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Mint
07-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Tequila sees a sunrise as Indians move on from gin. The whisky love affair continues
Gin may have lit up cocktail menus over the past few years, but drinkers may be moving on. Agave spirits, tequila and mezcal are taking the spotlight even as vodka makes a quiet comeback. Yet, whisky, India's long-time favourite, still dominates. Whether at a rooftop bar or house party, tequila shook off its old party-shot image with affluent urban consumers taking to cocktails like Picante and Paloma. Agave spirits, tequila and mezcal grew the fastest at 36% by volume in the country last year, according to the latest consumption numbers for 2024 that international drinks consultant IWSR shared exclusively with Mint. Vodka volumes rose 5% across price levels, making it one of the stronger performers this year. But brandy and rum stayed mostly flat, with just 2% volume growth, IWSR said. The biggest surprise was gin. While the rise of gin seemed unstoppable until now, its volumes grew just 1% in 2024—a sign that the buzz around many homegrown craft gins may be wearing off, or at least slowing down. Tequila's rise mirrors a growing tendency among India's younger consumers to try out premium spirits, which has bolstered the industry's growth amid rising incomes and social acceptance. IWSR estimates the country's $32-billion liquor industry to expand by an incremental $7 billion by 2028. Also read | Following listing, beer maker Kati Patang plans to acquire and incubate small alcohol businesses to expand In December last year, Bacardi, the company behind Patron tequila, said it would expand its range of agave spirits in India. A year earlier, Diageo-owned United Spirits Ltd introduced Don Julio tequila in the market. The company said Don Julio, which is now available in 20 cities and with newer variants, has received encouraging consumer response. The country now consumes about 150,000 cases (of nine litres each) of agave spirits, including imported tequila and agave spirits produced in India, according to Conrad Braganza, chief operating officer of Agave India, a homegrown brand better known as Desmondji. Agave India sells its spirits to consumers as well as several local companies, including Maya Pistola Agavepura. 'Post the pandemic, the market really opened up with a bang, at full capacity. It's become a "sexy" category to be associated with both in the US and in markets like India," said Braganza. 'Agave-based cocktails like the paloma and picante have become as mainstream as the classic gin and tonic." Picante is made with tequila, lime juice, agave syrup and fresh chillis, while the paloma blends tequila with soda, lime juice, and a salted rim. Industry estimates suggest that craft gin as a category, at its peak two years ago, was selling about 350,000-odd cases in India. These volumes have remained constant, say those in the know, suggesting other white spirits may be gaining at its expense. 'There's been some consolidation—a few local brands have shut shop—but we're also seeing new launches simultaneously. Also, gin now has a much wider base of consumption than some years ago," said Vikram Achanta, founder of Delhi-based drinks consultant Tulleeho. 'Despite that, mid-sized players are still entering and investing and gin continues to hold its own in cocktail culture, and slower growth isn't a concern yet." Read this | Spirits up: Premium alcohol sales to grow up to 25% year-on-year in Q3 Tequila, meanwhile, is gaining traction among affluent consumers. 'Top-shelf tequila is making inroads with the highest socioeconomic drinkers, and it's more likely taking share from luxury vodka than gin," added Achanta. Whisky remains India's go-to alcoholic drink. It still accounts for two-thirds of all spirits sold, IWSR said, although its growth has slowed from an average of 3% a year between 2018 and 2023, to 2% in 2024. According to consultants, that's because drinkers are moving towards more refined options. Malt whiskies—whether Indian, Scotch, Irish or Japanese—grew rapidly and volumes rose 32% annually from 2018 to 2023. While the 2024 numbers for malts aren't out yet, the trend toward sipping, rather than mixing, appears to be holding. "Whisky in India is a self-investing and aspirational category — it keeps growing on its own through consumer demand, innovation and brand investments," said Sandeep Arora, Delhi-based drinks consultant who runs Spiritual Luxury Living, a spirits advisory and marketing firm. 'It's now much wider as a category and much bigger than ever before." Despite the marginal dip, he expects a significant growth in 2025 as well and sub-category growth within the whisky gamut. Also read | Why India is the toast of the global alcohol market: Its young voters "People are becoming more experience-driven — they're not just sticking to single malts," Arora added. The category is also benefiting from cultural shifts. 'Drinking is now part of the social fabric in India, with less taboo and more responsible consumption," he added. 'Home bars, rising female participation, and innovation across price points will further fuel the growth of whisky." Spirits priced between ₹ 1,100 and ₹ 2,449 per 750ml—known in the industry as the 'standard" segment—grew 12% in 2024, making it the fastest-growing price tier. Even premium labels ( ₹ 2,950 to ₹ 4,549) saw a healthy 10% jump. But growth slowed at the very top. Super-premium and luxury spirits—priced at ₹ 4,550 and above—grew by 6%, suggesting that the high-end splurge is becoming more selective. While these top-shelf bottles still carry cachet, they are no longer driving the overall market in the way mid-range spirits are. At the other end, entry-level bottles under ₹ 1,099 barely grew at 2%, in line with the broader market average. Still, the broader Indian spirits market is poised to expand in 2025, according to IWSR. And a potential tariff reduction, especially with the UK, could also bring more international brands to the country to cater to the widening Indian palate. And read | Zero-alcohol companies look to capture millennial and 'sober curious' drinkers In a growing market like India where people now have more disposable income, consumers are spending on better-quality products and services. 'This is dovetailing into the need for a lot of alcohol companies to premiumize to keep bottom lines evolving," said Shekhar Swarup, joint managing director of Globus Spirits Ltd, known for its Terai gin and Doaab single malt. While expensive bottles like theirs still have takers, most of the action is happening in the mid-range. United Spirits, in its third-quarter earnings, had highlighted the continuity of the long-term premiumization trend. Even though the top end might take a few more quarters to regain its historical momentum , the company saw no major signs of downtrading and consumption during social occasions was only going up.
