The Whiskey Revolutionary: Shivam Gingalani, Founder & CEO, Woodsmen Mountain Whiskey His creative influences are the likes of Elon Musk, Phil Knight, Narayan Murthy, the Tatas, and a first generation founder James Watt, the founder of BrewDog
By Priya Kapoor
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India is the largest consumer of whiskey in the world, yet there is a lack of a clear identity for Indian whiskies – currently defined as Indian Made Foreign Liquor, which serves no purpose in defining either the origin or the style of whisky. It is with this aim to give a clear identity and propelling Indian whiskies forward in the largest whiskey market in the world, Woodsmen Mountain Whiskey was found.
"With whisky brands from the 80's & 90's still prevalent, we believe that the Indian whisky industry needs to be shaken up. We aim to kickstart a whiskey revolution. We're building an origin-led Himalayan whiskey story (made in the Himalayas, with Himalayan water and malts), catering to young India who deeply value authenticity," says Shivam Gingalani, Founder & CEO, Woodsmen Mountain Whiskey.
His creative influences are the likes of Elon Musk, Phil Knight, Narayan Murthy, the Tatas, and a first generation founder James Watt, the founder of BrewDog. "He has built his business in an unconventional fashion right from a Punk IPA to starting a crowd source funding model to marketing/distributing via not-so-typical channels like microbreweries and beer hotels." Closer home, he appreciates Ankur from Bira who has been successful in creating a brand that connects with the youth.
On asking what's the best way to find out what the customer needs, he said, "We're committing to our customers that it will be the smoothest whiskey at its price point. We regularly host tasting sessions every week, with over 25000+ trials in last 2 months since launch." But how does he balances creativity and business? Without creativity, the product & brand will never be born and without logical thinking, it will be difficult to run and scale the business, says Gingalini. "For a startup, being in flow as individuals and as a business are key. This means blending together creativity and logical thinking on an everyday basis. It is not easy but having the right mindset, constantly learning and implementing along with not giving up, is how I do it."
For scaling a venture, he advices focusing on three core aspects: understanding the customers, having great team and time. "Scaling a consumer business vs a tech business is very different. A consumer business might take more time to scale because it takes time to build trust with consumers but is also more defensible in the long run."
"We aim to achieve growth targets through doubling down in existing markets and expanding to new markets starting with Gurgaon/ Haryana and making entry into South India. We are also working on our Indian Single Malt and will venture overseas with that in the near future," he concluded.
