Brands
Indian distiller uncorks a spirited legacy in Indri single malt
MUMBAI: India’s whisky revolution has taken another dram-atic leap forward with Piccadily Agro Industries unveiling its most ambitious spirit yet: Indri Founder’s Reserve, an 11-year-old single malt that has already collected more medals than an Olympic swimming team.
The limited-edition bottling—just 1,100 bottles worldwide—pays tribute to the company’s founder Kidar Nath Sharma, whose entrepreneurial zeal transformed a family business into the diversified Piccadily Group. Aged in ex-Bordeaux red wine casks, the whisky comes with more than a splash of ambition, aiming to put Indian single malts firmly on the global spirits map.
The distiller, located in Haryana’s subtropical north, has made a virtue of India’s punishing climate swings. While Scottish distillers might consider 20°C a heatwave, Indri’s barrels endure scorching 50°C summers before plunging to freezing winters—conditions that accelerate maturation and impart what the company describes as “complexity and depth unique to the region’s terroir.”
Bottled at a robust 50 per cent ABV for domestic consumption (and an even punchier 58.5 per cent for international markets), the amber liquid promises dark fruits and spices on the nose, with caramelised nuts and vanilla on the palate—followed by what the company calls an “indulgent finish” of oak and wine-influenced sweetness.
“This expression embodies the essence of our founder’s dream: to create world-class Indian single malt whisky with soul, structure, and enduring quality,” says Piccadily Agro Industries marketing head Shalini Sharma.
The distiller’s confidence isn’t merely liquid courage—its latest creation has already charmed international judges, collecting platinum at the Las Vegas Global Spirits Awards with an impressive 98 points, and ranking eighth in the International Whisky Competition’s “Top 15 Whiskies of the World.”
For those intrigued by this subcontinental dram, the company has adopted the ultimate luxury marketing approach: “Price on request.”
The message is clear—Piccadily isn’t merely producing whisky; it’s bottling ambition and selling it by the dram.
Brands
Estée Lauder to shed 10,000 jobs as new boss bets on digital shift
The cosmetics giant raises its profit outlook but stays silent on a possible merger with Spain’s Puig, as job cuts deepen and a three-year sales slump weighs on the turnaround
NEW YORK: Stéphane de La Faverie is not done cutting. Estée Lauder announced on Friday that it plans to eliminate as many as 3,000 additional jobs, taking its total redundancy programme to as many as 10,000 roles, up from a previous target of 7,000 announced a year ago. The company, which owns La Mer, The Ordinary, Tom Ford, and Aveda, employs roughly 57,000 people worldwide. The mathematics of what is now being contemplated is stark.
The fresh round of cuts is expected to generate a further $200 million in savings, bringing the total annual savings from the programme to as much as $1.2 billion before taxes. That money, De La Faverie has made clear, will be ploughed back into the turnaround.
A CEO in a hurry
De La Faverie, who took the helm in January 2025, inherited a company that had endured three consecutive years of annual sales declines. His response has been to move fast and cut deep. A significant portion of the latest redundancies reflects his push to reduce headcount at US department stores, long a cornerstone of Estée Lauder’s distribution model but now a channel in structural decline. In their place, he is accelerating the shift toward faster-growing online platforms, including Amazon.com and TikTok Shop, a pivot that is reshaping not just where Estée Lauder sells but how it thinks about its customers.
The numbers are moving in the right direction
Despite the pain, there are signs the medicine is working. Estée Lauder raised its profit outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, guiding for adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.35 to $2.45, above analyst estimates and a notable step up from the $2.05 to $2.25 range it had guided for in February. Organic net sales growth is expected to come in at 3 per cent, the company said, at the high end of the range it set out in February.
The share price tells a mixed story. After De La Faverie took charge, the stock surged nearly 60 per cent, buoyed by investor optimism that a longtime company insider could finally arrest the decline. But 2026 has been rougher: the shares have fallen 27 per cent this year, weighed down by disappointing February results and the overhang of unresolved merger talks with Spanish beauty giant Puig Brands SA. The company gave no additional details about those discussions on Friday, leaving the market to guess.
Silence on Puig
The proposed tie-up with Puig remains the most consequential unknown hanging over Estée Lauder. A deal with the Barcelona-based group, which owns brands including Carolina Herrera and Rabanne, would reshape the global luxury beauty landscape. But with nothing new to say and a turnaround still very much in progress, De La Faverie is asking investors to trust the process.
Three years of sales declines, 10,000 job cuts, and a merger that may or may not happen. At Estée Lauder, the overhaul has barely started.
