indian single malt whisky. But the Indian whisky revolution has never been the work of one individual. Visionaries and pioneers including Neelakanta Rao Jagdale, Rakshit Jagdale, Ashok Chokalingam, Paul P. John, Michael D'Souza and many others have each played important roles in building the reputation Indian single malt enjoys today. This film focuses on one of the great whisky makers within that wider story. We discuss Surrinder Kumar's journey through the Indian whisky industry, his approach to whisky making, the development of Indian single malt, maturation in India's unique climate, the rise of Indri, and what it takes to create whisky capable of competing on the world stage. For me, this isn't simply a story about one bottle or one distillery. It is a story about experience, perseverance, craftsmanship and the growing confidence of Indian whisky. From the early days of proving that India could produce serious single malt to today's extraordinary international recognition, Surrinder Kumar has witnessed — and helped shape — an incredible transformation. Surrinder Kumar: The Master Behind India’s Whisky Revolution. 🥃 Featuring: • Surrinder Kumar — Master Blender & Master Distiller • Indian single malt whisky • Indri whisky • Amrut whisky • Piccadily Distilleries • The evolution of Indian whisky • Whisky making, maturation and blending • The future of Indian single malt If you enjoy whisky documentaries, distillery stories, master blender interviews, Indian whisky, Scotch whisky and world whisky, subscribe to *Whisky Newspaper* for more conversations with the people shaping the global whisky industry. Let me know in the comments: Where do you think Indian single malt ranks amongst the world's great whisky-producing nations today? 0:00 The Wall of Indian Cricket and Distilling 0:41 Behind the Scenes at Picadilly Distillery 1:38 The Path of a Food Technologist 2:24 Three Decades of Crafting History 2:49 Vision and Risk: The Promoter's Zeal 4:12 The Weight of Forty Years Experience 4:58 The Unexpected Start of a Career 6:02 The Cricket Connection and Career Advice 7:42 Early Days in the Meerut Distillery 9:27 Does Tasting Whiskey Ever Get Boring? 11:14 The Future of the Indian Malt Industry 13:01 Securing a Place on the World Whiskey Map #SurrinderKumar #Indri #IndianWhisky #IndianSingleMalt #IndriWhisky #Amrut #Whisky #SingleMalt #MasterBlender #MasterDistiller #WhiskyNewspaper