Unaged spirits are very popular in the working class of the Indian subcontinent.

In some regions, it's legal and mass-produced and in other regions, it's illegal and distilled with makeshift distills.The illegal distills have undefined alcohol content hence notoriously famous for their potency.

Mandakini is an attempt to bring the Indian flavors of unaged spirits to a global platform.

Nadan Vaatte - നാടൻ വാറ്റ് - Malayalam
Desi Daroo - देसी दारू - Hindi
Desi Daaroo - ਦੇਸੀ ਦਾਰੂ - Punjabi
Nattu charakku - நாட்டு சரக்கு - Tamil
Nattu Sara - నాటు సారా - Telugu

Mandakini’s roots are from the birthplace of the black gold- The Black Pepper. The Malabar region is the current southern Indian state of Kerala often called the spice haven of the world.

Our story begins in the 15th century, Europeans were sailing beyond the known world looking for the origins of spices, especially Black Pepper.

Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama was the first European to reach India by sea. Gama sailed from Lisbon, Portugal, in July 1497, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and anchored at Malindi on the east coast of Africa then with the aid of an Indian merchant he met there, he then set off across the Indian Ocean. On May 20 in the year 1498, 170 men led by Vasco- da-Gama landed on Kappad beach near the current city of Kozhikode. His initial voyage to India was the first to link Europe and Asia by an ocean route.

Gamma was astonished by the richness of the land he found across the Arabian sea. The Malabar coast with 300 miles of shoreline with lush tropical forests and a labyrinth of waterways, hot humid weather, monsoons, and blue skies.

Malabari

Malabari Means a native or inhabitant of Malabar Region.

The name Malabari was inspired from the book"Hortus Malabaricus" meaning - The Garden of Malabar by Dutch East India Company Governor of Malabar Hendrik Van Rheede along with renowned Herbalist Itty Achutan Vaidyar in AD1678 which gives a detailed flora of the Malabar region.

Vaatte

Vaatte is the traditional Malayalam word for the unaged distilled spirit.

Malabari Vaatte is inspired by the traditional vaatte with rich ingredients from the tropical rainforests of the Malabar region, The once spice capital of the world. Malabar is the Land of monsoons and is located in the western part of the peninsula of India, Between the Western Ghats mountains and the Arabian sea.