Indian Made Foreign Liquor
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Indian Made Foreign Liquor, often abbreviated IMFL, is a term used to denote western-style hard liquors such as whisky, rum, vodka, etc, which are manufactured in India. It is used to differentiate them from indigenous recipes such as feni, toddy, and arrack, which are collectively called country liquor (in Hindi: desi sharab).
While the term Indian Made Foreign Liquor may sound oxymoronic or humorous, it is the official term used by government, business, and print media in India.
[edit] Manufacture
A common characteristic of many IMFLs, distinct from spirits elsewhere in the world, is that irrespective of the final product the starting ingredient is a grain neutral spirit distilled from molasses, a byproduct of the sugar industry. For example, whereas a whisky in most countries would be distilled from grain, Indian whisky is made by adding whisky-like flavoring and coloring to grain neutral spirit obtained from molasses. The same applies to other IMFL spirits, like rum or vodka. This is even true of multinational brands like Smirnoff. However some recent entrants like Seagram's distill spirits per traditional methods even when manufacturing in India.
