Ruban Somal named communications manager at Radico Khaitan Limited

DELHI: Spirits, meet spin. Ruban Somal has stepped up to manager, corporate and marketing communications, at Radico Khaitan Limited, and the timing could hardly be juicier.

Somal announced the move on LinkedIn with a toast: “Very excited to share my title upgrade.” The post added that the evidence shows business and spirits have been mixed “pretty well”. Cheers, indeed. The promotion, effective October 2026, follows a stint as deputy manager, marketing communications, which began in June 2024 and involved managing corporate communications and public relations.

Somal describes themselves as a communications specialist with a knack for crisis mitigation and expertise in corporate reputation. In a regulated industry, where brand trust is built slowly and can be dented quickly, that is a handy toolkit. Managing director Abhishek Khaitan has spoken of the patience needed to build a brand in such a sector, saying it took 15 years of sustained effort before momentum became visible.

The pedigree is solid. Before Radico Khaitan, Somal spent four years and six months at MSLGROUP India, rising from management associate to account executive and then senior account executive. The work spanned corporate reputation, crisis mitigation, media pitching and campaign strategy for more than 10 global brands, alongside content creation, data mining and events. Earlier stints include research on gender studies at the Center for Media Studies and an internship as an assistant counsellor at Mount Litera Zee School in Nagpur.

Now for the analysis. Somal inherits a company with plenty to talk about.

Vodka is on a tear. Its share of India’s spirits market has risen to 6.1 per cent in 2026 from 3.8 per cent in 2025, the biggest jump yet, according to The Economic Times. Radico Khaitan’s flagship Magic Moments sold 3.25 million cases in the June quarter, up 43 per cent year on year, and the company holds around 60 per cent of India’s vodka market. Magic Moments has also signed Kriti Sanon, and the brand is reported to be targeting 10 million cases, with 30 per cent of its marketing budget going into experiential activity.

Premiumisation is the other plot line. The prestige-and-above portfolio now makes up 52 per cent of the company’s mix, against 40 per cent to 43 per cent earlier. In February, Radico Khaitan launched Rampur 1943 Virasat Indian Single Malt Whisky at a masterclass led by whisky writer Jim Murray, and chief marketing officer Kunal Madan has argued that Rampur has challenged global perceptions of Indian whisky.

More is coming. A homegrown tequila is slated for launch later this fiscal year. The company guides for a 125 basis point margin expansion this year. A UK-India free trade agreement could cut import duties by 75 per cent, a potential cushion for a company that imports Rs 250 crore to Rs 300 crore of Scotch for blending.

The lesson is plain. When a company moves from volume to value, the story it tells matters as much as the liquid in the bottle. Reputation, media relationships and calm under pressure become balance-sheet assets. Radico Khaitan has put a crisis-tested communicator at the helm of that story at the right moment. The glass, as they say, is full.