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.

— Source publishedWed, 20 May, 2026, 12:23 IST·First seen Wed, 20 May, 2026, 13:19 IST·Source ET Retail

What happened

Tilaknagar Industries · Indian liquor companies including Tilaknagar, Diageo, Radico Khaitan and John Distilleries are attempting to premiumise and nationalise

Key facts

  • 98% sales in 5 states + 1 UT
  • 88.5 million cases annually
  • 20% of spirits sales
  • premium <25% of category

Why this matters

Watch for tuck-in targets among regional southern brandy houses with distillation IP or state-license depth—Tilaknagar and John Distilleries' moves make scarcity value rise fast if Diageo or Radico go inorganic.