India has been the biggest whisky market in the world for years, but until fairly recently most of what it produced stayed within its own borders. That has changed. Distilleries in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Goa are now exporting seriously, and names like Godawan, Rampur, and Kadamba are becoming recognizable abroad. The interest now extends past single malts to blends as well.
These whiskies are winning over spirits critics, and they are also winning over the people who work behind the bar. Eight Indian whiskies, single malts and blends alike, took Gold or Double Gold at the 2026 Bartender Spirits Awards, a competition run by Beverage Trade Network and judged entirely by bartenders, bar managers, and buyers. Entries are tasted blind and scored on mixability, balance, and taste, then assessed for value and packaging once the price is revealed.
Double Gold goes to spirits scoring 96 points and above, with Gold covering 90 to 95. Here are the eight Indian winners that won Gold or higher, from the highest score down.
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Godawan 02 Fruit & Spice Indian Single Malt Whisky
Awards: Double Gold Medal, Indian Single Malt Whisky of the Year, Spirit of the Year India
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Score: 97 points
Tasting Notes: “This whisky offers an inviting nose of vanilla, orchard fruits, and citrus peel, leading to a silky, well-balanced palate with subtle oak, leather, and molasses, culminating in a smooth, refined finish.” – Bartender Spirits Awards
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READ THE STORYFind Your Next Bottle: $76 / £61 / ₹5,400
The top scorer of the entire Indian field comes from Diageo India’s distillery in Alwar, Rajasthan, where the whisky is made from locally grown six-row barley rather than the two-row barley more common in Scotland.
The desert climate does a lot of the work here, pushing the spirit in and out of the wood at a pace that makes the whisky taste more mature at a younger age than it would in a cooler climate, with a correspondingly heavy loss to evaporation.
Godawan 02 Fruit & Spice spends time in cherry-wood casks and is then finished in bourbon barrels conditioned with two Ayurvedic botanicals, Rasna and Jatamansi, selected from thousands of options for the way they work with the whisky. It is bottled at 46% ABV, non-chill-filtered, as one of Godawan’s two core releases.
The brand takes its name from the Great Indian Bustard, a critically endangered desert bird for which the distillery undertakes conservation and protection efforts.
Doberman Super Premium Whisky XR
Awards: Gold Medal
Score: 95 points
Tasting Notes: “With a buttery nose of brown sugar and oak, the palate offers medium-creamy texture, layered fruit, spice, and a long, smooth finish.” – Bartender Spirits Awards
Find Your Next Bottle: ₹370
One you may not have heard of, now. Doberman Super Premium Whisky XR comes from the Cheers Group, a Goa producer that had a strong showing across its portfolio at this year’s competition.
Doberman XR is a blended whisky aged in charred oak barrels. Beyond that, the published detail is thin. The producer does not spell out what the XR designation stands for, and neither an age statement nor the bottling strength appears on the brand’s own materials.
What the judges had in front of them was a smoky, layered blend with enough body and length to work in a cocktail.
If you are based in India and know more about Doberman Super Premium Whisky XR, we would love to hear from you!
Kadamba Indian Single Malt Whisky World Cask
Awards: Gold Medal
Score: 95 points
Tasting Notes: “Rich molasses and oak aromas lead to a creamy, full-bodied palate with nutty, cinnamon, leather, and clove notes, culminating in a smooth, tannic finish.” – Bartender Spirits Awards
Find Your Next Bottle: ₹2700 to ₹6300
Kadamba is the single malt that has done the most to raise the Cheers Group’s profile abroad, with a shelf of international awards behind it, and the company is expanding its Goa distillery to keep up with demand.
It is made in North Goa, where the warm, humid coastal climate pushes the whisky into the wood, increasing interaction.
The World Cask edition is distilled in copper pot stills and matured in a range of wooden barrels, and it is presented in a cut-glass decanter with a wooden case, which fits a competition that scores packaging and back-bar appeal alongside the whisky itself.
Prices vary quite a bit by market, but we hope to see Kadamba become more readily available abroad soon. After all, it has had more than enough presence at recent competitions to justify a global push.
Royal Ranthambore
Awards: Gold Medal, Blended Whisky of the Year
Score: 95 points
Tasting Notes: “Aromatic with caramel, malt, and orchard fruit notes leading to a buttery, soft textured palate with subtle spice and a gentle, lingering finish.” – Bartender Spirits Awards
Find Your Next Bottle: ₹1,400
The one blend to take a category title here, Royal Ranthambore was named Blended Whisky of the Year, a useful reminder that the Indian whiskies drawing attention abroad are not all single malts.
