2015 was a mixed year for spirits in the global travel retail channel, with volume and value figures both suppressed. But which of the category’s top 10 brands are faring the best?

TR spirits sales contracted in 2015 – but which brands are faring the best?

According to IWSR data, total spirits sales in the global travel retail channel fell 4.2% in value and 3.3% in volume terms in the 2015 calendar year.

Against such a backdrop, IWSR Magazine’s Travel Retail Top 100 was set to make interesting reading – with the top 10 leading spirits brands expected to have weathered the storms with various degrees of resilience.

While Scotch continues to dominate the channel, a Cognac revival is shaking things up, with a new entrant breaking into the top 10 off the back of impressive performances over the past five years.

Who will triumph, and how have TR’s biggest names fared? Scroll on for the Top 10 ranking, with all data courtesy of IWSR.

Want more travel retail updates? Don’t miss our run-down of the top travel retail exclusive spirits launches to hit the shelves since the 2015 TFWA World Exhibition & Conference.

 

10. Martell

Kicking off IWSR Magazine’s Travel Retail Top 10 is Pernod Ricard-owned Martell, a Cognac brand that has rocketed up the rankings from 20^th to 10^th in 2015. The growth coincides with the brand’s 300th anniversary, which saw a concerted marketing push in both domestic and travel retail. With 363,600 cases sold in 2015 and a frenetic 2010-15 compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.3%, we expect to see the brand further flourish in 2016 as the wider Cognac category makes the most of its emphatic recovery.

 

9. Ballantine’s

Slipping one place in IWSR’s TR Top 10 is Pernod Ricard-owned Ballantine’s. The blended Scotch sold 514,300 cases in the year, reflected in its five-year CAGR growth of 0.3%. Down perhaps, but not out.

 

8. Hennessy

Up one spot from ninth is Hennessy, another beneficiary from the great Cognac recovery. Posting rapid five-year CAGR growth of 9.2%, the LVMH owned brand sold 556,800 cases in the channel in 2015, well-cementing its place as one of the biggest players in the channel.

 

7. Bacardí

A victim of the great GTR slowdown, rum brand Bacardí tumbled from fifth to seventh in the IWSR rankings, with case sales of 606,800 for 2015. Five-year CAGR is -0.4% – a tricky figure for a big player in a category yet to fully premiumise.

 

6. Smirnoff

 

Another brand to lift its position in the Top 10 table is Diageo’s flagship vodka brand, Smirnoff. Case sales stood at 614,400 cases in 2015, with its five-year CAGR nudged up to 1.1%. While it remains a good 170,000 cases behind key rival Absolut, growth is on Smirnoff’s side.

 

5. Baileys

Diageo’s leading Irish cream liqueur sold 644,100 cases in travel retail in 2015, climbing one place and taking its five-year CAGR just in to positive territory at 0.5%. Diageo is ramping up investment in its line in both domestic and TR – see Baileys Almande and Baileys XC – so expect to see a 2016 uplift coming through soon.

 

4. Absolut

Travel retail’s biggest vodka brand is down one place to 4^th in IWSR’s rankings, and with a five-year CAGR of -4.1% it’s not tricky to see why. Its 785,500 cases sales mean the brand remains significantly ahead of rival Smirnoff, but with the Diageo-owned competitor in growth it will be interesting to watch how the battle for vodka dominance develops.

 

3. Chivas Regal

Up one place from in the IWSR’s ranking overtaking Pernod Ricard stable-mate Absolut, Chivas Regal shifted 831,000 cases in TR in 2015. While its five-year CAGR is just 1.0%, as Scotch continues its wider recovery expect Chivas Regal’s growth to pick up pace, too.

 

2. Jack Daniel’s

The world’s largest American whiskey brand might lag behind Johnnie Walker in the TR sakes with volume sales of 887,500 in 2015, but Jack Daniel’s is no damp squib. It’s 2010-15 CAGR of 10.8% is sure to cement the Brown-Forman owned brand’s silver-medal status for years to come

 

1. Johnnie Walker

With 2015 volumes weighing in at 2.56 million cases, up from 2.25m last year, the largest Scotch brand in the world continues to dominate not just its category, but the overall spirits sector. Its five-year CAGR is stacked at an impressive 7%. And with more and more Johnnie Walker House embassies springing up in the channel and innovative releases such as Johnnie Walker Island Green adding genuine newness, we don’t expect the excellence to diminish any time soon.