SPIRITED AWAY

With the crafts segment in alcohol booming, India sees a new legion of distillery, brewery, and meadery tours

- Suman Quazi

In 2008, when Hansel Vaz was visiting Tonga, he noticed amused tourists buying coconut oil - which is ubiquitous in the Island Kingdom recycled in Coca Cola bottles as mere souvenirs. "On the flight on my way back, I remember thinking, this is what happens with Feni." Vaz, founder of Cazulo Feni, is the man behind a one-of-a-kind Feni distillery tour. And ostensibly, also the first of its kind, given that the spirituous liquor is indigenous to Goa (they have a Geographical Index tag for cashew feni, too). Like him, other alcohol labels in India, across segments such as, mead, beer, whisky, and gin, are increasingly focused on creating tailored experiences. These typically involve a distillery tour, because they're keen on talking about the source, science, and skill behind making spirits.

A well-travelled geologist by profession and second-generation owner of a Feni distillery from South Goa, Vaz rebranded his father's 39-year-old company as Cazulo Fazenda, in a bid to recontextualise the local spirit. What he essentially did is identify that he had a good product, which was culturally rich, and with a layered story. "Goans have always known that Feni is a good product. But we didn't know how to tell the world that it was. That was the problem," he points out. Truth be told, in 2022, storytelling is possibly the most formidable marketing tool there is, and for many 'craft' alcohol brands, which are typically cash-strapped start-ups, this is a great, cost-effective way of telling their brand story. Co-founder of Pune-based Moonshine Meadery, Rohan Rehani, echoes this when he says, "At the end of the day, we're a homegrown brand, competing with the big boys who have deep pockets. We can't do many of the things that they can. But we want to interact with our customers, one-on-one, and convey why we exist. This is our marketing strategy, in a way."