The World Whisky Masters 2026 results were published in August, with entries tasted blind in London by panels assembled by The Spirits Business. Medals are awarded at Silver, Gold, and Master level.
India picked up one Master and eleven Golds in the single malt category, and we are covering the Master plus five of the Golds here, with the rest to follow in a second article. It is a good moment for the category, with Indian malt whisky volumes growing at a 32% compound annual rate between 2019 and 2025 according to IWSR data.
So, let’s take a closer look at the best Indian whiskies from the World Whisky Masters 2026.
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READ THE STORYGodawan 01 Single Malt Rich and Rounded Artisan Whisky
Award: Master
Tasting Notes: Dried fruits, figs, raisins, dark chocolate, wood varnish, caramel, coffee, liquorice, toasted oak
Find Your Next Bottle: $76 / £61 / ₹3,800
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It will probably come as no surprise that Godawan took three awards at the World Whisky Masters 2026, the second and third of which will be covered in the next article. In May this year, Godawan announced that it has now clinched over 125 global awards. Impressive for such a young brand.
Godawan takes its name from the Great Indian Bustard, a critically endangered bird, and Diageo India directs a share of the proceeds from every bottle toward its conservation. The brand arrived in April 2022 from the company’s craft division, The Good Craft Co., and the whisky is distilled at Alwar in Rajasthan.
01 Rich and Rounded is made using indigenous six-row Indian barley and a slow distillation method the company says was informed by traditional Rajasthani liqueur production. Maturation takes place in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks, with part of the stock held in ex-bourbon barrels treated with two Indian botanicals, Rasna and Jatamansi.
This one is bottled at 46% ABV without chill filtration, and sits in the core range.
DeVans GianChand Indian Single Malt Whisky Manshaa
Award: Gold
Tasting Notes: Campfire smoke, earthy peat, toasted spices, dried fruits, malt, caramel, charred wood, vanilla
Find Your Next Bottle: ₹8,500 to ₹9,500
Manshaa is the peated expression in the GianChand range, sitting alongside the unpeated Adambaraa and the signature bottling.
DeVans was established in 1961 by Dewan Gian Chand, and supplied malt spirit to other Indian companies for more than thirty years before releasing a single malt under his name in 2022.
The distillery is in Jammu, where chairman Prem Dewan says conditions are “ideal for maturation of malt spirits despite the heat.” He has also said the company uses first-fill bourbon casks “because they provide richness and subtle sweetness.”
It is bottled at 42.8% ABV and was named International Whisky of the Year at ISW 2025 in Germany.
DeVans GianChand Indian Single Malt Whisky Adambaraa
Award: Gold
Tasting Notes: Honeyed malt, orchard fruits, vanilla, floral, caramel, toffee, juicy peaches, dried apricots, spices
Find Your Next Bottle: ₹4,500 to ₹10,700
Adambaraa is the unpeated counterpart to Manshaa, matured in what Devans describes as handpicked American ex-bourbon casks. It was released in 2025 and sold initially through duty-free outlets in Hyderabad and Delhi, with the company saying at the time that it planned to expand into wider retail.
Like the rest of the range, it is produced, matured, and blended at the Jammu distillery.
Adambaraa won Best Indian Single Malt Whisky and Best Indian Whisky at the International Whisky Competition 2025.
Crazy Cock – The Indian Single Malt Whisky Dhua The Peated One I
Award: Gold
Tasting Notes: Peat smoke, raisin, dark chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla, mandarin, oak, sweet pear, barbeque
Find Your Next Bottle: ₹9,350 to ₹12,500
Dhua takes its name from the Hindi word for smoke, and it was one of the two whiskies South Seas Distilleries used to introduce Crazy Cock in December 2023. The company says the first half of the brand name refers to the 1984 decision to build a malt distillery in India, while the rooster stands for a beginning.
South Seas is family-owned and based at Aswa in Dahanu, on the Maharashtra coast, and it spent years supplying malt spirit to other whisky companies before selling under its own label. Dhua is mildly peated and matured in imported bourbon and sherry casks. Bottled at 46% ABV, it has been sold through duty-free outlets in Mumbai, Delhi, and Hyderabad.
Crazy Cock – The Indian Single Malt Whisky Rare
Award: Gold
Tasting Notes: Floral notes, honey, pears, chocolate, raisin, cinnamon, spices, vanilla, oak
Find Your Next Bottle: ₹5,100 and ₹9,500
Rare is the unpeated one of the two, matured in imported bourbon and sherry casks. Director Hamavand Chinoy said the pair was chosen “for consumers who enjoy unpeated or mildly-peated varieties.”
It is made from six-row Indian barley, distilled in copper pot stills, and matured at Dahanu. The company traces its distilling history to 1922, when six brothers built a distillery at Aswa producing spirits from flowers and tropical fruits, and it dates the current business to 1984.
DŌAAB The Old Man & The Blossom
Award: Gold
Tasting Notes: Fresh florals, vanilla, velvety mouthfeel
Find Your Next Bottle: ₹3,150 to ₹3,800
The full name of this one is DŌAAB Expression 02: The Old Man & The Blossom, the second in a series from Globus Spirits, with DŌAAB translating as confluence. It was matured in Mizunara oak casks from Hokkaido, which the company says makes it the first Indian single malt aged in that wood.
Production takes place at the India Craft Spirits Co. distillery in Behror, Rajasthan, using Indian six-row barley, and the release is limited to 500 casks. Globus Spirits was incorporated in 1993 and runs plants in four states. It launched in Gurugram in November 2025 at ₹3,500 to ₹3,800.
Six Whiskies, Four Producers
Godawan took the only Indian Master, and the five Golds covered here came from three other producers spread between Jammu, the Maharashtra coast, and Rajasthan. Two of them, DeVANS and South Seas, spent decades supplying malt spirit to other companies before bottling under their own names. Godawan’s remaining two medals, Indri’s Diwali Collector’s Edition, and the three Madhuca releases from Crazy Cock all follow in the second article.
Have you tried any of these six? Are there any you would like to get hold of, and what do you make of the awards? Let us know in the comments.
