This article first appeared in the Drinks International Rum Supplement which can be read in full here It’s been a disappointing few years for rum in the US market. While the country remains perhaps the category’s most important, it’s been on the decline. According to IWSR data, in 2023 the US accounted for 25% of the global volume share for premium and above rum sales, but declined…

In November Donald Trump became the first republican to win the popular vote in two decades and, as a result, several industries are concerned about the coming four years – particularly the booze business. Trump’s America-first approach means he wants to end inflation and bring industry back to the US, which points to significant import tariffs. Despite some economists suggesting that tariffs can contribute to…

Hainan, China’s top duty free shopping destination, proved a lifesaver for the wider travel retail sector during the dark days of Covid. Strict pandemic travel restrictions virtually halted outbound Chinese international travel, but China’s most southerly island province blossomed into a leading duty free market, protected by the country’s zero-Covid policy and boosted by the generous duty free allowance for mainland Chinese shoppers. Leading Scotch…

Enter amphorae – ancient clay vessels which are still used in modern winemaking. They’re neutral and porous, allowing the wine to breathe with minimum intervention as they do not impart tannin or flavour as oak does, and are generally associated with skin-contact and orange wines. Being used more and more, and gaining popularity for this lack of intervention, amphorae are on the rise with…

Angostura on the Caribbean island of Trinidad is synonymous with cocktail bitters. In 1824, Dr Johann Siegert first produced the aromatic bitters as a medicinal tincture designed to alleviate stomach ailments. Now, 200 years later, Angostura Bitters makes up 85% of the cocktail bitters market, selling in 170 countries and topping the bestselling list in Drinks International’s Brands Report every single year. The small, yellow-capped…

According to statistics from Gobierno de España, brandy from the Penedès region of northern Spain outperformed Brandy de Jerez with just over 36% (6,890,842 litres) of the whole production of IGP spirits in the country. Traditionally Brandy de Jerez has been the dominant force in Spain, but with just under 35% of the share (6,432,773 litres) it appears Penedès has taken over for the first…

The whisky world is defined by its regional idiosyncrasies. Islay, Tennessee or Speyside are as much signifiers of style as they are locations on an atlas. In times of yore, regional identities were a default – knowledge, resources and equipment didn’t travel far back then – but now, when all the world’s information has been shrunk down to the size of a phone screen, does…