It comes from Radico Khaitan, one of India’s oldest and largest drinks companies and the same producer behind Rampur.
The whisky brings together Scotch malts and “oak-infused Indian Grain Neutral Spirit,” according to Tony Sachs at Forbes, which makes it a genuinely cross-border blend rather than a wholly Indian one. It launched in 2021 as a premium release named for Ranthambore in Rajasthan, known for its fort and its tigers, and has since reached the US market.
The soft, approachable profile the judges described is the sort that works well behind a bar.
The Three Monkeys Indian Single Whisky
Awards: Gold Medal
Score: 94 points
Tasting Notes: “Rich malty aromas of tropical fruit complement a soft, oily palate with vanilla, apple, cinnamon, and a long, oak-driven smoky finish.” – Bartender Spirits Awards
Find Your Next Bottle: ₹1,610
Another single malt from the Cheers Group, Three Monkeys is one of the younger brands on this list and has grown quickly since its launch. It is made at the same Goa distillery as Kadamba, and the company puts a lot of weight on the cask, maturing the whisky across wine, bourbon, and sherry barrels that draw on Goa’s swings in temperature.
It has picked up recognition for its bottle design as well as its liquid, winning a medal at the 2025 World Whiskies Awards for packaging. The result the judges tasted was a fruity, spiced malt with an oak-driven, faintly smoky finish.
Maltage Aged Malt Whisky
Awards: Gold Medal
Score: 94 points
Tasting Notes: “Aromas of caramel and brown sugar lead to a silky palate layered with oak, spice, leather, and tobacco, culminating in a moderate, smooth finish.” – Bartender Spirits Awards
Find Your Next Bottle: ₹1,360
The name is worth a word of caution, since some retail sites file Maltage under Japanese whisky.
This particular whisky is described on the bottle as “a blend of superior aged vatted malts and premium Indian grain spirits” from the Goa-based Cheers Group, reportedly matured in American white oak. The “Aged” in the name is a brand term rather than a stated number of years, so there is no age statement, and it is bottled at 42.8% ABV.
Beyond that, not much information is publicly available in the UK. As before, we are open to hearing from anyone who has tried this elusive whisky. What did you think of it?
Godawan 01 Rich & Rounded Indian Single Malt Whisky
Awards: Gold Medal
Score: 90 points
Tasting Notes: “A complex nose offers dark red fruit, charred oak, and green tea, while the palate reveals subtle stone fruit, gentle smoke, and a smooth, balanced finish.” – Bartender Spirits Awards
Find Your Next Bottle: $55 / £61 / ₹5,400
This is the other half of Godawan’s two-bottle core range, the Rich & Rounded to the Fruit & Spice that topped the list.
Both are made at Diageo India’s Alwar distillery in Rajasthan, and both finish in bourbon casks conditioned with the Ayurvedic botanicals Rasna and Jatamansi, which is the thread that runs through the range.
Where 01 parts ways with its sibling is earlier in the process. It spends its main maturation in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks, which is where the dark fruit and richer, rounder character come from. Like the Fruit & Spice, it is bottled at 46% ABV and non-chill-filtered.
Rampur Barrel Blush
Awards: Gold Medal
Score: 90 points
Tasting Notes: “A well-rounded whiskey with floral honey and cereal grain aromas, complemented by baking spice and a clean oak finish.” – Bartender Spirits Awards
Find Your Next Bottle: $97 / £61 / ₹8,379
Barrel Blush is a single malt from Radico Khaitan’s Rampur Distillery in Uttar Pradesh, which sits in the foothills of the Himalayas and dates back to 1943. It is first matured in American bourbon barrels, then finished in Australian Shiraz wine casks picked by master distiller Anup Barik, which is where the pinkish tint behind the “Blush” name comes from. It is bottled at 45% ABV and non-chill-filtered.
Unlike some of the more domestically focused whiskies here, this is thankfully a genuine international release, having debuted in the UK in late 2024 before reaching Europe and the US.
Final Thoughts
What these eight winners have in common is not a single style or region but the fact that bartenders judged them worth pouring for their own customers. Between them they cover single malts and blends, big producers and younger brands, and distilleries in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Goa.
Recognition from people who make their living behind a bar suggests these are whiskies with real appeal for drinkers well beyond India, and it would be good to see more of these brands land on shelves and back bars in markets like the US and the UK.
The scores are a place to start, not the last word. Have you tried any of these, or is there an Indian whisky you think the judges missed? Let us know in the comments.
