The spirit of summer | Hot new launches of the season

There is an old saying in the F&B trade: Summer in India belongs to the mango, not the malt. Air-conditioned dining rooms thin out, overseas visitors head home, and the spirits’ calendar goes quiet. For years, the May–July stretch was where launches went to hide—sensible brands waited for the cool relief of the festive quarter before making their move.This summer, someone forgot to follow that rule.From the gravelled forecourt of The Imperial in New Delhi to the open skies above, Mumbai’s Juhu, the 2026 season has announced itself as perhaps the most spirited in recent memory. New bars, new expressions of Scotch, freshly launched Japanese whiskies, all-new cocktail menus, and a hotel debut—all within weeks of each other, and in the heat and dust of an Indian May.THE LEELA PALACE BENGALURUThe Azulian House—where Agave meets the botanist’s gardenA Peruvian-inspired botanical dining destination with India’s most ambitious agave programme yet. Bengaluru has always understood the idea of the garden city—where nature is not a backdrop but a living participant in daily life. The Leela Palace Bengaluru has leaned into that legacy with its newest dining concept, and the result is novel, to say the least. The Azulian House is conceived as a botanist’s home—a series of interconnected spaces that unfold like chapters: The Living Room, The Glasshouse, The Lab, and The Orchard. Guests move through the experience as much as they dine within it. You can eat in the open courtyard surrounded by herbs, edible plants, and fruit-bearing trees, or pull a seat directly into the kitchen and watch the craft from its very centre. The environment is intentional and unhurried; slowness, here, is not a failing but the entire philosophy.The kitchen, led by Chef Zafar, draws from Peru’s coastal, Andean, and Amazonian ecosystems while working closely with Indian seasonal produce. Ceviches, tiraditos, and causas give way to open-fire grills and slow-cooked preparations where j, citrus, smoke, and fermentation define the flavour architecture. Techniques of curing, charring, and marination bring structure; a minimal-intervention approach ensures the ingredient remains sovereign. The menu is, in the truest sense, a map of two geographies—Peru’s culinary heritage and India’s extraordinary larder—drawn together with quiet confidence.The beverage programme is set to be one of the most extensive agave-focussed offerings in the country—a serious collection of tequila and mezcal supported by cocktails that draw on botanical infusions, fermentation, and ingredient-led technique. From bright, citrus-led highballs to deeper, spirit-forward pours layered with smoke, the bar is conceived as an extension of the kitchen rather than its counterpart. In India, where agave culture has only recently begun to find its footing among genuinely curious drinkers, The Azulian House positions itself as the destination at which that conversation matures.GLENDRONACH, SCOTLAND—AN INDIA EXCLUSIVERachel Barrie Brings GlenDronach to India; The legendary Master Distiller arrives—and so does her whisky.There are perhaps a handful of figures in the global Scotch whisky world whose presence at a launch transforms an event into an occasion. Rachel Barrie is one of them. Master Distiller, industry pioneer, and the woman who has shaped some of Scotland’s most celebrated expressions across multiple storied distilleries, Barrie’s arrival in India for the GlenDronach launch was extraordinary. GlenDronach—the Highland distillery whose commitment to sherry cask maturation has made it a reference point for richness, depth, and complexity—has long attracted a passionate following among Scotch connoisseurs in India. But a formal, dedicated launch, led by the distillery’s own master distiller, was something else entirely. It is an acknowledgement of India’s maturity as a market; an investment in conversation rather than mere distribution.Barrie’s signature style—deep, Christmas-cake richness layered against dried fruit, dark chocolate, and warming spice—translates extraordinarily well to the Indian palate. In a country that has always understood the seduction of a long, layered finish, GlenDronach arrives not as a newcomer but as a natural fit.Price: 12YO Rs. 6,500; 15YO Rs.10,000; 18YO Rs.16,000-17000 (750 ml)THE IMPERIAL, NEW DELHIThe Patiala Peg Bar & The Spirits Experience at Spice RouteThe 120ml Ritual—A royal legacy, still alive on Janpath; there is only one place in the world where you can order the Patiala Peg as it was always meant to be served—a full 120 millilitres, unhurried, aristocratic, and freighted with legend. That place is The Imperial, New Delhi. And if you have never been, summer 2026 is your invitation.But The Imperial’s spirited offering does not stop at the bar. Adjacent, lies The Spice Route, and this summer it has unveiled an immersive Spirits Experience that is almost impossible to categorise simply. The cuisine draws from the ancient spice trade routes