Top 10 best-selling rum brands

The majority of million case selling rum brands saw impressive growth last year, but there has been some jostling at the top of the leaderboard and the world finally has a new best-selling rum brand.

These are the world’s top 10 best-selling rum brands

Yes, rum titan Bacardi has been usurped as the world’s largest rum brand after reporting declines in 2014, taking it further away from the 20m case mark.

Meanwhile, it was a good year for a number of local rum giants, with one Philippines brand reporting the fastest growth in the category – meaning it now boasts our coveted Rum Brand Champion 2015 title.

Negrita rum – named Rum Brand Champion 2014 – has just failed to make the top 10 best-selling list, not moving beyond the 1m case mark.

Following our recently published Brand Champions 2015 – our pick of those brands selling over one million cases annually that are performing exceptionally within their category – we run through which are the world’s best-selling rum brands on the market today.

Click through the following pages to discover the top 10 best-selling rum brands, listed in order of their nine-litre case sales.

10. Appleton Estate

2014: 1.2m

2013: 1.2m

% change: 0%

Place last year: 10

Remarkably, Gruppo Campari’s Appleton Estate Rum has reported perfectly uniform, unchanging stagnant sales for the past five years. Despite the fact that its US distribution rights were purchased by Italian drinks group in 2013, something which can often temporarily upset sales, Appleton Estate remained true to its consistent 1.2m case sales in 2014. However, a recent image makeover and new classification system might help sales creep up this year.

9. Montilla

2014: 1.6m

2013: 1.6m

% change: +3%

Place last year: 9

Owned by French drinks group Pernod Ricard, Montilla saw its sales remain largely flat in 2014. Launched in 1957 and is named after the municipality Spanish Montilla, the rum is predominantly consumed in Brazil. Montilla is yet to repeat its pre-2012 volumes – a difficult task in light of its key market’s growing penchant for international whisky and vodka brands.

8. Old Port Rum

2014: 1.8m

2013: 1.5m

% change: +17%

Place last year: no place

Owned by Indian producer Amrut Distillers, Old Port Rum saw a huge 17% sales uplift last year, helping it edge closer to the 2m case mark – which it previously hit in 2011. The rum has been distilled, aged and bottled at Amrut Distillers’ distillery in Bangalore, India. This year marks the brand’s first appearance on our best-seller list, due to its previous decline to publish sales figures.

7. Barcelo

2014: 2.2m

2013: 2.1m

% change: +2%

Place last year: no place

Dominican Republic rum brand Barcelo hit all time high volume sales of 2.2m cases in 2014, growing by almost a million cases since 2010. Owned by the eponymous Ron Barcelo, the rum the exported to around 50 different countries, its most enthusiastic of which is Spain. Barcelo has an extensive range of products, including a Gran Platinum, Gran Anejo and Imperial Premium Blend. Similar to Old Port, it has not been placed in previous best-seller lists due to its decision not to publish sales figures.

6. Contessa

2014: 2.7m

2013: 2.6m

% change: +5%

Place last year: 6

Owned by Indian drinks firm Radico Khaitan, Contessa rum continued to gradually improve its volume sales in 2014, adding 100,000 cases. The brand claims to have 25% market share among the armed forces and defence segment of its country. Launched in 1994, Contessa is the second largest Indian rum in the world, second only to the world’s best-selling rum brand…

5. Havana Club

2014: 4.0m

2013: 3.9m

% change: +3%

Place last year: 4

In light of Edrington’s decline to publish sales figures for its Brugal rum brand, Pernod Ricard’s Havana Club has slipped back to spot number five, despite adding 100,000 cases to its volume sales. While the brand is still prohibited from launching in the US due to its trade embargo against Cuba, it remains one of the world’s largest rum brands. However, speculation has mounted over the potential for Pernod Ricard to launch its Havanista label in the US after diplomatic relations were restored last year, potentially posing a challenge to Bacardi’s own Havana Club brand.

4. Captain Morgan

2014: 10.4m

2013: 10.3m

% change: +1%

Place last year: 3

Despite struggling against pricing pressure in its key US market, Diageo’s Captain Morgan rum reported a marginal 1% sales increase in 2014 – meaning its has grown by an impressive 1.5m cases over the past five years. The brand moved into the white rum category in a bid to diversify its portfolio last year, and also released a commemorative blend to mark the historic sea battle at Panama City in 1671.

3. Tanduay

2014: 16.6m

2013: 14.0m

% change: +19%

Place last year: no place

With an enormous 19% sales rise in, Tanduay was bestowed with our Rum Brand Champion 2015 title. After dropping almost five million cases in 2013, the Philippines brand climbed its way back into growth, adding more than 2.5m cases. Tanduay attributed this growth to an “aggressive” new campaign for its flagship expression, launched in celebration of the group’s 160th anniversary. This is the first year the brand has been listed in our best-sellers list due it its decline to publish sales figures previously.

2. Bacardi

2014: 18.2m

2013: 19.1m

% change: -5%

Place last year: 1

Mighty rum goliath Bacardi has finally been knocked of its perch as the world’s best-selling rum, despite both witnessing declines in 2014. Bacardi lost almost one million cases in the year, dropping to a five-year low. The group has enforced a huge restructuring plan across the entire company in a bid to boost sales over the past few months. It also continued its ascent up the super-premium ladder, extending the availability of it Facundo sipping collection.

1. McDowell’s No.1 Celebration

2014: 18.3m

2013: 19.0m

% change: -4%

Place last year: 2

Indian brand McDowell’s No.1 Celebration is the world’s new best-selling rum, but only 90,000 separate it from nearest rival Bacardi. With a volume dip of 4%, the brand managed to maintain a slower rate of decline, but was perhaps impacted by a move towards whisky in its domestic Indian market. It will be interesting to see if the brand manages to outperform Bacardi in 2015.