COUNTRY LIQUOR BOTTLING PLANT

Country made liquor is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from locally available cheap raw material such as sugar-cane, rice, palm, coconut and cheap grains, with alcohol content between 11.4-45.7% V/V5. In developing country like India, it is more popular among poorer sections of population both in rural and urban part as it is cheaper than the foreign liquor or Indian made foreign liquor.

IMFL and country liquor goes through the same manufacturing process and is distilled from the same agricultural source (molasses). The differences are in strength (the percentage of alcohol) and flavours. Add whisky or brandy flavours, for instance, and it becomes IMFL. Take the flavour to a tangier side, it’s desi daru.

Country liquor, according to the BIS standards, is rectified Grade I spirit or any neutral spirit which may be obtained from fermented molasses, grain or any other source of fermentable carbohydrates. Cut through the technical jargons, all it means is that alcohol made from molasses and grains and distilled to a fairly high degree so that you get rectified spirit, minus the impurities.

This also means that it’s not country liquor that’s masquerading as something else but it’s IMFL that’s being passed off as genuine whisky, alcohol, gin, and brandy etc.
The similarity largely has to do with the manufacturing process. “Both IMFL and country liquor use the same commercial reactive enzymes and multi-column distillation process. At a basic level, it’s the same. That’s the standard distillation equipment that gives rectified spirit.

Extra Neutral Alcohol (ENA) is the primary raw material for making alcoholic beverages. It is a colourless food-grade alcohol that does not have any impurities. It has a neutral smell and taste, and typically contains over 95 per cent alcohol by volume. It is derived from different sources — sugarcane molasses and grains — and is used in the production of alcoholic beverages such as whisky, vodka, gin, cane, liqueurs, and alcoholic fruit beverages.

Neutral spirits, also known as neutral alcohol, rectified spirits, rectified alcohol or ethyl alcohol is highly concentrated ethanol distilled until it reaches a min. ABV of 95% (190 proof). Neutral spirits can be made from grains, grapes, molasses, potatoes, and other agricultural origins. As the name suggests, neutral spirits are considered neutral in flavour, odour and are colourless. Having said that, there are some slight “flavour” variations among the neutral spirits, leading some to question if neutral spirits are truly flavourless.

Neutral spirits are widely used to make spirits such as vodka and gin, as well as to ‘cut’ liqueurs and make bitters, besides from its use in the spirits production the neutrality of rectified spirits also makes it useful in other industries such as the food, non-alcoholic beverage, pharmaceutical, perfumery, and cosmetics industry. It is common for neutral spirits intended for cosmetics and perfumes use to have denaturing agents added to it to reduce tax and to prevent human consumption.

IFB Agro, one of the largest manufacturers of alcohol, also supplies the same grade spirit to whisky manufacturers and country liquor. Its biggest brands are Hero, Joy, Captain and Dil Se. Tall boys indeed, with the largest market share in eastern states, such as West Bengal and Jharkhand.