12 April,2026 10:16 AM IST | Mumbai | Phorum Pandya
Bartender Pooja Kulkarni makes an espresso martini with Shelter 6 at Drinq, Bandra
In the last decade, the spotlight has swung across the bar shelf, from the rise of Indian single malts to the entrepreneurial wave of craft gins and the arrival of tequila and agave spirits as sipping sensations. All this while vodka quietly watched from the sidelines, staying characteristically âneutral'.
Distilled across the world from grains such as wheat, rye or corn, and sometimes potatoes, vodka carried a different reputation for many '90s kids. It was the spirit behind budget bottles, questionable decisions, and late-night shots.
Over the past few months, however, vodka has begun to return with a new narrative. Homegrown brands are introducing fresh expressions that attempt to reposition what was once a notorious shots spirit into something meant to be sipped slowly or mixed into thoughtful cocktails.
Bikram Basu, managing director of ABD Maestro, which recently introduced Rangeela, a vodka brand co-founded by actor Ranveer Singh, believes the category is finally finding its voice again. "Vodka never left the conversation, but until the past year, it didn't really have anything new to say," Basu notes.
For years, the category has been dominated by a handful of heavyweights. Brands such as Magic Moments, Smirnoff, Absolut, and Grey Goose have held their respective price segments with loyal drinkers. What is changing now, Basu says, is the renewed energy around the category. "New homegrown vodkas are entering the market with far more intent. There's new communication, stronger advocacy, and more cocktail-driven experiences at bars that are re-energising vodka. The premium space, especially, is seeing a wave of Indian launches."
Mokksh Sani, founder of Living Liquids and co-founder of Carter Bros, which launched Shelter 6 with Badshah, too, believes the category lacked innovation for years. "People didn't abandon vodka. They didn't have anything new to choose from," he says. Meanwhile, competing spirits flooded the market. "In the past few years, over 100 gin and tequila labels entered the market, slowing vodka's momentum," Sani notes. Carter Bros plans to push the category further, with seven to eight flavoured expressions.
Unlike gin or tequila, vodka never experienced a craft-led revolution in India. "For most vodka drinkers, the journey has simply been about upgrading their bottle," Sani explains. "You move from Magic Moments to Smirnoff to Absolut, but consumers rarely want to stretch their budget by more than R200-250 at a time. Today, the gap between Smirnoff and Absolut is nearly R800, and the next jump after that is Grey Goose."
Before the lockdown, vodka-sodas had a steady following. Post-lockdown, vodka slipped from being a default spirit choice, observes bar mixologist Jishnu AJ. "Of course, there are still patrons loyal to their cosmopolitans," he says. "But over the past year, we've seen a growing appetite for martinis." At the bar 8ish, the Dirty Martini is made with TIGERFIRE, a premium vodka launched by Sanjay Dutt that carries a peppery vanilla note. "People are really savouring the briny profile of that cocktail," Jishnu AJ adds.
Vodka brands are now encouraging drinkers to move beyond shots. Rangeela, a triple-distilled vodka produced in Aurangabad, leans into the flamboyant persona of its co-founder and brand ambassador Ranveer Singh, complete with a colourful chameleon mascot that mirrors the brand's playful identity. Basu attributes the shift to two clear consumer trends. "Drinkers today are willing to pay more for authenticity, and they're also becoming more health-conscious. This has led to a rise in sipping culture," he says.
India, he adds, remains one of the most demanding markets for building an alcohol brand. Each year, nearly 15 to 18 million people enter the legal drinking age bracket. "Even if 40 to 50 per cent stay away from alcohol, you still have seven to eight million curious young adults entering the category. Today, the cost of retaining a consumer is almost as high as acquiring one."
Unlike whisky or gin, where brands compete on flavour complexity across the nose, palate, and finish, vodka plays a different role. "Vodka is not an acquired taste. It's the kingmaker, not the king," Basu says. Rangeela's production process aims to reinforce that smoothness. "We use the heart cut or the mid layer, which is considered the finest portion of the distillate. The spirit is then chilled-filtered between -2 and -12 degrees Celsius to remove impurities, followed by platinum filtration for added smoothness. As a signature touch, we finish it with a hint of grape spirit," Basu explains.
A generational shift is also reshaping the category. If the consensus is to be believed, unlike Millennials who drank to get drunk, Gen Z is curtailing the number of drinks while choosing a premium experience. In 2023, 28-year-old Les Roches graduate Mirat Rajguru launched Lucid (Rs 1350), a sipping vodka available in Goa. "In the last decade, vodka became the underdog. We are in a time when many stigmas around men drinking vodka have been broken, especially among Gen Z. Instead of going all out, they prefer having one drink, but the most premium one available in the range. With vodka, what you're consuming does make a very big difference," says Rajguru.
Lucid follows a triple-distilled process filtered through carbon, silver, and platinum. Rajguru's interest in vodka began through a Russian roommate who advised, "If you overdo filtration, the vodka becomes a bit too crisp and tastes slightly sharp. Russians like that, but the Indian audience prefers a sweeter note. The trick is to chill the bottle in the freezer for two hours. Then, pour it in your glass, add ice, and sip."
Her target audience is aged 25 to 30. Millennials are the secondary market.
"In India, consumers are largely paying for the brand," says Paritosh Bhandari, founder, Tipple Brands UK, pointing to the outsized role of packaging, positioning, and experience over taste. This also explains why vodka struggles as a sipping spirit; nearly 60-70 per cent of sales come from flavoured variants, reflecting a demand for more engaging profiles.
Varun Jain, founder of Smoke Lab, which launched in the US market in 2019, explains that the US is the biggest market in the world for vodka. "India, as a widespread market, is growing at 5-7 per cent with the start of premium Smirnoff till Beluga, selling around 10 lakh cases monthly. In the US, it sells 9.5 crore cases. We have sold over 1,60,000 cases," says Jain.
While tequila has a 1 per cent market share in India, and the urban crowd is going ga-ga over it, its sales compared to vodka are minimal. "The tequila market is saturated in the US, but is going strong in India with preference to homegrown and artisanal brands in the metros and imported ones in Tier 2, Tier 3," he concludes.
5 to 7%
Growth rate of vodka market in India
1,60,000
cases sold by Smoke Lab vodka since its launch in 2019
