Antiquity (whisky)

Antiquity is a brand of Indian whisky, manufactured by United Spirits Ltd (USL), a subsidiary of the United Breweries Group. It was launched in 1992.[2] It is available in two variants - Antiquity Blue and Antiquity Rare. Antiquity Blue is made of Indian and Scotch malt whisky blended with grain spirit.[3]

Antiquity
TypeIndian whisky
ManufacturerUnited Spirits Ltd (USL)[1]
Country of originIndia
Introduced1992
Alcohol by volume42.8%
IngredientsIndian grain spirits, Indian malt, Scotch malt
VariantsAntiquity Blue
Antiquity Rare
Related products
Websiteunitedspirits.in/antiquity-blue-whisky.aspx

Antiquity Blue was awarded "Silver Best in Class" in the Spirits Tasting competition by the International Wine and Spirit Competition, held at the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) Conference, which took place in Las Vegas, United States from April 2 to 5, 2012.[1][4] In a taste test by GQ magazine, Antiquity Rare received a rating of 4.2/10. The magazine said that the whisky had "won few admirers among the judges, with complaints of a perfumed, nearly acetone taste – except for one diehard fan".[5]

The brand's main national competitors are Blenders Pride from Pernod Ricard and Peter Scot from Khoday India Limited,[6][7] as well as competition from other USL whiskies in the same price range such as Royal Challenge and Signature.[8][9] In some states, Antiquity also competes with Haig Gold Label from Diageo[10][11] and Rockford Reserve from Modi Illva.[12]

History

Antiquity was launched in 1992 by Shaw Wallace.[2] United Spirits Ltd (USL), a subsidiary of the United Breweries Group (UB Group), acquired Shaw Wallace in July 2005.[13] On 1 April 2008, Shaw Wallace was merged with USL and Antiquity officially became a USL brand.[14]

In April 2008, the UB Group appointed London-based design firm Claessens International to revamp the packaging of Antiquity. The primary reason behind the revamp was to retain the heritage character and incorporation of the Shaw Wallace name on the bottles of the brand that was formerly owned by SWC.[15][16]

Antiquity was introduced in the United States by American United Beer & Spirits (UBS) at the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) Conference, held in Las Vegas from April 2 to 5, 2012.[17][18] Antiquity Blue Rare Premium was launched in China on 11 May 2007, which at the time was the most expensive Indian made whisky.[19][20][21]

Sales

Antiquity Rare Premium whisky saw 50% growth in sales for the year-ended 30 June 1998, over 1996-97. The brand held a market share of 44% in the premium whisky segment of the Indian market, with another USL (then SWC) brand Royal Challenge grabbing 49% of market share.[22] Antiquity and Seagram's Blenders Pride were the highest selling whisky brands in the super-premium Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) category in 2002-03.[23] On 2 February 2005, Shaw Wallace stated that Antiquity Rare Premium whisky had a growth in sales of 40% over the previous year.[24]

Brand ambassadors

In April/May 2012, American United Beer & Spirits signed Indian model and television personality Nina Manuel to represent Antiquity whisky in the US.[18][25]

References
  1. "Antiquity award". Unitedspirits.in. Archived from the original on 2013-09-10. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  2. United Spirits Limited (USL) - Who We Are | About Us Archived 2013-08-07 at the Wayback Machine. Unitedspirits.in (2013-03-31). Retrieved on 2013-12-23.
  3. "Antiquity". Unitedspirits.in. Archived from the original on 2013-05-16. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  4. "Vijay Mallya's Antiquity Whisky Bags Silver Award at World's Largest Liquor Convention". International Business Times. 2012-04-06. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  5. GQ staff (2011-05-31). "Taste test: India's 5 cheapest whiskeys". GQ India. Retrieved 2013-06-08.
  6. Rajanala, Sunil (2003-12-25). "RC takes the lead in premium segment". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2013-06-08.
  7. "The Hindu Business Line : UB expects CSD sales to boost Signature whisky". Business Line. 2004-02-05. Retrieved 2013-06-08.
  8. "Signature Whisky in nips and pints". The Financial Express. 1999-09-09. Archived from the original on 2013-12-24. Retrieved 2013-06-08.
  9. "USL targets sale of 1 crore cases of Royal Challenge by 2019". Mint. PTI. 2009-04-28. Retrieved 2013-06-08.
  10. M Padmakshan (2006-09-12). "Diageo to scorch the market with cheapest Scotch". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  11. "Diageo tries to bridge a price gap in 'real' scotch. Cheers to that". DNA. 2006-09-20. Retrieved 2013-06-08.
  12. Bindu D Menon (2013-05-24). "Modi Illva bets big on whiskey demand". Business Line. Retrieved 2013-06-08.
  13. "Radico, Mason, BDA in fray for part of SWC liquor biz ICICI Bank talking to suitors". Business Line. 2005-05-31. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  14. "Shaw Wallace board okays merger with USL". The Hindu. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  15. Udit Prasanna Mukherji (2008-04-26). "Mallya to keep brand Shaw Wallace alive". The Times Of India. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  16. M Padmakshan (2002-08-03). "Liquor brands going for stylish, sleeker looks". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  17. "Pooja Batra Appointed US Brand Ambassador For Royal Challenge Whisky". In.movies.yahoo.com. 2012-04-16. Archived from the original on 2014-03-02. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  18. "Model Nina Manuel Named 'Antiquity Whiskey' Ambassador". Indiawest.com. 2012-05-14. Archived from the original on 2013-05-16. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  19. Bhattacharjee, Ashok (2007-05-16). "India's Mallya Buys Whyte & Mackay for $1.18 Billion (Update4)". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  20. "Whyte & Mackay may cost Vijay Mallya $1.38 bn". Livemint. 2007-05-11. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  21. Douglas Hamiliton (2007-05-17). "UB Group acquires Whyte & Mackay in £595m deal". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  22. "Shaw Wallace beer sales register 50% growth". The Indian Express. 1998-10-02. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  23. "Raise a toast, it's Johnnie Walker all the way". The Economic Times. 2003-07-31. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  24. "Focus on frontline brands pays off for Shaw Wallace". Business Line. 2005-02-03. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  25. "The Indian Lass for 'Antiquity Whisky' - Nina Manuel". Scribd.com. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
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