India, incredible India. This melodically sung slogan for Indian tourism got etched into my brain over a decade ago. Will it be Indi, incredible Indri next?
Indri is the single malt brand from Indian distiller Piccadily, seemingly named after the location of the distillery. A company long in the Indian spirits industry but a relative newcomer to the whisky scene; the malt distillery was commissioned in 2010. The Indri whisky brand was launched in 2021. Internationally, it has Scotch and other single malts to compete with; at home, the likes of Paul John and Amrut have already given Indian single malt a good name. But in a short time Indri has won many international awards, and seems to be taking on the competition well.
A little context. India is both the largest consumer and producer of whisky. The world’s top 4 selling whiskies (in terms of units rather than revenue) are all Indian. Scottish Johnnie Walker comes in at number 5. India is also a top-3 importer of Scotch whisky. Single malt stands for a tiny fraction of worldwide whisky production and consumption, and India are not major importers of Scotch single malt.
Another fun thing to note is that cask maturation is much faster in warm climates. So even a 5-year old Indian, Australian, or Taiwanese whisky can have a lot of cask influence.
In today’s tasting we first have the “standard” Indri Trini on which the brand’s reputation is to be built, a NAS from a marriage of different casks types. Just like Scotch whisky appeals to Pipers, Highlanders, and Lochs, in their marketing, Indri uses Sanskrit to bring character to the visual presentation of their brand, to quite good effect. I also have two single cask expressions at hand, a 5 and 7yo from and ex-bourbon and ex-wine casks, respectively, which should give some insight into which cask type brings which flavours to the Trini.
Indri Trini
Type: Indian single malt whisky
Distillery: Piccadily (as Indri)
Alcohol: 46%
Cask info: ex-bourbon, ex-French wine, and PX sherry casks
Bottling info: unchillfiltered and natural colour
Price and availability: Available for €39 (EU)
🔗WhiskyBase
Bottle bought August 2022
Experience ⚡— July 2023
The nose is immediately sweet and fruity, with apricot, red grapes, and honey. A strong oak note becomes positively resinous. In the background cooked vegetables and butter. On the palate, the alcohol is on the sharp side; peppery and spicy. It’s nonetheless satisfyingly unctuous, and salty-sweet. In terms of flavour, a lot of vanilla (presumably from the bourbon casks) and rather generic sherry notes that fall off too quickly in the finish.
Experience ⚡— October 2023
A fresh, sweet nose with cola and orange at the fore. Ginger and lemon grass add to the freshness, and prunes and toffee to the sweetness; red grapes somewhere in between. Some vanilla and sour oak in there too. It’s a flavour bomb on the palate, sweet grapes, orange cake, coffee; it grows a bit bitter with time. Definitely spicy as well, which is the main impression of the finish.
Thoughts 💡
Fun to compare the tasting notes! Differences are likely a combination of the whisky changing in the bottle due to oxidation, and differences in my own condition and capacity to express my experience. In either case, the descriptions overlap substantially. Red grapes and oak on the nose; sweet and spicy palate. I think now the orange and cola note are indeed very clear. I can surely agree with the past impression of butter, which now got expressed as toffee. The cooked vegetables are perhaps lurking still, but are not so prominent. I think this has to do with time; although the bottle has been open (but at rather high fill) since January already.
I think this is a good bottle, especially at the very reasonable price asked. To my taste a little too exuberant with sweet, spicy, and a jumble of casks, maybe a bit rushed through its maturation. But it’s certainly so much more fun than many bland Scotch single malts, so I think they’ve done a very credible job here.
Worthwhile and enjoyable ✔️
Indri 5yo (2017)
Type: Scotch single malt
Distillery: Piccadily (as Indri)
Alcohol: 58.5%
Cask info: ex-bourbon
Bottling info: unchillfiltered and natural colour
Price and availability: €80 (Germany, Oct 2023)
🔗WhiskyBase
Sample from Whisky Fair Bad Homburg 2023 (€5 for 3cl)
Experience ⚡
Very bourbon-forward. Oodles of vanilla, honey, and an acidic espresso coffee and tropical fruits as well. On the palate, very sweet and bourbony, with vanilla, syrupy sponge cake, ripe apricots. The spice and alcohol on the palate demands a large dollop of water, after which more overripe tropical fruits appear on the nose; and the pungency of that ripeness is apparent on the palate (in a good way).
Thoughts 💡
Something of a love it or hate it dram. This is a bourbon cask ‘bomb’, which I find very fun but other might find it overbearing. It’s is less complex than the Indri Trini, but also more focussed and coherent, and in the end I like it more – after a hefty addition of water!
Worthwhile and enjoyable ✔️
Indri 7yo (2015)
Type: Scotch single malt
Distillery: Piccadily (as Indri)
Alcohol: 58.5%
Cask info: ex-wine
Bottling info: unchillfiltered and natural colour. Just shy of 8yo
Price and availability: similar casks around €90
🔗WhiskyBase (or a sister cask)
Sample from Whisky Fair Bad Homburg 2023 (€5 for 3cl)
Experience ⚡
Musky, winey, oaky, and with balsamic vinegar and forest fruits: strawberries, blackberries. And… carrots. Dense, sweet, and a bit salty to taste. The alcohol is way overpowering, so ample water is needed. Flavours are then of red fruits and crème brûlée. It’s a meaty dram. Long and sticky finish.
Thoughts 💡
This is pretty good! Very intense, but somehow less extreme in profile than the bourbon casks 2017.
Worthwhile and enjoyable ✔️
Indri is brave, bold, and — fun! An Indian whisky that I can recommend trying, and it’s better (at least more ambitious) than a lot of Scotch.
DuckDrams 
Leave a comment