A new Scotch whisky label backed by Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt has jolted India’s ₹5 lakh crore spirits market after selling 300,000 bottles in just 45 days and generating ₹15 crore in revenue, Nov. 22, 2025. The brand, Glenwalk, entered the hyper-competitive whisky segment with a ₹500 nip and scaled at a speed legacy players typically take nearly a decade to achieve.
Glenwalk’s rapid rise stems from 18 months of disciplined execution across distribution, pricing psychology and premium liquid quality. India remains the world’s largest whisky market at ₹4.9–5.2 lakh crore, expanding 8–10% annually, giving new brands an opening — but few manage to break through entrenched portfolios.
Maharashtra powered 68% of Glenwalk’s early momentum through 1,400-plus wine shops and more than 3,500 bars. The brand is now present across Maharashtra, Delhi-NCR, Goa, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh and Daman and Diu. Upcoming launches in Karnataka, Telangana and Rajasthan could add more than 2 million bottles in annual volume.
A distribution-first founding team
The founders leveraged deep, complementary expertise:
• Mokksh and Manish Sani, of Living Liquidz, brought India’s strongest retail intelligence on pricing psychology and stock velocity.
• Jitin Merani, of Drinq Bar Academy, shaped a palate-focused Scotch profile bottled in Scotland with Scottish water.
• Rohan Nihalani, of Morgan Beverages, navigated complex state excise systems.
• Neeraj Singh, the chief business officer, built the geographic expansion systems that turned early traction into a flywheel.
The ₹500 nip strategy
Glenwalk’s 200 ml SKU — priced at ₹500 — served as a behavioral economics entry point. Though the per-litre cost is higher than the 750 ml variant, consumers perceived it as an affordable trial. Bars favored the nip for its high margins: purchase cost ₹300–₹355 with markup potential of 60–80%. The break-even threshold was 51,000 bottles per month; current sales exceed 200,000 per month.
The brand is targeting 4.2 million bottles in FY26, translating to projected revenue of ₹630–₹700 crore. Internal estimates suggest FY26 revenue of ₹390–₹420 crore with EBITDA of ₹90–₹110 crore — an unusually strong 23–26% margin for a second-year spirits business.
Cracking an oligopoly
Industry analysts say Glenwalk has not relied on celebrity influence alone but solved the three most difficult problems in India’s alcohol sector: dense distribution, a credible product proposition and a low-friction trial mechanism.
The brand has won awards at ProWine and the London Spirits Competition, bolstering consumer trust. Its ₹500 nip, competitively priced 750 ml variant and rapid nationwide rollout have positioned it as a breakout challenger in India’s premium Scotch segment.
Glenwalk’s trajectory shows what happens, analysts say, when celebrity capital meets operator-driven execution — and how quickly a new entrant can reshape India’s whisky landscape.
