The make-up of our bestsellers list reflects that dual identity with better-value, more versatile blends and more luxurious single malts present. As such, the category had at least one brand in every bar we polled.When it comes to blends, Diageo’s Johnnie Walker is in a league of its own. It shipped 22 million nine-litre cases last year and its dominance extends to the influential end of the bar industry. It was the house pour in almost 30% of our bars and a top-three in just shy of half.
The Macallan, in second place, demonstrates the category’s variety. Its place as a top-three serve in almost a quarter of our bars shows the strength of its brand recognition as a luxury trade up.
Completing the podium is the peat bomb Laphraoig. The Suntory Global Spirits-owned monster can be divisive for its richly smoked character, but for those who love it, nothing else compares. It also has a supporting role in perhaps Scotch’s most popular classic, Sam Ross’ Penicillin. As expected, it was the bestselling whisky in just 4% of bars, but a top-three brand in 20%.
It’s single malts that are the current kings of Scotland and this trend is evidenced in our bestselling list. Six of the top 10 are single malts while four are blends, but it’s the blends that dominate the speed rail. The four blends are the house pour in 47% of our bars while the six single malts take 28%.
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.
