HP Indigo’s customized printing brings life to India’s first artisanal whisky with Diageo

14 October 2021: When India’s leading beverage company Diageo India set out to launch India’s first small-batch, artisanal craft, 100% rice whisky in just 80 days, it knew it wasn’t only the blend that had to be flawless.

“This was an opportunity to create a luxury whisky in India and a key part of our company’s premiumization strategy,” recalls Vikram Damodaran, Diageo India’s Chief Innovation Officer. “So, there was enormous pressure to get every detail – from the flavor to the packaging and product experience – perfect.”

The beautiful golden liquid blend is like no other whisky in India as it’s made of locally-sourced rice from the northern frontiers of Punjab, which then travels over 2,000 kms to be matured in Goa in bourbon casks over 3 years, and then finished in PX Sherry and Cherrywood casks in a 50-year-old warehouse. This limited-edition whisky has been launched in an exclusive batch of 2,000 numbered bottles, another first for the country!

To emphasize the exclusivity of its whisky, Diageo India called on Trigon Digital’s expertise and the cutting-edge HP Indigo 25K Digital Press to help it create individually numbered bottles.

“Due to the small batch size and variable printing needed, we knew it wasn’t going to be possible to use conventional printing technology here,” says Hiren Dedhia, Diageo India’s Design Head. “We also needed a fast turnaround if we were to meet our extremely ambitious timeline for launching the brand – which was just 80 days.”

After weighing up the options, the team at Diageo India recognized that Trigon’s HP Indigo 6900 Digital Press would be much the best choice for its job. As digital printing doesn’t require printing plates, the HP Indigo 6900 Digital Press enables Trigon to offer its customers print runs with no minimum size, greater flexibility, and shorter lead times. It also allows Trigon to automate more production processes, helping them to deliver jobs with maximum efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

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