Name "McDowell" came from Scottish "distillery king" Angus McDowell who established "McDowell and Company" in India in 1898 which was an overseas branch of "McDowell of Scotland". In 1951, "McDowell and Company" were acquired by UB Group of Vittal Mallya.
History
The McDowell's No.1 of brand began with the launch of McDowell's No.1 Brandy in 1963-64 by McDowell and, a company that the United Breweries Group had acquired in 1951. In 1959, owner Vittal Mallya established McDowell and Company's first distillery at Cherthala, Kerala. McDowell's began bottling Bisquit Brandy and Dorville French Brandy, from imported concentrates. The company commissioned India's first distillation plant to produce extra neutral alcohol at Cherthala in 1961. McDowell's launched its own McDowell's No.1 Brandy in 1963-64, following the termination of the import contract for No.1 Bisquit Brandy. The company launched McDowell's No.1 whisky in 1968. McDowell's No.1 Rum was launched in Celebration and Caribbean variants in 1990-91. The company was incorporated in the year 1999 as McDowell Sprits Ltd, and changed its name from McDowell Sprits Ltd to McDowell & Company Ltd on 1 April 2000. The company changed their name again to the current name United Spirits Limited, with effect from 17 October 2006. In 2000, Claessens International, a London-based design consulting firm, to revamp the bottle design and packaging of the entire McDowell's No.1 series. The company terminated its existing arrangement with Paul Simmons & Associates.
Whisky
McDowell's No.1 Reserve Whisky was launched in 1968, and is a blend of imported scotch and Indian malt whiskies McDowell's No.1 whisky is sold in several countries apart from India, including Africa, Canada, the Far East, Japan, the Middle East and the United Arab Emirates. McDowell's No.1 Diet Mate, which the company claims is the world's first diet whisky, is a variant of McDowell's No.1 whisky. McDowell's No.1 Diet Mate was launched in 2006. It is sold in pint, nip, quartz, and 750 ml bottles, at a cost 5% higher than McDowell's No.1 whisky. The product was initially launched in Mumbai and Thane, but later expanded to other markets. Debashish Shyam, then General Manager of UB Group Spirits Division, stated that "Diet Mate is not a low-calorie whisky but has ingredients that increase metabolism."
Rum
was launched in Celebration and Caribbean variants in 1990-91. It is sold in 13 countries. In 2015, it overtook Bacardi as "world's best-selling rum brand".
Brandy
McDowell's No.1 Brandy was launched in 1963-64, and was the first McDowell's No.1 branded product. The brand created the template for the many "No. 1" brands that the company would launch later. It is the largest selling brandy in the world by volume. It sold 4.6 million cases in 2004, and 13.7 million cases in 2009.
Sales
McDowell's No.1 is largest selling umbrella spirits brand in the world. It sold over 13.5 million cases in 2003-04, 6.07 million cases in 2005, and 8.65 million cases in 2006. The McDowell's No.1 of a brand had sales of 27.5 million cases in 2007-08, McDowell's No.1 sold 14.3 million cases of whisky, 13.8 million cases of rum and 11.7 million of brandy in 2010. The McDowell's No.1 brand achieved retail sales worth $3.8 billion in 2012-13, selling nearly half a billion 750 ml bottles of its whisky, rum and brandy, making the brand the largest alcoholic beverage franchise in India by volume and value. The following table shows the annual sales of McDowell's No.1:
