India has long been a whisky and rum country, but Indian gin is rewriting that story. Homegrown gin brands such as Greater Than, Hapusa, Stranger & Sons and Jaisalmer Indian Craft Gin are leading what can only be called a spirited revolution, proving that Indian gin brands can hold their own on the world stage. It is safe to say that it all began with Nao Spirits' Greater Than in 2017 and since then the Indian craft gin category has swelled to more than 30 homegrown labels. From Third Eye Distillery's spice-led Stranger & Sons to Radico Khaitan's well-travelled Jaisalmer, each gin in India tells its own botanical story. Add newer names like Cherrapunji Eastern Craft Gin, Pumori and Saṃsāra Gin, and it's clear premium Indian gin is no longer a fringe pursuit it is a fully-fledged category, rooted in Indian terroir yet confident enough to travel well beyond it.
Gin culture in India isn't new. Infact, the gin and tonic was reputedly invented here in British colonial India during the 19th century as a way to make medicinal malaria treatment palatable for British officers and soldiers a fact Indian gin brands love to invoke. What's changed is premiumisation drinkers who once reached only for whisky are now exploring craft gin India has to offer and distilleries have obliged with genuinely inventive liquid.
Cocktail culture has done the rest. Bars across metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru now build entire menus around Indian botanical gin, using bottles like Greater Than or Malhar Classic Dry Gin in a classic G&T, while more adventurous bartenders reach for Stranger & Sons or Hapusa Himalayan Dry Gin to build negronis, martinis and gimlets with a distinctly desi twist.
Gin's versatility is precisely why it has become the spirit of choice for a new and curious generation of drinkers as it can be sipped with tonic or reimagined entirely in a cocktail glass.
The real differentiator among gin brands in India is ingredients. Hapusa, from Nao Spirits, builds its identity around wild Himalayan juniper, turmeric and raw mango, earning its reputation as the world's first Himalayan gin. Jaisalmer, by contrast, goes pan-Indian, weaving together 11 botanicals including the Darjeeling green tea, vetiver and cubeb pepper from across the subcontinent into a single, cohesive recipe.
Stranger & Sons leans into Gondhoraj citrus, black pepper and mace for a spiced, savoury profile, while Terai Indian Dry Gin, from Globus Spirits, uses tulsi, fennel and lavender to evoke its namesake region. JIN JIJI takes a herbal, tea-forward route with Darjeeling tea, chamomile and cashew and Pumori, distilled in Goa, packs in twelve botanicals ranging from almond to Gondhoraj lemon.
Each of these Indian spirits treats botanicals as the entire premise which in itself is a proof that Indian gin brands are as much about agriculture and geography as distillation.
Beyond botanicals the individual gin brands in India are finding more idiosyncratic ways to stand apart. Cherrapunji Eastern Craft Gin, made in Meghalaya, uses local rainwater and Northeast Indian ingredients like Khasi mandarin and smoked tea, making geography itself the brand story.
Saṃsāra Gin folds in hemp seeds and rose petals, while also foregrounding organic packaging and a women-led production facility which is an ethos as deliberate as its flavour. Malhar, from the makers of Paul John whisky, brings decades of established distilling credibility into the premium Indian gin space, while JIN JIJI has shifted production to Uttarakhand to stay closer to its Himalayan sourcing.
None of this makes Indian gin objectively superior to its European counterparts but it does make it distinct. These are gins built on regional identity, indigenous botanicals and a willingness to experiment and not replicating a London Dry template with a local label stuck on top.
As more craft distilleries emerge and international awards follow, Indian gin looks set to remain one of the country's most interesting spirits stories.