As India enters the peak party season leading up to New Year’s, the nation’s alcohol industry is licking its lips in setting new records in revenue. The third-quarter (October to December) period is always special as it is the peak festive and party season, but this year, hopes are that the growth in the premium alcohol category could be as high as 25 per cent—all thanks to the post-Covid trend of premiumisation.
For long, the den of cheap alcohol passing off as bottled liquor in the curiously nomenclatured ‘Indian Made Foreign Liquor’ or IMFL category, and limited for long due to the pre-liberalisation stranglehold of a handful of distillers and brewers as well as archaic prohibition-style legislations, India’s alco-bev industry is suddenly coming of age.
And, surprise, surprise, it is discovering an increasing clientele who are discerning enough to plonk down a premium to get a quality tipple.
“The alco-bev industry is undergoing a transformative shift driven by the rising demand for premium spirits,” said Shekhar Swarup, joint managing director of Globus Spirits, one amongst the new crop of alco-bev manufacturers. Globus’s brands include Terai gin and DOAAB craft whisky.
“Consumers today are seeking experiences that go beyond the drink itself, gravitating towards brands that embody craftsmanship, authenticity and innovation,” he added.
Over the past few years, liquor brands have come out of nowhere to match some of the best in the world. While single-malt whiskies from Bengaluru like Amrut and Paul John have scored high in international awards and tastings, Gurugram’s (formerly Gurgaon) Indri has won more than one ‘World’s Best Whisky’ award over the past couple of years.
It’s not just whisky alone. With the entry barrier being low in the botanicals-spurred gin scene that has been red hot on the bar scene globally and in India over the past decade (there are even gin-themed bars in places like Delhi and Goa), Indian-origin brands like Jaisalmer, Sansara, and Terai can well match up with the best of the best on a global level.
The result? A party scene peppered not with the usual suspects of scotch whiskies from suspicious origins or unpalatable Indian whiskies but with craft beers, premium spirits, and innovative gins.
Even brands that have filled their coffers all this while making mass-market liquor are heeding the trend. Like McDowell, from Diageo-United Spirits, which launched X, its premium series of vodka, rum and gin, targeting Gen-Z. Radico Khaitan, similarly, while selling affordable vodka brand Magic Moments, also has in its kitty, the craft gin Jaisalmer, as well as the Rampur single malt.
Many brands have also gone in for innovations in their existing portfolio, like adding innovative variants of vodka or gin—Terai, for example, has litchi and mulberry variants, while Bacardi launched a mango-chilli flavour in the country.
“In the backdrop of rising affluence and premiumising tastes, we are thrilled about unveiling two new products—Patron El Alto and Grey Goose Altius, adding to our repertoire of super-premium offerings,” said Vinay Golikeri, managing director of Bacardi India, about the company’s plans for 2025. The party is obviously not ending with New Year’s Eve!
