Kingfisher Premium Beer Review - India’s Taboo Revolution

Kingfisher is India’s most popular beer and was the first beer to be widely consumed in the country. The story of Kingfisher is a complicated and arduous one, full of enterprise and controversy. The tale of India’s number one beer begins in 1857 but was rebirthed in 1978 by Vijay Mallya to be what we know Kingfisher today. The name Viljay Mallya is synonymous with the brand, his keen business skills propelled the company into what it is. Unfortunately his entrepreneurial skills are juxtaposed with his controversies, and in turn, this dark cloud encapsulates the brand itself.

Kingfisher here in the UK is not brewed in India, but is in fact brewed in Hartlepoole. This is because the European arm of United Breweries (Kingfisher’s parent company), leases out the brewing rights to heineken, who produce the beer on behalf of the parent company following the exact same recipe as the Indian counterpart. This Indian Beer comes in green and brown bottles, both are emblazened with the signature logo of the the brand; the Kingfisher bird, as seen briefly on their airlines and formula one team. The newly rebranded Kingfisher has an ABV of 4.8%, making it one of the stronger major brands in the european market. It has a very light, straw colour when poured and yields an unimpressive small, white head. Smelling the beer reveals aroma’s of cut grass, ambiguous citrus and maize. Upon consumption, a light bitter crisp reveals itself. Followed by flavours of berry and malt. Medium body and medium carbonation making this beer a perfect all rounder, acceptable to be drank on any occasion. A perfect partner to the cuisine of it’s homeland, it takes nothing away from the complex nature of Indian food.

Prohibition has long been a political issue fresh in the mind of many Indian’s, with a total ban on alcohol still being in place in many parts of Indian such as the states of Bihar, Gujarat, Mizoram and Nagaland. What really kicked off this movement was when India gained it’s independance from British rule in 1947 and the movement was championed by Mahatma Gandhi. The man in question pushed for prohibition across the whole country and seen foreign rule as an obstacle to this. Despite it not being in affect across the whole country, there are still dry days where the total ban of alcohol comes into place. These are usually public holidays such as Republic day and Independance day.

The revolution began in Bangalore with the opening of the first pub, aptly named, The Pub. This was a social, relaxed and place where everyone including women were safe. Patrons wouldn’t ask for a beer, they’d ask for a Kingfisher. Within five years there was over forty pubs in Bangalore. A new hip, secular generation was thriving and Bangalore was the nest for these phoenix chicks. You can read all about this first pub by clicking the picture below or here.

Ashok Sadhwani at his pub in Bangalore.

As political tension on the matter of alcohol grew increasingly heated in India, alcohol advertisements were subsequently banned from all forms of media. Viljay Mallya pioneered a new form of advertising to combat this ban called surrogate advertising. Products bearing the kingfisher branding were launched and advertised that did not contain alcohol. These products included kingfisher Storm, which was a soda and came accompanied with heavy advertising. This marketing worked and Kingfisher remained a powerhouse in India. But Viljay Mallya wanted to take things a step further; he was a prominent figure in the media, a face everyone knew, affectionately named the “liquor baron” and the “king of good times”, he built the brand around himself. He became the brand. It was uncommon for many Indians to live a flash and flamboyant lifestyle. He embodied the image that kingfisher wanted, people willing to break the norm.

Vijay Mallya speaking at a Kingfisher airline event.

The Kingfisher brand soon seen its first major move outside of the beverage industry. Viljay Mallya started Kingfisher airlines which became his new baby. Passenger planes all adorned with the Kingfisher branding started flying in India. The expansion kept growing and growing, Viljay even bought another Indian airline company to merge with his own to allow him to start flying internationally to London and other destinations. Along with the expansion into the airline industry, a cricket team and a formula one team soon followed which were equally ambitious projects.

The empire started to crumble after the onset of the 2008 USA housing financial crisis. Less and less people were flying as a result of the catastrophe. Kingfisher we’re hit extremely hard and the business model they were operating was not sustainable. Staff started going unpaid, not enough food was brought on to the flights and eventually staff started protesting. Viljay Mallya made empty promises Ad Nauseam, securing dodgy loans from banks to keep the airline on life support. IDBI even handed Viljay loans based off intangible assets such as the brand value of the company which reeks of corruption.

Eventually, people started to take notice and a report called “Pie In The Sky” was released by Veritas which really turned the public on the Indian tycoon. It was obvious the ship was sinking and fuel companies refused to extend credit with the company and demanded cash on hand for fuel. A real turning point was when an employees wife killed herself and directly blamed Vijay Mallya. The airline eventually had its licence revoked after the company effectively ran out of money, the same fate was soon to follow his formula one team. Employees employed by kingfisher were paid in every other country except from India.

But after his 60th birthday party headlined by Enrique Iglesias, the world turned on him and the house of cards began to fall. He began to be investigated for his fishy loans with IDBI and was suspected of diversion of funds and money laundering. It was also alleged that he has relationships with the lender and was able to disguise some of the money. As the legal noose began to tighten and the sweat from the spotlight began to be shed, he fled the country. He fled to London where he remains today awaiting the outcome of his extradition trial.

Kingfisher is a brand that should be known for its beer, because it’s a fantastic product. But unfortunately the dark cloud of one man overshadows the company in its homeland, where the pain is still living. Viljay Mallya built Kingfisher into the huge brand it is today, and it’s success lead to his own downfall. With great great power, comes great responsibility.

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