‘The narrative is changing’: Camikara on Indian rum’s spirited rise

Once dismissed as a cheap, cheerful product, premium Indian rum is now stepping into the global spotlight. Madhu Kanna, head of international business at Camikara, tells Amelie Maurice-Jones why it could soon be a staple in “the world’s finest cocktail bars and in the cellars of serious spirits collectors”.

It’s been a big kick-off to 2026 for Camikara, which has already bagged the highest possible accolade at two of the rum world’s biggest competitions – a Global Rum & Cachaça Masters in the United Kingdom, and a Double Gold at The Fifty Best in the United States. This comes fresh on the heels of its ground-breaking win last year, where Camikara became the first Indian rum in history to be crowned Rum Brand of the Year at The Spirits Business Awards 2025.

“To secure two Master of Gold-level distinctions on both sides of the Atlantic in the same year is a moment that genuinely stops you in your tracks,” marvels Camikara’s head of international business Madhu Kanna. Not only were the medals a successful step for the craft spirit, which is produced by Piccadily Agro Industries Limited using fresh sugarcane juice, but also represented a giant leap for Indian rum.

Previously roped off as a cheap commercial product, Camikara is proving, alongside brands like Short Story and Maka Zai, that Indian rum can be a premium pour. “The narrative is changing,” remarks Kanna. “What these awards demonstrate is that India does not just grow excellent sugarcane; it can produce rum of the very highest international calibre.”

‘No longer an afterthought’

Kanna pledges that the category is “no longer an afterthought,” and hopes it’s following Indian single malt whisky’s yellow-brick-road rise to global stardom. Internationally, consumers are drinking less spirits – with global beverage sales sliding by 2% in 2025, and shares of the world’s 50 leading alcoholic drinks brands plummeting by 46% since 2021, according to Bloomberg tracking index.

But India bucks the trend as a rare bright spot. Last year, the nation became the fastest growing major drinks market globally, The Times of India reported.

Last year, Diageo leapt on the chance to invest, snapping the majority stake in NAO Spirits, which makes aged, spiced rum, in what the company’s managing director Praveen Someshwar called a “pivotal step in exploring future growth opportunities in Indian craft spirits”. Bengaluru-based producer, Amrut Distilleries, also sees rum gaining ground, targeting around 10% volume growth in FY27.

This is largely charged by India’s rapidly expanding middle class, which has sparked a surge of younger drinkers eager to explore new, local spirits. “They seek quality, provenance, and story,” explains Kanna, approaching spirits with the “curiosity and confidence they bring to food and travel”.

At the same time, the Indian cocktail scene has boomed in big cities, with bars in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru now appearing in world best lists, steering educational conversations about ingredients. “Rum is increasingly viewed as a sophisticated canvas for bartenders, not just a mixer,” he continues. Mixologists are increasingly demonstrating how rum can replace whisky or Cognac in serious serves, rather than merely combined with Coke. Added to this is a strong backbone of cultural pride – a desire to “champion what India produces rather than defaulting to imported status symbols”.

Together, Kanna sums up, “these factors together are creating genuine momentum”.

Why is Indian rum only becoming popular now?

But why is Indian rum only now having its time in the sun?  After all, cheap, sweet, dark rum, like Old Monk, has been popular for decades.

Kanna believes it’s a combo of “history, economics and colonial legacy”. He takes a look back in time: “India’s relationship with rum was fundamentally shaped by British colonial rule, which positioned rum as a utilitarian product, primarily produced at industrial scale for the military and for mass market consumption rather than for craft or export. Post-independence, the dominance of whisky in Indian drinking culture, which, ironically, is itself a colonial inheritance, meant that rum was never invested in as a category worthy of premiumisation. The result was decades of large-volume, molasses-based production that, while significant commercially, did nothing to build international prestige.”

In 2023, BBC reported on the category’s budding revolution of premium rum, but concluded that there was a “long way to go” before it could be considered ‘craft’. How come tides have changed for Indian rum in 2026?

Kanna flags two key reasons: “The transformation of Indian single malt whisky,” is the first. “The success of our sister brand Indri in international markets has demonstrated that Indian distillers can compete at the highest level and created confidence in our rum,” he explains.

