Flurry of spirit launches raises competition in alcobev sector

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₹2,000 and ₹2,200 a bottle, depending on the state it is being sold in. “Some years ago, nobody in the world believed we could make world class beverages. Look at where we are now.

We are now making products to reckon with, which are successful. We expect this gin to be profitable and to cross the one million case mark in a very short period of time because this product will create a segment of its own," Amar Sinha, chief operating officer at Radico Khaitan told Mint. Others are taking the special edition route to test waters.

This May, Stilldistilling Spirits India, which owns Goa-based Maka Zai rum, launched a limited-release barrel aged rare rum Mesma. The same month, Stranger & Sons gin maker, Third Eye Distillery Holdings, expanded its dark rum portfolio, adding five new variants. The new spirit additions make sense keeping in mind that volume consumption in India’s total spirits market topped pre-covid levels of 2019 in 2022.

There was a 20% rise in volume from 2019 to 2020 but a 23% jump in volume consumption from 2021 to 2022, said British beverage alcohol data and insights firm, IWSR. Jason Holway, a market analyst at IWSR, said this could be because earlier ‘imported’ used to be synonymous with premium. But now Indian consumers are proud and happy to acknowledge that local companies can deliver on quality—and at lower prices, as there are no import duties and that premium local brands are evident across all categories.

Organizations are taking the cue in a growth market and launching multiple brands. Officer’s Choice blended scotch whisky, for instance, has launched a special edition, bottled-in-origin product from Blairmhor Distillers, Scotland. “Some will succeed and many will fail in this jostle for