No signs of a slowdown are seen in the made-in-India spirits segment. Not just gin, but also vodka and rum have graced our tables over the past year. Another Gin has recently been launched, and Adriel Sequeira is the one who started the story. As Sequeira makes gin for some Goan brands, she told herself that she might as well try it during the lockdown last year. About a year or so later, produced a gin that bears a truncated version of her family name and uses ‘typical Goan botanicals’.
Sequeira explains that the recipe contains 10 botanical ingredients, including juniper, rosemary, nutmeg, and even cashew nuts, which lend the dish its very Goan flavor. She owns and operates Spirit de Goa, which produces a variety of spirits that she sells domestically and overseas. Sequeira’s distillery, in Raia, in Salcette, is located bang in the middle of a cashew plantation, and it didn’t take long for her to lock in on a recipe for the gin.
Sequer is a celebration of Goa, and the cashew nuts in the recipe emphasize that. ‘It gives the Gin a nice texture,’ she says. According to the company, Sequer will be available in other states by the end of the year, including Maharashtra. Seqer, which was launched in August, follows closely in the footsteps of Matinee Gin. Matinee, launched around March 2021 by Lavanya Jayashankar and Anjali Shahi, uses snake saffron, white turmeric, kagzi lime and Goan peppercorn as ingredients to differentiate itself from its competition. The device sells for Rs 1,490 in Goa and is expected to be available in other states later this year.
The Epitome Reserve is described as ‘India’s very first small-batch, artisanal craft, 100% rice whisky’. There are a lot of adjectives in one sentence, but the limited-edition whisky sounds promising. Originally sourced from Punjab, the whisky is matured in bourbon casks for over three years in Goa, and then finished in PX sherry and cherrywood casks. There are woody flavours, vibrant characters of dried fruits, sweet toffee caramel, vanilla, butterscotch, and rich spicy notes, according to the company.
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Rice whisky is Diageo’s first local brand launch in India in about 20 years, according to Krishna Nukala. Nukala, a Hyderabad-based whisky consultant and the only Indian member of a highly regarded international whisky collective, says it is great to see companies in India adopt natural routes rather than launching more molasses- and synthetic-based whiskies. ‘Amrut released a grain whisky a few years ago and it was outstanding. It’s going to be interesting if that’s the case,’ Nukala says. In metro areas, select outlets offer The Epitome Reserve, which has a limited production of 2,000 bottles.
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