The Banjara Trail: Chambal Gin Takes A Detour To The Western Ghats

There are gins that tell you where they come from, and then there are gins that seem intent on taking you somewhere. Chambal Gin’s latest expression belongs firmly to the latter camp.

The Madhya Pradesh-based distillery has unveiled the second edition of its Banjara Trail series, The Banjara Trail: Traveller’s Edition, Western Ghats, a limited-edition gin bottled at 42.8 per cent ABV. Bright rani-pink in colour, the new expression brings together orange, hibiscus and kokum for a profile that is lighter, more floral and fruit-forward than the brand’s original dry gin.

The choice of destination is telling. The Western Ghats, a mountain range older than the Himalayas and one of India’s richest botanical regions, offers a very different landscape from the Chambal Valley that gave the original gin its identity. If the first gin was all ravines and ruggedness, this one takes a greener, more tropical route.

The Banjara Trail is built around precisely this idea. Named after the Banjaras, India’s historic nomadic communities, the series draws on their spirit of movement and discovery, with each Traveller’s Edition exploring a different Indian landscape through its native ingredients, flavours and character.

From the Chambal Ravines to the Western Ghats

Chambal’s story begins somewhat unusually for an Indian premium gin. Rather than tracing its origins to Goa, the brand is distilled in Gwalior and is the first premium gin produced in Madhya Pradesh. The Bapuna family has been in the distilling business since 1987, spanning three generations, and its distillery produces its own triple-distilled fine grain spirit before redistilling it with botanicals.

The original Chambal Indian Dry Gin was a portrait of its namesake landscape, with juniper, wild cinnamon bark, black and green cardamom, lemon peel and almond giving it a distinctly earthy, spiced character. The Banjara Trail opens that story up, allowing the gin to travel beyond a single terroir.

For the Western Ghats edition, orange brings brightness, hibiscus adds floral notes and kokum contributes a distinctly Indian tartness. Together, they create a gin that feels playful without abandoning the brand’s underlying distillation style.

It is also a strategic shift for Bapuna Alcobrew. The Gwalior-based company has long operated behind the scenes as a manufacturer and bottler for major Indian spirits companies, including Pernod Ricard India, Radico Khaitan, Mohan Meakin and Bacardi. Its decision to develop an independent premium portfolio, and now turn that portfolio into a travelling anthology of Indian flavours, makes the Banjara Trail more than just a new bottle.

“When we set out to create our own portfolio of premium spirits, our ambition was clear: to craft world-class expressions that are unmistakably Indian,” says Pervez Bapuna, COO, Bapuna Alcobrew. “But India is vast and diverse, and we have many more stories to tell.”

A Gin with No Fixed Itinerary

The Banjara Trail is deliberately without a final destination. Ask Bapuna how many stops the series will make, and the answer is suitably nomadic.

“That’s almost like asking how many places there are left to explore in India,” he says. Rather than committing to a fixed number, the brand plans to keep following regional ingredients and stories. Two more editions are already in the pipeline.

And there is plenty of territory left to cover. Bapuna is particularly keen to delve deeper into India’s indigenous ingredients and local botanicals, allowing each edition to develop a flavour profile specific to its region.

His own travel wish list offers a clue to the philosophy behind the series. Goa, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand are among his favourite places in India, each appealing for its distinct landscape, culture and character. But if there is one region he is especially eager to bring into the Chambal fold, it is the Northeast.

“There is so much to explore there, from its local ingredients and botanicals to its landscapes and culture,” he says. “I think that sense of discovery would fit beautifully with Chambal Gin’s untamed character.”

For now, that journey begins in the Western Ghats, in a bottle that looks almost as if someone has bottled the sunset after a particularly good monsoon. The rani-pink gin is less about standing still and more about setting off. And if the Banjara Trail delivers on its promise, the most interesting question may not be where Chambal Gin comes from, but where it is going next.

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