Pernod Ricard’s Del Maguey has been the dominant brand in mezcal since the category le its home nation of Mexico. The brand, founded by Ron Cooper, was adopted early by the bartending community. In 2015, two years before Pernod Ricard purchased the brand, it topped our Bartenders’ Choice ranking. Back then, mezcal was a fringe product but those days are gone – today 95% of bars stock at least one brand and 83% stock three or more. And Del Maguey has managed to keep pace as mezcal has conquered almost every corner of the bartending globe. This year it was the house pour in around 20% of our bars and a top-three bestselling mezcal in 53%.
Closing the gap is Siete Misterios, which has strengthened its ties to the world’s best bars since its founders, the Mestre family, partnered with the owner of Michter’s in 2021 and has since been a sponsor of 50 Best. It was the house pour in 16% of bars and a top-three serve in 49%.
Campari Group’s Montelobos completes the podium so, at volume, the category has found some stability – the top-three bestselling brands are unchanged for the third year running.
This year, the spirit arm of Californian winemaker Gallo invested in Derrumbes mezcal and took control of its US import rights. As a result the brand jumps six places to fourth in the bestsellers. While the brand’s regional-focused bottlings are perhaps too characterful or costly to serve as house pour, 15% of our bars name it a top-three bestseller. At the foot of the top 10, Diageo’s celeb-founded Casamigos makes history as the first brand to appear in both the tequila and mezcal bestselling lists in the same year.
How we did it
To collect the data we curate a 100-strong sample of bars from an even geographical split which have featured in recent editions of The Word’s 50 Best Bars (1-100) and Tales of the Cocktail’s Spirited Awards, plus regional awards such as North America and Asia’s 50 Best Bars and national awards such as the Class Bar Awards. To ensure the best global coverage, about 5% of the 100 were ‘editor’s picks’ – highly rated bars in regions less represented to assure a truly global data pool reflective of the current bar industry.
Of course, the panel rotates each year to not only ensure a fair and accurate set of results, but represent the current geography of the industry’s best bars year on year.
As part of the survey, we ask each bar owner or head bartender to revise their sales spreadsheets and rank the three bestselling products in each spirit, beer, wine and mixer category. A bestselling brand, even in the best bars in the world, earns its place on more than taste, so we also wanted to know the brands that are not necessarily doing huge volumes but are on trend. This is where the trending lists come in. Within these tables are the brands customers are increasingly asking for, perhaps because of word of mouth or even on bartenders’ recommendations. Often the brands that figure highly in the trending list move on to the bestselling list the following year, as curiosity and excitement transition to weight of sales.
To view the page-turner edition of the Brands Report click here.
The Brands Report will be serialised on drinksint.com throughout January.