connecting East Asia, the islands of Java, and the coasts of southern India. The journey unfolds course by course, each spirit chosen to amplify rather than compete. A Bourbon whiskey accompanies the appetisers—its vanilla warmth a natural companion to a Flaky Wild Mushroom Puff or the richness of a Flaky Duck Handbag. A botanical Gin then arrives alongside Crispy Pulled Jackfruit or Satay Ayam, its herbal brightness cutting through the char and spice. The interlude brings Japanese Whisky—and here the pairing reaches its most refined with the delicate minerality of the whisky in conversation with Silken Tofu in Black Pepper Sauce, or the deeply umami Gindara Miso Cod, silken on the palate, extraordinary in the glass. The mains — Massaman Vegetable, Nadan Chicken Curry, Mutton Saalna are met with an American Whiskey, built for the slow pleasure of a shared table. And the close: Cognac with Sticky Banana Cake, a pairing that requires no explanation beyond the first taste.JW MARRIOTT, AEROCITYAdrift Keya—A new cocktail programme where Japanese bar discipline meets flavours from the Silk Route This progressive cocktail narrative traces flavour profiles from Edo-period Japan, across the Silk Route, and into India. It is curated as a chaptered journey from clarity to density, the menu utilises advanced techniques like fat-washing, broth clarification, and fermentation to reframe regional Indian ingredients such as jaggery, buransh, pickle, and kahwa. While Sunstone Negroni, integrates Japanese gin with apricot and saffron, and Silk Root, which foregrounds carrot through Tepache; in the Himalayan chapter, the menu shifts toward reduction and restoration, with Garhwal Snow using buransh, honey, and herbs, and Valley of Gold drawing on kahwa, saffron, and almond. The final chapter lands in Delhi, where drinks such as The Red Fort Old Fashioned and Dilli 6 Spritz translate jaggery, pickle, and spice into structured, high-definition formats. As India’s cocktail ecosystem matures, this menu represents a conscious move toward international calibration with local maximalism.RICK’S AT THE TAJ MAHAL HOTEL, NEW DELHISeven Cocktails. Two Months. Only Four Survive.Rick’s has never been an ordinary bar. Inspired by the timeless allure of Casablanca and named in honour of the film’s legendary protagonist, this season, Rick’s raises the stakes in a manner entirely befitting its reputation. Seven cocktails have been created—each with its own personality; its own story; its own irreplaceable character. But here is the provocation: only four will earn a permanent place on the menu. And that decision rests entirely with the guests who raise a glass. The mechanics of participation are themselves a considered experience. Each guest receives a set of premium Rick’s signature chits—weighted, intentional, designed for the moment—to be placed in sleek glass vessels at the bar. A live digital leaderboard tracks the momentum of each cocktail’s campaign in real time. Conversations spark. Unexpected allegiances form. The bar—most social of all dining spaces—becomes more charged, more alive; more deliberately participatory. For two months, the menu is not fixed. It is debated, tasted, and determined by those who know.Rick’s bartenders offer guests a guided understanding of each creation’s provenance, technique, and character before the vote is cast. It is Rick’s at its most experimental. With a seductive combination of its Casablanca heritage and contemporary mixology, jury duty was never this inviting. Come for all seven and vote with conviction. Remember, your vote decides the mandate and the menu.NIKKA WHISKY, JAPANTaketsuru Pure Malt Arrives in India—a first for the country!If single malts are the soloist, then Masataka Taketsuru—the man who brought Scotch whisky knowledge back to Japan in the 1920s—always bet on an orchestra. His philosophy lives on in the Nikka Taketsuru Pure Malt, a vatted expression that marries whisky from the Yoichi and Miyagikyo distilleries with a precision that continues to earn the blend its place among the world’s most revered pours. Now, for the first time, it is available in India. The Taketsuru Pure Malt brings together Yoichi’s coastal peat and Miyagikyo’s softer, fruit-driven character in a marriage that speaks, in equal measure, of tradition and craft. It is a whisky that rewards the unhurried drinker — those willing to sit with it across the change of a glass’s temperature, watching the layers shift. Its arrival marks a significant moment for Japanese whisky in India. Not long ago, the category was a curiosity on premium back bars. Today, with educated consumers and an increasingly refined on-trade, Nikka Taketsuru has a natural home here.Price: Rs. 12,300- EndsPublished By: Mansi Published On: May 30, 2026 13:58 IST

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The spirit of summer | Hot new launches of the season

The Indian summer usually means quieter bars and a pause in launches. Not this year.

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