Whisky judge and conference host, London and India
Ruchira Neotia
I take Indian spirits to the UK and UK brands to India.
Twenty years building global brands taught me why people choose one name over another, and that career now drives everything I do in drinks. I help brands win in the UK and India, and host conferences and tastings in both countries.
Formerly
American Express, Apple, Microsoft
Panel Chair
Global Spirits Masters
Writes for
Decanter, Whisky Magazine, The Spirits Business
Top 100 Most Influential
UK drinks industry, 2025
Patron
The Drinks Trust
What I'm hired for
Market entry, UK ↔ India
India's tariff on Scotch fell from 150% to 75% in July 2026. I help brands on both sides read the market, find the importer and build the story the trade buys.
Email me about market entry →Talks and tastings
India in a Glass, trade masterclasses and brand launches, with the glass in your guests' hands. For client evenings, off-sites and Diwali.
Talks and tastings →Hosting and chairing
Conferences, panels, firesides and awards. I read a room, keep it to time and get the audience talking.
Hosting →On camera and in print
Presenting, brand films and broadcast on UK–India drinks, and drinks journalism for Decanter, Whisky Magazine and The Spirits Business.
Watch and listen →On the record
1st
Fenjiu supperclub ever held: a baijiu dinner I scripted as a Shakespeare play, prologue to epilogue, for Cheng International, November 2024
5
chefs from five continents, cooking against Pays d'Oc wines for sommeliers and Masters of Wine at my Flavour Festival & Sommeliers' Challenge, London, 2025
10
Indian single malt brands in one room for the first time, curated for the Worshipful Company of Distillers at Diageo, December 2025
3x
beverage sales in six weeks at Asma Khan's Darjeeling Express. The list put Indian single malt on a UK restaurant list for the first time and made #30 in The Drinks Business Top 40, 2024
“Ruchira’s work on Indian whisky is thoughtful, well informed and commercially relevant. She brings a global perspective that adds real value to the category.”
William Morris, Digital Editor of Club Oenologique Judge – IWSC Awards 2026
The trade deal rewrote the maths
India's tariff on Scotch halved overnight and keeps falling for a decade. Gin, rum, vodka and brandy follow a slower schedule tied to minimum import prices, which is where most brands get lost. Indian producers, meanwhile, have a UK audience ready to listen if someone tells their story properly.
150%
before 15 July 2026
75%
now
40%
by year ten of the deal
India's import tariff on Scotch whisky under the UK–India trade agreement
Also on the menu
Ruchira’s Table
Invite-only tastings and dinners that put a brand in front of the people who decide what gets poured: sommeliers, bartenders, buyers and journalists. Brands host with me to reach a room they can’t easily fill on their own, including the whisky-curious women the category has been slow to invite.
Restaurant lists
I build drinks programmes from scratch. My list for Asma Khan’s Darjeeling Express tripled beverage sales in six weeks and placed #30 in The Drinks Business Top 40 UK Restaurant Drinks Lists 2024. Its Three Carriages cocktail flight travels from Calcutta through the Bengal lychee orchards to the Makaibari tea gardens, with an Indian gin in every glass.
Private cellars
I source and curate cellars for private clients, with a particular soft spot for Champagne and whisky. Priced by project, with a written proposal and a clear list of what you get.