Glenfiddich extends lead over The Glenlivet in whisky stakes

Glenfiddich saw its volume sales climb 9.5% to 1.21 million cases in 2016, securing its status as the world’s best selling single malt Scotch ahead of rival The Glenlivet, data from The Brand Champions 2017 shows.

The William Grant & Sons-owned expression saw growth accelerate from 5.24% in 2015, driven by new expressions such as the Experimental Series, said global brand director Enda O’Sullivan.

With the growth, Glenfiddich pulls ahead of Pernod Ricard’s The Glenlivet, which reported 2.83% declines and fell to 1.03 million nine-litre cases.

“We are delighted with the current performance of Glenfiddich, and rather than focus on the best-selling single malt, we are committed to leading the category through innovation and creativity,” O’Sullivan said.

Despite a flat performance, Allied Blenders’ Officer’s Choice again weighed in as the world’s best-selling whisky brand with 32.85m case sales, retaining the title it first won in 2013.

Johnnie Walker is still the world’s largest Scotch whisky on 17.4 million nine-litre case sales, but fell back by 1.14% and shed 200,000 cases over the year.

Brown-Forman’s Jack Daniel’s leads the world whisky contingent, posting 2.26% gains to climb to 12.49m case sales.

For a full list of the best selling Indian, Scotch and world whiskies of 2016, see The Brand Champions 2017 report – an in-depth ranking and analysis of the brands that sell more than 1m cases annually.

Published in the June 2017 issue of The Spirits Business magazine, the report names Brand Champions in 12 different spirit categories. Data, analysis and commentary from The Brand Champions 2017 will be revealed on thespiritsbusiness.com shortly.