Top 5 best-selling gin brands

The craft gin boom continued its progression in 2014, with even more brands launching on to the market – but how did some of the world’s biggest gin distillers fare?

Click through the following pages to discover the top 5 best-selling gin brands

The year was something of a mixed bag for the gin brands selling more than one million cases annually – of which there are only five, discounting the world’s largest gin brand, Philippines-based Ginebra San Miguel, which declined to publish its results.

While the biggest international label failed to turn around its long-term decline, two competitors reported impressive gains due to their super-premium images and brand extensions.

Despite the varying gains and loses between the brands included in this list, all have stayed put in their relative positions – indicating a reasonable steady market overall.

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 gin brands on the market today.

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

For a more in-depth look at the global gin category, the the July 2015 issue of The Spirits Business magazine, out soon.

5. Tanqueray

2014: 2.4m

2013: 2.2m

% change: 9%

Place last year: 5

Following four years of marginal growth, Diageo’s bartender favourite Tanqueray added a considerable 200,000 cases to its global sales in 2014. The brand’s 9% sales boost was the most of any gin brand selling more than one million cases, prompting SB to bestow it with our Gin Brand Champion 2015 title. Diageo has attributed Tanqueray’s success not only to the prevalent gin renaissance in the industry, but also to the successful Art Deco redesign of its Tanqueray No. Ten bottle.

4. Beefeater

2014: 2.6m

2013: 2.6m

% change: -2%

Place last year: 4

Pernod Ricard’s Beefeater gin experienced stagnant sales in 2014 after four years consistent, steady growth. The London dry gin undertook a range of marketing initiatives that celebrated its London roots last year, and also released a number of limited edition bottlings, while its oak aged “sipping gin” Burrough’s Reserve continued its international roll out. Even the opening of the brand’s multi-million pound visitor centre on the grounds of its London distillery wasn’t enough to boost sales – possibly a sign of how competitive the category is becoming.

3. Seagram’s

2014: 2.7m

2013: 2.8m

% change: -3%

Place last year: 3

The best-selling gin in America, Seagram’s sits in Pernod Ricard’s local brands portfolio. It experienced a marginal sales decline in 2014, with only 100,000 cases now separating the brand from its nearest rival, sister brand Beefeater. Seagram’s may have suffered as consumers turn to more upmarket brands in light of the craft spirits movement, but its broad portfolio of flavoured offerings ensures its relevance in the cocktail sector.

2. Bombay Sapphire

2014: 3.0m

2013: 2.8m

% change: 7%

Place last year: 2

Bacardi’s Bombay Sapphire was the second fastest-growing gin of 2014, reporting growth of 7% and hitting three million case sales for the first time in its history. In total, the brand has increase its sales by almost one million cases since 2010. Last year, figures were boosted by the launch of Bombay’s first barrel-rested gin, while consumer interest was sparked by the opening of its new “brand home” and distillery in Laverstoke Mill, Hampshire. It remains to be seen with Bombay’s new provenance focused campaign and its recently launched Star of Bombay gin – the most premium expression launched by the brand to-date – will bolster sales even further in 2015, closing its gap on the world’s best-selling international gin.

1. Gordon’s

2014: 3.6m

2013: 3.7m

% change: -3%

Place last year: 10

Gordon’s has retained the title of world’s best-selling gin in light of the absence of Philippines brand Ginebra – by far the world’s largest gin brand which has declined to disclose its sales figures. Diageo’s flagship gin brand continued its trend of decline in 2014, with volumes falling 3% to 3.6m cases. While Gordon’s upped its presence in the flavored gin sector with the launch of an elderflower bottling, and was also given a new modern image through the “It’s got to be Gordon’s” marketing campaign, it was not enough to spur growth.