As the colder season approaches and we head into the festive season, there is plenty of hosting and party planning to think about. Food and drinks are always a big part of making any celebration a hit, if not the biggest. There is a certain craft to building a bar that has a little something for everyone.
For years, whisky dominated Indian festive bar carts, but the country’s craft spirits scene has quietly matured into something worth celebrating on its own terms. This festive season, consider setting whisky aside for a moment and exploring the new wave of Indian-made gins, brandies and rums earning global recognition. Here are five bottles worth adding to your collection.
Goa's Third Eye Distillery launched this back in 2018, and it changed what people expected from Indian gin. Nine botanicals go in - Gondhoraj lime, mace, cassia, black pepper, nutmeg, mostly sourced from farms along the Konkan coast. Peppery, citrusy, warm on the finish. Just add tonic and a lime wheel; it doesn't need dressing up
Price: 1,920.00 INR approx
Bengaluru's Amrut had the world talking about Indian single malt long before it was trendy. Fusion blends unpeated Indian barley with peated Scottish barley, each aged separately in American oak for four-plus years before marrying. Smoky but never harsh, with citrus and dried fruit running underneath. This is the bottle that made people stop assuming great whisky needs to be made only in Scotland
Price: 6,890.00 INR Approx
India grows more sugarcane than almost anywhere, yet nobody made a real cane-juice rum here until this one. Piccadily Distilleries who is also the team behind the very famous Indri whisky, did exactly that, distilling straight from pure cane juice at their Haryana facility and ageing it in oak. Rich, caramel-forward, a little tropical; good enough to sip neat instead of burying in a mixer.
Price: 4,610 INR approx
Comes from Mohan Meakin, the distillery that's been making Old Monk since long before gin was cool in India. Skips regular juniper for the Himalayan kind, plus Malabar plums locally called "jamun" and spring water from the hills. Earthier and tangier than the citrus-heavy gins everyone else is making right now.
Price: 5,020.00 INR Approx
Named after Rajasthan's endangered Great Indian Bustard, and made in conditions that shouldn't work for whisky six-row barley, distilled in Alwar's desert heat. The real signature is the finish: casks steeped in Rasna and Jatamansi, two Indian botanicals, giving it a spice note layered over fruit and cocoa.
Price: 5,500.00 INR approx
1. What is the best Indian gin to try?
Stranger & Sons is a standout, made with nine botanicals including Gondhoraj lime and Konkan coast-sourced ingredients for a peppery, citrusy profile.
What is Camikara rum made from?
It's distilled straight from pure cane juice at a Haryana facility and aged in oak, made by the team behind Indri whisky.
What makes Godawan whisky unique?
It's finished in casks steeped with Rasna and Jatamansi — two Indian botanicals — giving it a distinct spiced, fruity finish, and is named after Rajasthan's endangered Great Indian Bustard.