Annual sales of Suntory Global Spirits’ Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) whisky mark Oaksmith are on course to hit 2m cases in 2026, seven years since the brand’s launch.
Speaking exclusively to Global Drinks Intel following the release of the company’s first-half results last week, CEO Greg Hughes said Oaksmith had seen “incredible growth” in India, growing by “double-digits” since debuting in 2019. This, he said, was down to distribution expansion and marketing activations, namely a tie-up with Indian Premier League cricket teams Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians for the IMFL via its namesake bottled-water extension.
“We saw incredible strength across our branded portfolio in India, across Jim Beam and Teacher’s, but also, importantly, across Oaksmith,” Hughes said. “[Oaksmith is] on track to hit our ambition this year of 2m cases.
“We’re seeing incredible growth, some nice expansion of distribution, but also a really strong campaign that we did with the Indian Premier League Cricket Association.”
During the first half of 2026, parent company Suntory Holdings posted a 0.2% increase in sales from its combined alcohol businesses – which include Suntory Global Spirits – to JPY653.6bn (US$4.4bn). The performance in the group’s ‘Asia Pacific’ region exceeded the previous year, driven in part by “strong” growth of Oaksmith in India
Last month, spirits producers in the UK effusively welcomed the implementation of the country’s free trade agreement (FTA) with India that will see the rate of duty reduced markedly on exports of UK spirits to India, including scotch whisky.
The deal, first announced in May last year, has seen the previous duty rate of 150% on the likes of scotch halved to 75%. Across the next decade, the rate is due to be cut further, to 40%.
