The world’s best-selling world whisky brands
Shifting consumer trends have caused our list of the world’s best-selling American, Canadian, Irish and Japanese whisk(e)y brands to undergo an extensive reshuffle.
These are the world’s best-selling world whisky brands, looking across American, Canadian, Irish and Japanese whisk(e)yMost of the 10 largest world whisk(e)y brands grew volume sales in 2015, but some experienced much greater gains than others.
The world whisky category as a whole remains remarkably buoyant, with Bourbon and Japanese brands in particular driving international growth by recruiting new consumers.
Following our recently published Brand Champions 2016 – our pick of those brands selling more than one million cases annually that are performing exceptionally within their category – we run through the world’s best-selling American, Canadian, Japanese and Irish whisk(e)y brands on the market today.
Click through the following pages to discover the top 10 best-selling world whisky brands, listed in order of their nine-litre case sales.
10. Canadian Club
2015: 1.94m
2014: 1.89m
% change: +2.65%
Place last year: 9
While Canadian Club’s single-digit growth is nothing to sniff at, its weaker performance compared to other world whiskies in 2015 meant the brand tumbled one place in our leader board. However, as it nears the 2m case mark, Canadian Club is quickly closing in on its nearest world whisky rival. Furthermore, Canadian Club’s launch of a 100% rye edition in the US this year may boost sales in the 12 months ahead.
9. Seagram’s 7 Crown
2015: 2.00m
2014: 2.40m
% change: -16.67%
Place last year: 6
Seagram’s 7 Crown was once produced by the biggest multi-national drinks company in Canada, Seagram’s, until the firm was bought in a consortium between Diageo and Pernod Ricard in 2000. Now owned by Diageo, the brand has struggled to generate any meaningful growth in recent years, and saw the greatest decline of any million case-selling world whisky brand in 2015, dropping a significant three places on our leader board.
8. Black Velvet
2015: 2.01m
2014: 2.00m
% change: +0.60%
Place last year: 8
Canadian whisky Black Velvet was established by the American firm Schenley Industries in Valleyfield, Quebec, in the 1940s, and was originally known as ‘Black Label’. Now owned by US drinks group Constellation Brands, Black Velvet is one of the few world whisky brands to retain its previous position in this list of the world’s best-selling world whisky brands. However, the brand has yet to reach case sales of 2.20m last seen in 2013.
7. Evan Williams
2015: 2.11m
2014: 1.86m
% change: +13.66%
Place last year: 10
Owned by Heaven Hill, Evan Williams Bourbon saw impressive growth in 2015, catapulting it from 10th place to 7th. The brand, one of the few labels in the world whisky sector to witness uninterrupted growth for five years, expanded its flavoured portfolio with the launch of Evan Williams Peach. It is distilled by Parker and Craig Beam.
6. Black Nikka
2015: 2.40m
2014: 2.00m
% change: +20.00%
Place last year: 7
Black Nikka’s impressive 20% volume growth in 2015 is indicative of the runaway success of the broader Japanese whisky category. Jumping from 7th to 6th place in the list of best-selling world whisky brands, Black Nikka is owned by Ashai Breweries. Due to soaring international demand, the group made the decision to delist 14 products in its Japanese whisky portfolio, including Black Nikka 8 Years Old, however sales do not seem to have been negatively impacted.
5. Jameson
2015: 5.30m
2014: 4.93m
% change: +7.51%
Place last year: 4
The world’s only Irish whiskey brand that sells more than 1m nine-litre cases annually, Jameson continued to take significant strides in 2015. But despite impressive gains of +7.5%, the brand slipped one place to 5th – a sign that it has been outperformed by other fast-growing world whisky labels. The brand unveiled a number of innovations in 2015, including The Deconstructed Series and Jameson Crested, and also rolled out its Caskmates range to the US. Jameson’s parent company Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard is gearing up for further growth in the years to come, announcing a €17m expansion of its bottling operations and plans to add three pot stills to its Midleton Distillery in County Cork. This is in addition to a complete portfolio restructure for Jameson – the “most significant” move in the brand’s history.
4. Crown Royal
2015: 6.20m
2014: 5.30m
% change: +16.98%
Place last year: 3
Diageo identified Crown Royal as one of its star players in the first half of its 2015/16 fiscal year, boosting its total North America sales. The Canadian whisky brand’s flavoured extension Crown Royal Regal Apple – a blend of Crown Royal whiskies with Regal Gala apples – in particular saw rapid growth. The brand may increase its position in 2016 following its debut in the UK market. It also benefited from the exposure of being named World Whisky of the Year by Jim Murray in his Whisky Bible 2016.
3. Jim Beam
2015: 7.35m
2014: 7.37m
% change: -0.27%
Place last year: 2
For the first time in a number of years, the world’s second largest American whiskey brand Jim Beam reported a marginal sales decline. Last year, the brand upped its innovation offering with the launch of Jim Beam Pre-Prohibition Style Rye, Jim Beam Bonded and Jim Beam Apple. The Bourbon is hoping to bolster it future growth with its first ever global packaging redesign – unveiled in February this year – and also be launching three brand extensions in Japan, a key market for the brand following its 2014 acquisition by Suntory Holdings.
2. Suntory Kakubin
2015: 8.03m
2014: 3.30m
% change: +143.33%
Place last year: 5
Suntory Kakubin was not just the fastest-growing brand across the Japanese, Irish, Canadian and American whis(e)y categories, it was the fastest growing brand out of all the world’s million case-selling spirits. First launched in 1937, the brand added almost 5m cases to its volume sales in 2015 – a whopping 143% increase – prompting us to name Suntory Kakubin our World Whisky Brand Champion 2016. Suntory claims the brand has benefited from its recommended Highball serve in Asian markets.
1. Jack Daniel’s
2015: 12.21m
2014: 11.70m
% change: +4.38%
Place last year: 1
Jack Daniel’s has comfortably retained its position as the world’s best-selling world whisky brand, reporting a 4.3% sales growth in 2015 to 12.21m cases. Counted separately, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey saw an even greater percentage jump of +12.93% to 1.45m cases. Last year, the brand continued the global rollout of flavoured extensions Tennessee Honey and Tennessee Fire, launching the latter variant nationally across the US. The brand is planning to launch a number of special edition bottlings in celebration of its 150th anniversary this year.