Forbes
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Johnnie Walker Opens Door To Ultra-Premium With First 'Vault' Release
Inside the Johnnie Walker Vault below Johnnie Walker Princes Street in Edinburgh, Scotland. In March 2025, Johnnie Walker announced a new experiment in premiumization: the Johnnie Walker Vault, an ultra-exclusive 'Bespoke Private Blend Experience.' In the short time since the announcement, the Diageo-owned company has already put together its first release. The Johnnie Walker Couture Expression, with four Scotch blends priced at $20,000 per crystal decanter, is another effort from the number one Scotch brand to maintain dominance amid a softening market for Scotch whisky sales by value. Located under their current tourist attraction in Edinburgh, the Johnnie Walker Vault is both a physical space and a collaboration platform. Guests can commission private blends (which some reports say start at more than $50,000) and are offered a stay at the Gleneagles Hotel, plus Michelin-starred dining. At any time, the Vault can hold up to 500 whiskies, though parent company Diageo has said that the team has access to 10 million casks at large. Meanwhile, the Vault also operates as a platform to target ultra-high-end brand crossovers. Their first partner is Olivier Rousteing, creative director at French luxury fashion house Balmain since 2011. It's not an odd choice, since Johnnie Walker's Blue Label recently targeted both an après-ski release and a crossover with Taiwanese artist James Jean (Black Label got its own team up with Netflix's Squid Game). The Johnnie Walker Vault's new Couture Expression, with four different, $20,000 blends representing different seasons. Rousteing collaborated with Master Distiller Dr. Emma Walker to produce not one, but four, different blends, each corresponding to a different season. Although there are only 25 bottles of each available, this is the first of a two-part collaboration, and executives seems hopeful that they can leverage this into a recurring tactic. 'Johnnie Walker Vault is allowing us to make our mark on the world of luxury spirits in an exciting new way, as well as opening the door to a new era of progress for the brand,' Managing Director Julie Bramham said in an online release. Across the global spirits industry, premiumization has been a core strategy: selling pricier, aged bottles to make up for flat or declining volumes. Diageo and rivals have leaned into this trend, acquiring high-end brands and rolling out limited editions. However, that premium boom may have peaked—RBC analysts said late last year that they 'estimate that the proportion of sales from high-end reserve brands fell from 29% in 2023 to 27% in 2024,' adding that they 'expect this decline to continue' for Diageo. On top of that, CEO Debra Crew cautioned in recent interim results that inflationary pressures and high interest rates are forcing consumers to cut back on pricier bottles, and had already said in mid-2024 it was 'hard to say when current challenges will recede.' The company also removed medium-term guidance in response to 'current macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty.' Ultimately, it's a mixed bag, but ultra-premium releases like Couture Expression can be seen as a defensive play, targeting affluent collectors and luxury seekers who are less price-sensitive. This ultra-premium push coincides with renewed tariff volatility. On April 5, 2025, the Trump administration began collecting a 10% levy on all British exports, including Scotch whisky, threatening to inflate U.S. retail prices. Across the Atlantic, the European Commission reinstated a 50% tariff on American whiskey from the same date—retaliatory measures linked to U.S. steel and aluminum duties—casting uncertainty over transatlantic spirits flows. The Distilled Spirits Council of the US, an industry group, warned that ongoing trade disputes risk 'curtailing growth and complicating market dynamics,' even as temporary suspensions offer some reprieve. Nonetheless, U.S. spirits exports climbed 10% in 2024 to $2.4 billion, driven by a 60% surge in shipments to the EU, as distillers raced to secure market share ahead of potential tariff escalation. With Couture Expression, Johnnie Walker is wagering that ultra-premium exclusivity can still outpace both market softness and tariff uncertainties. As global spirits conglomerates continue their upmarket migration, the Johnnie Walker Vault could provide a template for maintaining premium cachet even as mainstream premium sales soften. The real measure of success will come in the long term amid an increasingly crowded luxury landscape.
