Every year that we’ve polled for cognac Hennessy has taken the top spot. No other brand has managed the same level of domination over its category since this report began 15 years ago. And the LVMH-owned brand isn’t showing any symptoms of loosening its grip – it’s the bestselling cognac in a third of polled bars and a top-three serve in more than 60%.
The only brand that has ever hinted at knocking Hennessy off its perch is Rémy Martin, and while there is daylight between the two, it’s closer than you might think. The Rémy Cointreau flagship cognac is the house pour in 24% of bars and a top-three bestseller in 56%. The two brands are in a league of their own when it comes to cognac in the world’s best bars, between them accounting for almost half of all responses.
Martell completes the podium, narrowly beating Ferrand Cognac by virtue of being the house pour in 11% of bars to its rival’s 9%. The slip from third to fourth by Ferrand is reflective of a longer-term decline in influence – from 2015-2019 the brand was the runner-up in the bestselling list but appears to have lost ground to higher-volume, but previously less fashionable, category mates.
Courvoisier in fifth place means that the traditional big four aren’t our top four bestselling cognacs, but following its €1.2bn acquisition by the on-trade-focused Gruppo Campari in December, the brand’s future could have more of an elite bar focus.
How we did it
The Annual Brands Report results are the culmination of a survey of 100 bars from around the world which have been nominated or won international awards. The report offers a picture of the buying habits of the world’s best bars – not only which brands sell best, but also what’s trending to indicate the brands that are hot right now.
To view the page-turner edition of the Brands Report click here.
The Brands Report will be serialised on drinksint.com throughout January.
