It might have been a torrid year for more reasons than there’s room here to mention, but 2016 was a good 
year for one thing: gin. So much so that the Wine & Spirit Trade Association declared 2016 ‘the year of gin’. The UK on-trade is the global driver, with the equivalent of 40m bottles or 1.12bn G&Ts sold.
For six consecutive quarters, on-trade sales of gin have seen double-digit growth, outperforming every other spirits category. And, what’s more, a whopping 40 distilleries opened in the UK alone to meet demand and exploit the seemingly unquenchable thirst for the spirit.
In the World’s Best Bars, Tanqueray might have been toppled in the trending charts but it hasn’t fallen far – one place to be precise – and can still boast to be the best selling gin in an incredibly competitive category.
Monkey 47 has managed to climb two places to sit atop the trending tree, which shows exactly why Pernod Ricard bought it this time last year. Bartender favourites Hendrick’s, Fords and Sipsmith also claim places in the best selling and trending charts.
Brands come and go and No.3 gin is testament to this, falling out of favour in the top bars this year. Where there is dismay for some there is delight
for others – just ask Oxley, which returns to the Bars Report after a two-year hiatus and St George Terroir which now rubs shoulders with our trending royalty.
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Methodology
The Drinks International Annual Bar Report looks to gauge the buying habits of the best bars in the world by conducting a survey of their owners, head bartenders and bar managers.
The bars that took part – what we refer to as the best bars in the world – are a sample of 108 bars that finished in the top 250 places of the World’s 50 Best Bars survey, now owned by William Reed Business Media. Given the depth and scope of The World’s 50 Best Bars poll (voted for by 476 global bar experts) we feel this is the most credible place to source our sample of bars.
In each instance we asked the bartender to rank their three best selling products in each category, giving us an indication of the brands that are selling best.
As we know, a best selling 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 have cool-appeal right now. This is where the Trending brands come in. These are the brands customers are increasingly asking for, perhaps because of word of mouth, or even on bartenders’ recommendations.
For more on the methodology see How we did it
