In a landmark moment for India’s booming beverage industry, Diageo India (United Spirits Limited) has acquired a majority stake in Nao Spirits & Beverages for ₹130 crore. The move unites one of India’s boldest young craft spirit makers with one of the world’s most powerful liquor conglomerates — setting the stage for a new chapter in Indian alcohol innovation.
Founded in 2017 by Anand Virmani, Aparajita Ninan, and Vaibhav Singh, Nao Spirits was born out of a vision to create India’s first true craft gin. Operating from a humble distillery in Goa, the brand quickly grew into a cultural phenomenon — with Greater Than and Hapusa becoming synonymous with premium, homegrown gin in India.
Despite the acquisition, Nao Spirits will retain its original leadership and creative direction. This ensures the company’s mission remains intact: to craft world-class spirits that celebrate Indian ingredients, creativity, and craftsmanship.
“We started with a copper still named Agotha and a dream to make India proud,” said Anand Virmani, CEO & Co-Founder. “This isn’t the end of a journey but the beginning of a new chapter — powered by the same people, the same purpose, and the same belief that modern Indian spirits deserve their place on the world stage.”
The Diageo India deal marks not just a commercial milestone but also a cultural one. It validates the rising consumer shift toward ‘drinking better’ — a preference for premium, purpose-driven brands that are locally rooted and globally minded. With Diageo India’s expansive distribution network and operational muscle, Nao Spirits is now poised to scale its vision without losing its soul.
From the start, Nao Spirits has never played it safe. Their flagship, Greater Than (2017), was India’s first London Dry Gin, using botanicals sourced from across the world. Hapusa (2018) followed with a hyper-local twist — a sipping gin made with wild juniper and foraged Himalayan ingredients. While Greater Than laid the foundation, Hapusa helped reframe Indian gin as a premium, world-class experience.
Over the years, the brand’s experimental spirit has led to a collection of inventive limited editions, including:
- Juniper Bomb (2020): A happy accident turned flavour bomb with thrice the juniper punch.
- No Sleep (2021): India’s first coffee-infused gin.
- Broken Bat (2022): Aged using Kashmir Willow cricket bats — a world first.
- Punk Gin (2023): India’s first naturally pink gin, infused with real strawberries from Mahabaleshwar.
Each bottle wasn’t just a drink — it was a story. These editions showcased India’s botanical richness and cultural quirks while pushing global gin boundaries.
But Nao Spirits has always been about more than what’s in the bottle. It has built a thriving community through initiatives like Bar Wars — India’s first team-based hospitality competition that celebrates front-of-house talent — and the Forager’s Championship, a cross-cultural bartender showdown using wild Indian ingredients.
They’ve opened the doors to the craft through Crashing Greater, an ongoing series of immersive cocktail workshops and guided tastings. And at the brand’s Goa HQ, MTW — a bar-meets-lab space — serves as a hub for experimental cocktails, recipe tinkering, and spirited dialogue.
With nearly 100 awards to its name, Nao Spirits is now the most celebrated Indian gin brand — its distillery ranked among Asia’s most exciting. But what sets it apart is not just product quality but purpose: to champion Indian stories, ingredients, and innovation through the universal language of spirits.
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By joining the Diageo India fold, Nao Spirits isn’t stepping back — it’s stepping up. The move will allow it to reach wider audiences while preserving the ethos that made it a pathbreaker: a creative, community-led brand building the blueprint for India’s modern alcohol movement.
This partnership is a clear signal: India is not just ready to drink better — it’s ready to create better. With Nao Spirits leading the charge, the future of Indian craft spirits looks bright, bold, and unmistakably homegrown.
