Liquor majors race to make brandy cool beyond the south

Tilaknagar, Diageo, Radico Khaitan and John Distilleries are redesigning labels, smoothing blends and launching flavoured 'flandy' variants to premiumise a category where 98% of sales sit in five southern states and premium SKUs are under 25% of volumes.

— Filed Wed, 20 May, 2026, 13:20 IST · Source ET Retail · Updated

Indian liquor companies including Tilaknagar, Diageo, Radico Khaitan and John Distilleries are attempting to premiumise and nationalise brandy, currently 98% concentrated in southern states, through label redesigns, smoother blends, flavour innovations ('flandy'), and tequila-style aspirational repositioning.

Why this matters

Builds on Tilaknagar and Diageo's earlier moves to premiumise brandy and break its southern concentration, now widening to include Radico Khaitan and John Distilleries with flavoured 'flandy' SKUs.

Retail-brand activity steady with 382 signals in the last 90 days.