That distinct taste: Why the world is toasting Indian spirits
Indri whiskey has won several top awards worldwide and now sells in 28 countries. What does it take to make a successful Indian spirits brand go truly global?
Few Indian consumer categories have brands that can claim to go global. Premium spirits, especially whisky, is one of them. Piccadily Distilleries’ Indri single malt, launched in 2021, is one such global hit with top honours, including the Best Indian Single Malt at the World Whiskies Awards 2024 and the Best World Whisky at the Las Vegas Global Spirit Awards 2025. But as attitudes to alcohol shift and Indian brands pique global curiosity, what is the best way to build and safeguard a premium brand in a highly regulated market? Shalini Sharma, head of marketing at Piccadily Agro Industries Ltd, tells Mint it’s all about sticking to the basics of storytelling. Edited excerpts:
How has the business of premium spirits changed in the last two decades?
Consumers today are a lot more experimental and discerning than they were 18 years ago. Besides picking up the bottle, they want the provenance, the story they can connect with. There is growing pride in homegrown excellence. Indians take pride in global brands made in India.
When you build a spirits brand completely rooted in traditions, one has to embrace indigenous grain and our tropical local climate. Typically, with spirits, because of all these factors, the process gives them a unique depth and complexity. Brand-building is thus all about celebrating our unique craftsmanship. In the erstwhile days, when we were working in the industry, very few Indian brands were embraced abroad. We were never famous for bringing premium quality liquid to the world. We never had world-class premium spirits that could stand with global stalwarts.
How do you adapt the storytelling of an Indian spirits brand when you take it abroad, especially to mature Western markets?
Well, authenticity only comes from being consistent. You can’t tell one story here in India and another in a mature market. It is your story. Globally, consumers are incredibly curious about India and its single malts. They are open to exploring what the country has to offer. These are mature markets familiar with single-origin categories, and they approach Indian whiskies with actual genuine curiosity. There is appreciation of the fact that we bring in premium quality liquid with a distinctive character.
That is why we have brought in products deeply rooted in Indian traditions. We have brought in products like Camikara rum, which is pure sugarcane rum. Rum is usually associated with the Caribbean, but we have a 5,000-year-old history in India of rum. Then, the recent launch of Cashmir vodka in May. We worked with a heritage wheat grain called sonamoti—it is a rediscovered grain. It was called the golden pearl and is not a very high-yield grain, but gives immense character to the vodka.
But aren’t there things which Indian consumers seek that global ones don’t?
Indian consumers are also in a very rapid discovery phase when it comes to homegrown spirits. They seek the same quality that they have been seeing in imported brands. The adoption is driven by a strong sense of domestic pride. With people travelling more and experimenting more, seeing brands like Indri winning top awards, Indian consumers are also realizing that the best of the world can and often does come from India. We are very proud to say we are increasingly becoming part of a global conversation.
Several market studies over time show that younger consumers, especially Gen Z, are reducing alcohol consumption altogether. How are you grappling with this?
This is true. But India is also the second-largest brown spirits-drinking nation. Yes, there is a trend post-covid, not just with Gen Z but also with millennials. They are drinking less, but they are also drinking better [quality alcohol]. We are giving them a product which is non-GMO (genetically modified), organic and gluten-free. We highlight all this. But as millennials and Gen Z are becoming more health-conscious, drinking is also more occasion-based and at-home drinking culture has also come up more.
Regulations around alcohol marketing are strict in India, and only getting tighter. How do you tell your intended audience the story of your brands?
Our focus has shifted over time. For instance, you will never see Indri in any mass events. And, we have been all about experiential storytelling. For example, we invest heavily in exclusive tasting sessions. We did a collab with Warner Bros with their House of the Dragon series from the world of Game of Thrones. For Camikara, we did a Millionaire Bartender Challenge. It is all about honouring and appreciating the community.
There has been recent buzz in social media regarding Indri, the owners of Piccadily Distilleries, and an infamous case regarding a member of the promoter family. As a marketing leader, how do you deal with these challenges, especially in building a premium brand?
We take a huge amount of pride in working with this company. This brand hasn’t been made by one person. There are 2,000 employees of this company who have worked hard on these brands. The past is the past, we are here to build brands. And, we will make sure we build world-class, global brands. This is an orchestrated campaign by our competitors, and if you ask us, my team or the extended team, it really doesn’t bother us.
topics
