Old Monk heirs to resurrect patriarch Mohan’s rum legacy

MUMBAI: Hemant and Vinay Mohan, the legal heirs to India’s only cult liquor brand Old Monk, want to safeguard their rum legacy. The demise of their octogenarian uncle, Brigadier Kapil Mohan — the long-serving chairman of the rum maker Mohan Meakin — came amid a flurry of activity marking the resurrection of Old Monk Rum.

The younger Mohans — sons of Sukhdev Mohan (Brigadier Mohan’s brother) — have worked on arresting the decline of Old Monk, which lost market leadership at the turn of the century but survived on its brand equity helped by dollops of sentiments lavished on social media by nostalgic Indians. Founder N N Mohan acquired Dyer Meakin Breweries in Kasauli and renamed it Mohan Meakin before launching Old Monk in 1954. He had three sons — V R Mohan, Kapil Mohan and Sukhdev Mohan — with the middle one taking charge after the eldest passed away in 1974.
“We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of sentiments... people telling us that their evenings and terrace gatherings were made complete by Old Monk. Hemant will be head of the business and both of us will stand together to protect our legacy,” Vinay Mohan, director, Mohan Meakin, told TOI. “Hemant has been leading the operations under the guidance of ‘Kapil dad’ for 10 years now. He has been in charge of new launches and all the markets report to him. We have seen Old Monk sales recoup to over 5 million cases after touching an all-time low of 3.5 million cases, a couple of years ago. There will be more action on Old Monk,” the younger sibling said on the phone.
The heirs have worked on premiumising the brand with Old Monk Gold Reserve, Old Monk Supreme and multiple limited edition launches as they assumed active leadership roles recently. The new leadership under Hemant plans to expand Old Monk into a ready-to drink (RTD) category in direct competition to Bacardi Breezer and relaunch Solan Single Malt among other plans. Besides Old Monk, the company’s portfolio include whiskies such as Solan and Black Knight and Colonel’s Special.

Notwithstanding the nostalgic feelings, Old Monk has had tough two decades where it lost market leadership, and plunged into free fall. International Wine & Spirits Research (IWSR) report said the brand had a 10-year compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of -6.4%.

Old Monk, with sales topping 8 million cases, was the largest selling Indian spirits brand and third-largest selling rum globally after Bacardi and Tanduay in 2001, way ahead of McDowell’s Celebration and Diageo’s Captain Morgan.

Old Monk was the only spirits brand to figure in celebrated ad guru Ian Batley’s list of Great Indian Brands, which could tap the $550-billion world market. Old Monk’s decline went unnoticed since rum wasn’t an exciting segment in a market where whiskies held sway with almost three-fourth share of consumption. Domestic rum sales stood at 40 million cases, declining 5.6% in 2016.