Whisky to become biggest selling spirit in US

Whisky looks set to become the largest selling spirit by value in the US next year, outperforming vodka for the first time since 2007.

Whisky sales in the US are predicted to exceed US$20bn by next year

While vodka will still be the largest selling spirit in terms of volume, the value of whisky is on the rise attributed to growing consumer demand for local, authentic and “natural” products.

Furthermore, the flavoured vodka phenomenon increased vodka sales from 10% in 2003 to almost a quarter today.

However, according to Euromonitor analyst Jared Koerten, flavoured vodkas have reached their peak.

“They’ve reached the envelope sort-of as far as they can push it in terms of flavour innovations,” said Koerten, as reported by Quartz. “So just in the last year we’ve seen growth slow down very significantly.

“In 2013 I think we’re looking at only 1% growth in vodka, which is a fifth of what it had been for the last five years in a row.”

According to a Credit Suisse analyst, the shift by American consumers from vodka to whisky is a “general rejection” as they search for products with “authenticity, heritage and taste”.

The overall price rise of Bourbon is partly due to the growing popularity of super-premium Bourbon, which costs US$30 or more per bottle, whose volume grew in the US by 90% from 2008-2013, according to Euromonitor.

Nevertheless, whisky drinkers are also extending into the flavoured spirits market with expressions such as Jim Beam’s Red Stag and Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey.

“I think [whiskies are] staring to hit this sort of trend that hit vodka years ago where they’re starting to expand their demographic with these sweeter-flavoured products,” said Koerten.

“It’s a wider group than your traditional Buorbon consumer, younger drinkers who maybe haven’t developed a taste for Bourbon, and women who tend to under index by a very wide margin when it comes to Bourbon.”