Imperial Blue city’s favourite drink; 77 lakh litres guzzled last FY
Imperial Blue (IB) whisky is not only the best selling liquor brand in Guwahati but through entire Assam.
In 2017-18, Guwahati guzzled around 8.55 lakh cases of IB which comes to around 77 lakh litres. One bottle measures 750 ml; one case bears 12 bottles. One case is measured as 9 bulk litres which is nine litres.
As far as the whole state of Assam is concerned, the total consumption (includes Guwahati) of IB in 2017-18 was 14.25 lakh cases. Even in 2016-17, IB was the top selling brand with Guwahati consuming 7.82 lakh cases and the entire state consuming 13.03 lakh cases.
Officer’s Choice (OC) Blue luxury whisky is the second most top selling liquor brand in Guwahati and Assam. Guwahati consumed 4.77 lakh cases in 2017-18 and the figure for Assam is 7.95 lakh cases.
McDowell’s Rum is the third most preferred drink with sale of 3.3 lakh cases recorded in Guwahati; Assam recorded 5.50 lakh cases in the last financial year.
A source in the excise department said, “Even McDowell’s No 1 luxury whisky did good business after it was launched in the markets of Assam in September 2017.”
McDowell’s No 1 luxury whisky is the fifth highest selling liquor brand with sale of 1.86 lakh cases in Guwahati and 3.10 lakh cases in Assam.
Officer’s Choice regular whisky is the fourth highest selling liquor in Guwahati.
McDowell’s No 1 regular whisky secured the sixth rank with sale of 1.67 lakh cases in Guwahati and 2.80 lakh cases in Assam.
Royal Stag whisky is the seventh highest selling liquor brand with sale of 1.18 lakh cases in Guwahati and 1.96 lakh cases in Assam.
Blender’s Pride, a bit more expensive among all the above brands, is the eighth most preferred brand. Guwahati consumed 0.68 lakh cases in 2017-18 and 1.14 lakh cases were sold in entire Assam.
A source in the excise department revealed that bottling plants for all these brands are located in Assam as the companies understand the demand. The same is not the case for the high end brands and most of such high end liquor gets imported.
100 Pipers tops high-end liquor sale; Kingfisher Strong most preferred beer
Among the high-end liquors, 100 Pipers is the highest selling liquor brand in the state and Kingfisher Strong is the most preferred beer.
Both the brands are also the top selling brands in Guwahati. 3,200 cases of 100 Pipers were sold in Guwahati in 2017-18 and 6,000 cases in Assam.
Where Kingfisher Strong beer is concerned, a source in the excise department said, “7.8 lakh cases were sold in Guwahati and 13 lakh cases in Assam in 2017-18.”
Black Dog 12 Years and Teacher’s 50 are the second most preferred high-end liquors in the city. 1,800 cases were sold in Guwahati in 2017-18 and 3,000 cases in Assam. Both the brands have the same sales figure.
The other preferred beers include He Man 9000, which is the second highest selling beer in the state. 9.5 lakh cases were sold in Assam in the last financial year of which 5.7 lakh cases were sold in Guwahati alone.
Tuborg Strong is the third most preferred beer in Guwahati as well as in the state. 1.8 lakh cases of sale were registered in Guwahati and 3 lakh cases in Assam.
The high-end liquor brands do not have bottling plants in Assam and are imported depending on the demand.
