Award-winning Idaaya premium sipping rum set to make a mark in Indian markets

Discover Idaaya, a premium Indian rum crafted with Himalayan water and aged in Solera casks, poised for global success.

It was while sipping on what she calls “a really nice rum” sometime during the lockdown, that Delhi-based Karishma Manga Bedi and her husband Samrath Bedi arrived at the unfortunate conclusion that there is no rum from India in the prestige segment which has managed to create a mark for itself. Karishma, with a background in branding and luxury goods, turned that observation into a business plan.

The premium dark sipping rum Idaaya from Those Good Distillerss was launched in the beginning of June this year. It has already managed to shake things up by winning a couple of prestigious awards including a Double Gold at the International SIP Awards 2024, a Silver award for Rums made in Asia at The Asian Spirit Master 2024 chaired by The Spirits Business and a Bronze at the International Wine and Spirits Competition 2024 in the aged category. “The wonderful feedback which the liquor has received has been reaffirming for us and for our beliefs in what we are doing,” says the 40-year-old founder and “chief everything” officer.

The Indian rum market is thriving, projected to reach $3.5 billion by 2031, according to a Straits Research report. “Rum is undergoing a global renaissance,” says Karishma. “Following gin and tequila, rum is poised for significant growth. This will distinguish those focussed on building a brand legacy from those simply chasing numbers. Our focus is on both brand and legacy.”

Karishma’s vision for Master Blender Christopher Armes (UK) was a premium rum that embodied modern, sophisticated India. ”I wanted a balanced liquid, neither overtly masculine nor feminine, avoiding excessive smoke or sweetness,” she explains.

Together, they sampled more than 60 different rums from across the globe before zeroing in on one from Panama, Latin America. “Our rum is made using this exceptional 12-year-old rum, which is then blended with Indian rum and married using a Solera process – where some part of the liquid from the original batch is retained in the casks allowing for a continuity in taste profile, before bottling. We use age-old Indian processes like Dhoopan (smoking) and Lepam (anointing) to the casks to cleanse and seal them before the liquid is introduced. This process, like the different casks in Scotch, has imparted a complex taste and profile to the liquid. It is heavily nuanced in its process which is evident in the eventual taste of the rum,” says Christopher.

The use of water from the snow-capped Himalayas, known for its purity, blended with the rum in sal wood casks using the Solera system — a practice native to the Himalayan region of India, contributes to the rum’s smooth and well-rounded character and also lends it its name which means mystic energy from the Himalayas. To the nose, it reveals notes of jaggery, vanilla and all-spice and on the first sip, slowly unravels caramel notes followed by delicious notes of dark chocolate, jaggery, tropical fruits, dried fruits, all-spice toasted vanilla and oak.

Created and bottled at their distillery in Jammu, the amber liquid is housed in a heavy-bottomed glass bottle with etchings of the Himalayan Mountain range wrapped all around it. The cap and lettering are in copper with the former’s design inspired by a compass. “Our tagline is ‘Keep Seeking’, which is to say that there should always be space for discovery and curiosity, which is what the journey of this product has been for us,” says Karishma.