This Craft Gin Start-up from Northeast India is Fighting on Foreign Shelves

Think Cherrapunji and images of misty hill tops, verdant terraced fields and rain come to mind. It was once the wettest place on Earth and has been a tourist magnet for decades.

And now the spirit of the place has been distilled and bottled. “I wanted people to taste the terroir in their glass,” says Mayukh Hazarika, founder and chief executive, Raincheck Earth Co, which makes the artisanal gin called “Cherrapunji”. Its USP? The gin is made with purified rainwater and local botanicals.

The botanicals include Khasi mandarin peel from Sohra, wild pepper from Cherrapunji, smoked cardamom from Sikkim, kaji lemon from Assam, smoked tea from the Assam-Manipur border and juniper from eastern Himalayas. In its quest to be sustainable, Raincheck Earth uses a military-grade stainless steel bottle, which is reusable.

Vocal for Local

An alum of St Anthony's College, Shillong and IIM, Indore, Hazarika held various roles in sales and marketing for brands such as Pepsi, Samsung and Lava before the proverbial entrepreneurial bug bit him. There was also the urge to give back something to the place where he was born and grew up.

He says he wanted to start something that was authentic, create jobs and put the Northeast on the global map through sustainable and meaningful entrepreneurship. And he zeroed in on gin. Over the past few years artisanal gin has been the spirit du jour.

Hazarika faced his first hurdle when alcobev-industry veterans dismissed his idea of using rainwater and indigenous botanicals in his gin. That took him to the Netherlands to train as a master distiller. In 2022 he founded Raincheck Earth.

The company has a distillery in Umiam on the outskirts of Shillong and rainwater-harvesting facilities in Umiam and Mawsynram. Its present capacity is 22,000 cases annually and has a team of 14.

Cherrapunji gin was launched in October 2023. And it hasn’t looked back going on to win numerous global awards including a Double Gold Medal at 2025 SIP Awards in California; a silver at World Gin Awards 2024; and a ‘Master’ medal at Global Spirits Masters 2023.

Fighting Red Tape

It hasn’t been smooth sailing though. Working out of Shillong is a logistical issue, says Hazarika. Freight rates are high because of connectivity problems. It costs time and money to ship the product to a port such as Kochi, on the other side of the country.

There are also legal obstructions as goods must pass through dry states such as Bihar that becomes harder during election seasons when some routes and regulations need to be changed.

According to Sandeep Singal, former chief operating officer of Diageo India, start-ups in the alcohol industry face many tough challenges. “First, alcohol is regulated by individual states in India, so new brands must register separately in each state, which is costly and time-consuming. Second, Indian start-ups pay much higher registration fees than foreign brands, making it unfair and difficult to compete,” he says.

Third, he says small companies struggle to manage transporting alcohol across state borders that involves complicated paperwork and approvals.

“Finally, alcohol advertising is banned in India, so new brands find it hard to grow and build a customer base,” Singal says.

As of July this year the company has raised $1.45mn over two rounds, according to data platform Traxcn. It is valued at $3.06mn. Among its investors are Angel List, Outset Ventures, TRTL Ventures and Cloud Capital.

The India gin market size is estimated at $1.79bn in 2025 and is expected to reach $2.95bn by 2032, according to Coherent Market Insights.

“We have long been searching for start-ups with the potential for global growth in Northeast India. Raincheck Earth has crafted the world-renowned gin in less than two years since its founding, driven by their passion for their products and exceptional craftsmanship,” says Yasuhiro Seo, partner at TRTL Ventures and goes on to add, “We see enormous potential in Cherrapunji Craft Gin due to its unique approach in a crowded market.”

Here’s to the Future

The craft gin is available in the Northeast, Delhi, Gurgaon, Goa and duty-free shops in the country. It is also on the retail shelves in Japan, the UAE and the Netherlands.

Raincheck Earth aims to touch sales between $1mn and $1.5mn in 2025–26. “We are looking to expand our operations in the domestic market in the near future,” says Hazarika.

And it has touched a sweet spot among consumers. “It has a really fresh and crisp character, and a rain-soaked earthiness that makes it stand out. The use of a stainless-steel bottle is quite unique and sustainable and it has definitely made an impact on consumers and the industry in general,” says Sahil Negi, head of operations, The Bar Behind The Sandwich Shop.