Maka Zai – Homegrown Indian craft rum

Agency: Popping Mustard
Creative Director / Designer: Bidisha Roy Chowdhury
Brand Strategy & Conceptualisation: Bidisha Roy Chowdhury / Pratheeb Ravi / Sheel D’souza
Copywriter: Sheel D’souza
Client: (Stilldistilling Spirits Pvt. Ltd.) Kasturi Banerjee / Anurag Bhatnagar
Turtle Illustration: Locopopo / Popping Mustard
Label Printing: Renault Paper Products Pvt. Ltd.
Bottle Design: G.M Overseas & Group
Bottle Cap Manufacturer: Krishna Caps
Bottling Unit: Blue Oceans
Location: India
Project Type: Produced
Client: Still Distilling Spirits Pvt. Ltd.
Product Launch Location: India
Packaging Contents: Gold & White Rum
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Glass Bottle substrate with paper label
Printing Process: Foil stamping

Maka Zai from Stilldistilling Spirits.

Stilldistilling Spirits is a homegrown distillery that prides itself on its micro-marvels – small batch artisanal wonders that come from the richest produce and promise an unparalleled drinking experience. Founded in 2020, the brand operates with undiluted ambition, perseverance and thoughtfulness. All of which are reflected in their white rum that they refer to as the ‘Bartenders Edition’ and their gold rum that they call the ‘Tribute Edition’. Both, rich in taste due its diverse yet harmonious combination of a variety of flavours. So, with two top-shelf rums to its name, all that Stilldistilling Spirits needed was a way to make heads turn.

Konkani for ‘I want’, Maka Zai couldn’t have been more befitting as the name that both rums would go by. True to the distillery’s Goan roots, Maka Zai positions itself as a realistic idealist on a journey to attain perfection – fully understanding that one never really can achieve it yet choosing to believe that perfection can truly be met with. All so that the grind may never stop. Such ambition – coupled with the resilience to keep moving forward – was best represented by the Olive Ridley Turtle. A creature known for travelling a perilous and lengthy journey. Only to come back to the start and do it all over again.

With a centered idea at the heart of it all and a symbol that best represented the spirit of Maka Zai, we found ourselves working with untapped and abundant potential to give a brand so ambitious the branding it truly deserved.