From Affordable Vodka to Premium Rum: What Radico Khaitan’s Kohinoor Reserve Really Signals

Radico Khaitan has long been associated with scale. Its portfolio includes some of India’s most widely consumed affordable spirits, built on volume, distribution reach, and consistent pricing. Brands like Magic Moments vodka helped the company dominate mass-market categories for years.

Now, with the launch of The Kohinoor Reserve Indian Dark Rum, Radico is making a deliberate move into a very different space. Not bigger volumes. Not wider reach. But premium positioning, higher margins, and a smaller, more selective consumer base.

This is not just a new product. It is a signal of how one of India’s largest spirits companies is repositioning itself.

Why Rum, and Why Now

India is the world’s largest rum-consuming market by volume. Yet despite that scale, the category has remained largely stuck in the affordable segment. Legacy brands dominate consumption, but premium rum has never meaningfully developed as a category.

That gap is important.

While India consumes around 250 million litres of rum annually, the market value remains relatively low compared to countries with far lower consumption but stronger premium offerings. In simple terms, India drinks a lot of rum, but mostly at low price points.

Radico’s entry into premium dark rum is an attempt to change that equation.

Global data supports the timing. Premium and aged rum is growing faster than the overall rum category, driven by cocktail culture, sipping occasions, and consumers trading up from entry-level spirits. In India, this shift is being led by urban drinkers in their late 20s to early 40s, many of whom are already familiar with premium whisky and gin.

Rum is the next frontier.

What Kohinoor Reserve Is Trying to Do Differently

The Kohinoor Reserve is positioned as a sipping-style dark rum, not a mixer-led product. It is bottled at 43% ABV and follows a triple-cask maturation process, using:

1. American bourbon casks
2. Cognac XO casks
3. Vermouth casks

This approach is designed to create familiarity for consumers who already understand whisky and cognac, reducing the learning curve for premium rum.

The rum is made using fresh cane juice, sourced during North Indian winters, and matured under Indian climatic conditions. Faster ageing due to heat and evaporation is not new to Indian spirits, but here it is being framed as an advantage rather than a compromise.

From a product standpoint, the intent is clear: complexity, structure, and slow sipping, rather than sweetness or nostalgia.

Pricing and Market Rollout

Radico followed a two-step launch strategy.

The rum debuted internationally in travel retail and select overseas markets in 2024, before entering India in December 2025. This sequencing helped establish external credibility before testing domestic acceptance.

India pricing varies by state due to excise structures:

1. Delhi: around ₹3,750
2. Uttar Pradesh: around ₹4,350
3. Karnataka: around ₹4,635

These price points firmly place Kohinoor Reserve in the premium rum segment, competing more with imported labels than domestic mass-market brands.

The rollout has focused on North India first, where rum consumption is historically higher due to climate and seasonality, before expanding to other premium-driven markets.

The Bigger Picture: Radico’s Portfolio Shift

To understand why this matters, it helps to look at Radico Khaitan’s broader portfolio.

Radico operates across multiple price tiers, from affordable to premium:

Affordable & Mid-Priced Spirits

1. Magic Moments Vodka
2. 8 PM Whisky
3. Contessa Rum
4. Old Admiral Brandy
5. Morpheus Brandy

These brands drive volume and cash flow.

Premium and Above

1. Rampur Indian Single Malt Whisky
2. Jaisalmer Indian Craft Gin
3. Royal Ranthambore Whisky
4. The Kohinoor Reserve Indian Dark Rum

This premium segment now contributes a disproportionate share of revenue compared to its volume. Industry-wide, it is estimated that a small percentage of premium volumes generate a large share of profits, and Radico’s own financials reflect that shift.

The Kohinoor Reserve fits squarely into this strategy.

Not a Celebration, But a Calculated Bet

This launch should not be read as a victory lap. Premium rum in India is still unproven at scale. Consumer awareness is limited, and rum still carries strong associations with affordability and winter-only consumption.

There is also growing competition. Craft and heritage-focused rum brands are entering the market, and imported labels continue to dominate premium shelf space in metros.

Radico’s advantage lies in distribution, balance sheet strength, and experience in scaling brands across states. But premium consumers are less forgiving than mass-market buyers. Brand storytelling alone will not be enough.

Quality consistency, availability, and long-term positioning will decide whether Kohinoor Reserve becomes a category-defining product or remains a niche experiment.

Bottoms Up

The real story is not about one rum.

It is about India’s large spirits companies learning to move beyond volume-led thinking. For decades, success meant selling more cases at accessible prices. That model still matters, but growth is increasingly coming from consumers who drink less but spend more.

Radico Khaitan’s journey from affordable vodka leadership to premium rum experimentation mirrors a broader industry shift.

Whether premium rum becomes India’s next growth category remains to be seen. But with players like Radico now willing to invest in it, the category is finally being taken seriously.

And that, more than any single bottle, is what makes this launch worth watching.