Pernod Ricard launches 5 made-in-India spirits under Rs 1,000

Pernod Ricard India chief executive officer Jean Touboul. (image: Moneycontrol)

Pernod Ricard India on Tuesday launched five variants in the sub-Rs 1,000 category under its Seagram’s label. The five liquids are targeted at consumers aged 26-35 years. And for their price range, are surprisingly smooth enough to be sipped or mixed in cocktails. This category of spirits is heating up in India, with more alcobev brands counting on rising disposable incomes, the growing aspirations of India’s GenZ and more people entering legal drinking age (LDA) in the country.

The newly launched liquids in what Pernod Ricard is calling the Xclamat!on range are priced around the Rs 800 mark — prices can vary depending on the spirit and the state excise duty, of course — and include a blend of Indian whisky and Speyside Scotch, a Basmati rice vodka, a molasses-and-jaggery rum, a raisin brandy and a gin made with Indian botanicals like ginger, star anise and dehydrated oranges.

To be sure, Pernod Ricard isn’t the only alcobev company eyeing this segment in India. In November, Radico Khaitan launched its 1965 Spirit of Victory Espresso Coffee Rum at a price point of Rs 950 for 750 ml in Uttar Pradesh. And Delhi-based Uppal Brewers & Distillers launched a sub-Rs 1,000 whisky called Madhvan in August 2025.

“This is the segment we call premium admix. Then you have admix deluxe where we place Royal Stag,” Pernod Ricard India chief executive Jean Touboul told Moneycontrol on the sidelines of the launch in Gurugram. “With Xclamat!on, we are competing with a lot of the local Indian brands, of course, because it is a local brand made in India for Indians... Same (way) if we talk about Royal Stag, then when we move up the ladder, this will be mostly a competition with international players, the main one obviously being Diageo because in the higher end of the portfolio, the two of us corner the largest share of markets.”

Pernod Ricard India is also not the only company experimenting with Indian and foreign blends. In November, Mumbai-headquartered Tilaknagar Industries launched its Seven Islands Pure Malt whisky — a blend of four single malts from the Himalayas and Vindhyas in India and the Speyside and Lowlands of Scotland. Tilaknagar Industries this month also completed the purchase of Imperial Blue whisky — an affordable whisky which was launched by Seagram’s in India in 1997, before Pernod Ricard bought Seagram’s assets in India in 2002.

The five new spirits from Pernod Ricard will see a phased launch across India, starting with Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Daman and Telangana by year-end. The company plans to roll out the range in 14 more states including Karnataka — the state with the highest excise duty on alcohol in India — over the next 12 months, Touboul added. Though he didn't put an exact date on the launch in Karnataka, he said it can be expected by June which is the end of the fiscal year for the French alcobev company.

Touboul also did not specify a timeline for launch in Maharashtra — where excise duties on Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) rose sharply in June this year — and Delhi, where the company is still trying to get its licence renewed since it was suspended in 2022 for allegedly flouting city rules.

“Delhi, we cannot sell for the moment. When we will be able to, and we are fighting for that, we will go to Delhi. Karnataka is definitely on the cards — it will be before June which is the end of our fiscal year… We have these five spirits and we will adapt what we will launch first in each of the markets… We need to launch state by state. As you know, it’s a heavily regulated market,” Touboul said. As things stand, the liquids will not be available in the important markets of Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore for several months after launch.

India is the world’s third largest market for alcobev companies by volume, after China and the US. The market is also expected to nearly double by value to about USD 100 billion over the next six-seven years. And while whisky remains the drink of choice for most in the country, younger consumers are also experimenting with other spirits. For Pernod Ricard, too, India is its second-largest market in value terms after the US. Pernod Ricard India reported revenues of ₹27,446 crore for the financial year ending March 2025, up from ₹26,773.22 crore in the fiscal year before.

Touboul is also not worried about more young people turning away from alcohol to zero-alcohol drinks, and other beverage options. “If people decide to drink less but drink better products, this is favourable to us... when you look at the expansion of the consumer base, we don't have an issue of decreasing number of consumers or decreasing consumption. We have a tailwind of increasing number of consumers (in India),” he said.

Touboul said that while India is the biggest market for the French group by volume, it is the second biggest in terms of value after the US. “In net sales, we represent 13 percent of the group net sales… the US... are 50 percent bigger than us, but we can catch up at some point… the tailwinds, the opportunities in this market are huge,” he said.

The opportunity in India, as Touboul sees it, is some “20 million new potential consumers every year” big. Some of them may choose not to drink and some of them may not have the disposable income for our categories, Touboul conceded. “But more and more,” he added, “and that's the second part, more and more do have this purchasing power because the macroeconomic development in the country is phenomenal. The rise in the disposable income is great and when you look at the macroeconomics, the projection for the GDP growth, which is superior in India versus many other geographies in the world, it drives a lot of confidence for us that we will continue to be able to attract more consumers to our categories.”

The Xclamat!on spirits are targeted to consumers aged 26-35 and positioned to ride the wave of experimentation in India’s drinking scene. For one, all five drinks blend something from India — ingredients, blends — with something from a country that’s known to be among the best in that category. So, for the rum, Pernod Ricard India says it has blended Jamaican rum and jaggery rum from India. The whisky is a blend of Indian whisky and Scotch. The juniper berries for the gin have come from Germany and the other botanicals are from India. The grapes for the brandy are from India as well as France. And the vodka is made with Basmati but distilled using Russian moonstone tech. The result, in each case, is a liquid that’s smooth enough to sip and easy enough for a new or very-occasional-drinker to imbibe in cocktail form. Secondly, at a price point of roughly Rs 800 for 750 ml, the company is targeting young but aspirational drinkers who want to trade up and yet keep things affordable. While this is a kind of premiumization, it’s in a different segment than, say, Indian whiskies and tequilas that can often cross the Rs 5,000-10,000 mark.

In response to a question, Touboul also spoke about Indian authorities’ demand for a quarter of a billion dollars from Pernod Ricard in back taxes for allegedly undervalued imports. “We respect international rules. We do have rules which apply to India as they apply to all other markets in the world. So we are very confident that eventually we will prove that there is absolutely nothing wrong with this and that we don't have to pay more than what we have already paid,” Touboul said.

The company owns brands like Royal Stag, Blenders Pride, Chivas Regal, Absolut Vodka, Jameson, The Glenlivet and Beefeater and Monkey 47 gins, among others, and is aiming for low double-digit growth for India on the back of its premiumization push, which has included the sale of Imperial Blue and the launch of Xclamat!on this year. In 2026, Touboul said, Pernod Ricard “will continue to double down on premiumization because it also fits with responsible consumption”.

At the close of trading on December 3, Tilaknagar Industries shares were trading at Rs 461.90 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Radico Khaitan closed the day's trade on Rs 3,261.80. Pernod Ricard SA shares were trading at euros 77.02 on Euronext Paris, at the time of publishing.