Hapusa is actually the Sanskrit word for Himalayan juniper berries. Starting with this elusive juniper berry from Northern India, the team went on to create Hapusa’s London Dry Gin with only seven other Indian botanicals.

The Swedish distiller took home an impressive eight Master medals in the competition, including one for its navy strength bottling. In three years since its launch, Hapusa (the Sanskrit name for juniper) is found in over 15 countries. Anand Viramani, co-founder, CEO and distiller at Nao Spirits, is delighted. “This award puts the Indian craft spirits flag across the globe,” he says, adding that with over 250 judges drawn from around the world to evaluate thousands of wines and spirits across 1,500 different categories and renowned brands participating, the competition was intense. Sailing to the top of the Pink Gin flight was Master‐winning Mirabeau Dry Gin. One member of the panel said: “Delicate perfumed nose, lovely and floral with some peppery juniper and a lovely fruity spiced finish, just glorious.” It was launched in 2018 and it is a triple-distilled neutral grain spirit which is re-distilled in a traditional copper pot.It uses nine botanicals including hemp, Himalayan juniper, coriander, lavender, rosemary, caraway seeds, cinnamon, lemongrass and butterfly pea flower. But other botanicals such as blood oranges, cassia bark, angelica root and rose petals are sourced across India. Gin Gin World Gin Awards 2019, 2020 and 2021 UK (Best Contemporary Gin (India)), Gin Masters Awards 2020 (Silver), Nao Spirits, a start-up by Anand Viramani, Aparajita Ninan and Abhinav Rajput, makes the gin at a state-of-the-art distillery in Goa. The trio were adamant about using Himalayan juniper when they learnt about its use in Ayurvedic medicines in India. However, it took a couple of wild goose chases before Anand finally laid his hands on the elusive ingredient.

One judge said of the Master-winning expression: “Cherry and almond notes on the nose, tart, juicy and plummy on the palate with a welcome sour greenness on the finish.”Hapusa Gin is made to a one-shot method on Nao Spirits’ 1000-litre copper pot still, Agatha. All of the ingredients are added to the pot alongside a neutral wheat spirit and driven gently through the copper by distiller Jay Dhawan. Dhawan, incidentally, joined the team by pure chance: he happened to bump into Virmani during a bar training session and they formed a bond that would see him swap the shaker for an altogether more challenging vessel. Hapusa Gin to taste… Sarah Miller, founder of the Gin A Ding Ding blog, chaired another group, which included: Ian Wisniewski, freelance writer, and Emma Stokes, ‘chief monkey’ at Gin Monkey. Hapusa Gin contains botanicals including foraged Himalayan juniper, fresh turmeric, gondhoraj peel and raw mango.