About Us

Present in Sri Lanka for over a century, The Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka PLC (DCSL), is one of the most profitable and well respected corporate entities in the country. Its proud tradition, rich heritage and proven credentials have made the Company a beacon of inspiration for others. Over the past 100 years, our corporate DNA has been strengthened with our values of tradition, quality, innovation, resilience and the determination to succeed.

DCSL’s roots can be traced back to 1913, when the Excise Department of Ceylon, which was initially created as the enforcement authority to distribute and sell liquor products in Sri Lanka, branched out into the distillation and manufacture of liquor products. In 1974, the State Distilleries Corporation was incorporated by statute, to take over this venture, while the Excise Department realigned its operations as a monitoring body.

Thus, DCSL has the distinction of being the pioneer distiller in Sri Lanka. In 1989, under a government policy decision, the State Distilleries Corporation was converted into a limited liability company. This transfer of ownership took place at the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) in 1992, making it the largest transaction in the history of the CSE.

Under the new private management, the Company entered an era of modernisation that witnessed upgrading of machinery and equipment which were in a very neglected state and hardly conducive to the smooth running of the enterprise. Large investments have also been made in Research and Development (R&D) and in upgrading laboratories. 

DCSL has experienced unparalleled growth in the last 25 years. It is a Fitch triple-A rated company having made Forbes’ Asia’s top 200 list 3 times already, and is consistently listed in the top 10 publicly traded companies.
In 2016 the DCSL group restructured itself forming “MELSTACORP” as its holding company, with a market capitalization of Rs.75 Billion becoming the 6th largest company in Sri Lanka.