Royal Challenge, commonly referred to by the abbreviation RC, is a brand of
Indian whisky
most distilled spirits labelled as "whisky" in India were a form of Indian-made foreign liquor, commonly blends based on neutral spirits that are distilled from fermented molasses with only a small portion consisting of traditional malt w ...
, manufactured by
United Spirits Ltd
United Spirits Limited, abbreviated to USL, is an Indian alcoholic beverages company, and the world's second-largest spirits company by volume. It is a subsidiary of Diageo, and headquartered at UB Tower in Bangalore, Karnataka. USL exports i ...
(USL), a Diageo Group company. It was launched in the early 1980s.
According to Binod K. Maitin, a United Breweries technician who oversees all the liquor blends for the company, Royal Challenge is a grain flavored whisky,
blended with
Scotch malts and Indian
malts.
In an article for ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', reporter Eric Felton states that, "About 12% of the blend comes from real malt whiskies: some of it made in India, some actual
Scotch. The rest of the mix is a
neutral spirit
Rectified spirit, also known as neutral spirits, rectified alcohol or ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, is highly concentrated ethanol that has been purified by means of repeated distillation in a process called rectification. In some countri ...
distilled from
molasses. (It's much easier and cheaper to grow
sugar cane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalk ...
than
barley
Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...
in India.) That means that, strictly speaking, Royal Challenge, like most Indian "whisky", is actually a
rum
Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum is produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Ph ...
flavored to pass as whisky." The manufacturer has refused to state the percentage of Scotch whisky used in the blend.
In the United States, Royal Challenge is referred to as "spirit whisky". Besides India, Royal Challenge is sold in several other countries including the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
and the United States.
History
Royal Challenge was originally manufactured by
Shaw Wallace and launched in India in the early 1980s. In March 2000, Shaw Wallace re-launched the brand with new packaging and advertising created by Ammiratis Puris Lintas.
United Spirits Ltd (USL), a Diageo group company, acquired Shaw Wallace in July 2005. On 1 April 2008, Shaw Wallace was merged with USL and Royal Challenge officially became a USL brand. The same month, the UB Group hired Claessens International to redesign the packaging of Royal Challenge.
Royal Challenge was officially introduced in the United States by American United Beer & Spirits (UBS) at the
Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America
Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America, Inc. (WSWA) is the industry trade group representing wine and spirits wholesalers in the United States. WSWA is headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in and has 360 member companies in all 50 ...
Conference in April 2012.
Marketing
In an early advertising campaign, Shaw Wallace described its products as "India's most wanted" and "The competition's envy, Shaw Wallace's pride". In December 2003, Royal Challenge launched a new advertising campaign, "What's life without Royal Challenge". The new campaign sought to portray the Royal challenge drinker as a "young contemporary urban male who exudes relaxed confidence". The campaign, created by Orchard, was estimated to cost Shaw Wallace 12-14 crore. Royal Challenge has often sponsored
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...
events like the CII Golf championship, the Indian Golf Championship and the Indian Open Golf, and also associated itself with the sport. In 2004, Bangalore-based Golfware India Pvt Ltd was licensed to manufacture and distribute golf clubs and accessories with the Royal Challenge logo.
The
Indian Premier League
The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...
(IPL) team
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Royal Challengers Bangalore (often abbreviated as RCB) are a franchise cricket team based in Bangalore, Karnataka, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). It was founded in 2008 by United Spirits and named after the company's liquor ...
was named after and is sponsored by Royal Challenge. The team was first unveiled on 12 March 2008. A PIL was later filed by a Faridabad-based resident Krishan Kumar Aggarwal, who alleged that the UB Group was seeking to promote its liquor brand under the garb of the IPL team. The
Supreme Court dismissed the petition on 29 April 2008. Royal Challenge also partners other IPL teams (Delhi Captitals and Kings XI Punjab) and the Sahara Force India Formula 1.
In February 2012, American United Beer & Spirits (UBS), the exclusive United States importer and distributor of the UB Group, signed Indian actress-turned-enterpreuner
Pooja Batra
Pooja Batra Shah (born 27 October) is an Indian-American actress and model who primarily works in Hindi films. She was crowned Femina Miss India International in 1993.
Early life and background
Batra was born on 27 October to Ravi Batra, an a ...
to represent Royal Challenge whisky in the US.
Sales
Royal Challenge lead the premium whisky segment, by volume of sales, throughout India, during the 1980s and 90s. They held this position until 2004.
In the 2003-04
fiscal year
A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...
ended 31 March 2004, Royal Challenge become the first premium whisky to cross one million cases in a year. It accounted for 65% of the 1.5 million case premium whisky segment of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) industry.
The following table shows the annual sales of Royal Challenge:
References
External links
USL official siteUSL site Royal Challenge pageUB Group official site{{United Spirits
Indian whisky
Alcoholic drink brands
United Spirits brands