Challenges and opportunity

Secondly, “Indian rum has entered this evolution at exactly the right moment,” he goes on to say, with competitions like the Global Rum Masters changing the narrative in a way no domestic marketing could. “This recognition comes at a time when premiumisation is significantly reshaping the global spirits landscape, with consumers increasingly gravitating towards high-quality, craft-led offerings.”

Despite its success, operating in India is not without challenges. “The regulatory environment remains the most structurally challenging aspect of operating in this market,” Kanna confides. “India’s state-by-state excise system means that brands can’t approach the domestic market as a single entity state that has its own licensing framework, pricing structure, and compliance requirements. This creates significant operational complexity and cost and slows the pace at which a brand can achieve national scale.”

Beyond regulation, there is the hurdle of consumer education. “We are still in the early stages of building understanding around what pure cane juice rum is and why it matters,” Kanna adds. Then, internationally, logistics and duty structures of key export markets add further complexity. “Finally, building up aged stocks requires investment that can’t be realised for a considerable amount of time”.. These are not insurmountable challenges, Kanna assures, but they demand a “long-term mindset”.

Talking strategy

In the domestic market, Camikara’s strategy is quality over quantity. This looks like building presence in the on-trade, concreting bartender relationships, and tapping into the consumer trend for Indian-made, world-class spirits.

Globally, the business’s focus will be on markets with an existing rum culture and interest in provenance, including the UK (where rum sales have now outstripped $1bn), United States and select European markets. “The approach in each market will be the same,” Kanna confirms. “Build credibility in the on-trade first, work with partners who understand the premium spirits category, and let our rum do the talking.”

What’s needed for Indian rum to vie with its famous Caribbean and Latin American counterparts? “Three things,” Kanna spells out: “Consistency, storytelling and distribution”. Regions like Jamaica, Barbados and Martinique benefit from narratives of culture, place and heritage – with rum’s roots mapped to sugar plantations, where slaves discovered that molasses could be used for alcohol. “India needs to build an equivalent narrative, and fortunately, we already have the foundations for doing so,” Kanna points out, thanks to India’s distinctive terroir – with sugarcane grown in everywhere from the Himalayan foothills to Southern beaches  – and the oldest references to fermented cane fermentation (‘sidhu’) appearing in ancient Indian scripture the Rigveda.

‘Genuinely exciting’: looking ahead

With a strong story and serious liquor, Indian rum’s future is “genuinely exciting”, Kanna enthuses. The Indian rum market is already valued in the billions and growing at over 5% annually, but numbers are still weighted toward volume rather than value. “The next decade will see that shift decisively”, says Kanna, fuelled by consumer education, international recognition and the gradual softening of regulatory frameworks – with the craft segment already growing at nearly 8% annually in India.

“Within 10 years, Indian rum will have established a credible presence in the same specialist outlets and on the same back bars as the best rums from Jamaica or Barbados,” he anticipates. “It will be recognised as a distinctive, geographically defined style which is not an imitation of anything, but an expression of India’s own sugarcane heritage and climate.”

For this to happen, growing a pipeline of aged stock will be crucial. “A premium rum ecosystem requires patient capital and time, and the distillers who made those investments five or 10 years ago are the ones who will be best positioned,” relays Kanna.

A window into the future

So what’s the goal for Camikara? Kanna pledge is one of purpose and passion: “In 10 years, I want Camikara to be the reference point for Indian rum in the same way that the best Scottish single malts define Scotch whisky, showcasing the pinnacle of the industry.

“I want it to be on the back bars of the world’s finest cocktail bars and in the cellars of serious spirits collectors.

“I want ‘Indian rum’ to be a category that enthusiasts seek out with the same excitement they bring to aged agricoles from Martinique or pot still expressions from Jamaica.

“And more broadly, I hope Camikara helps create the conditions for a thriving Indian rum ecosystem, where our success encourages others to invest in craft and quality, and where the country’s extraordinary sugarcane heritage is finally given the global recognition it has always deserved. We have the raw material, the climate, the history, and now the international validation.

“The next decade is ours to shape.”

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