Drizly reveals best-selling celebrity spirits

Diageo-owned Casamigos is the top-selling Tequila and celebrity-backed spirits brand on US alcohol e-commerce platform Drizly.

Within the spirits category on Drizly to date, the best-selling celebrity-backed brands are: Casamigos, Cîroc Vodka, Teremana Tequila, 818 Tequila, Código 1530 Tequila, Aviation Gin, and Proper No. Twelve Irish Whiskey.

Tequila holds a 19% share of the spirits category on Drizly in 2022, up from 18% in 2021, 15% in 2020 and 13% from 2019.

In 2022, George Clooney-founded Casamigos held a 22% share of the Tequila segment on Drizly, the leading on-demand alcohol marketplace in the US.

The brand, which was sold to Diageo in 2017 in a US$1 billion deal, experienced 6% growth in share from 2020 on the platform, and 56% growth in share from 2018.

Casamigos nearly doubled its volumes to reach 2.2 million nine‐litre cases in 2021, just a year after it surpassed the million‐case mark for the first time, according to Brand Champions 2022 data.

Casamigos Blanco, Reposado and Añejo are among the top five sellers of their respective Tequila subcategories.

The brand’s most expensive style, añejo, is the second best-selling añejo Tequila on Drizly after Diageo’s Don Julio 1948.

Teremana, founded by actor Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and part-owned by Mast-Jägermeister, is the ninth best-selling Tequila brand on Drizly to date. It is the second top-selling celebrity-backed Tequila on the platform.

The brand experienced 11% growth in share on Drizly from 2021 to 2022 in the Tequila category, and 56% growth in share from 2020 to 2021.

Model Kendall Jenner’s 818 brand reported 80% growth in share from 2021 to 2022 in the Tequila category on the platform.

Launched in May 2021, the Tequila brand’s president recently confirmed it had hit its first full-year target.

Código 1530, co-founded by country music star George Strait, saw a 20% increase in share within Drizly’s Tequila segment from 2020 to 2022. Pernod Ricard purchased a majority stake in the brand in October last year.

Category performance

For the last two years, Ryan Reynolds-backed Aviation Gin has held a 9% share of the gin category on Drizly. The Diageo-owned brand dropped one percentage point in share from 2020.

Aviation is the third top-selling gin brand to date on Drizly’s platform.

Diageo-owned Cîroc, supported by rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, is the ninth top-selling vodka brand on Drizly. It holds a 3% share of vodka sales on Drizly.

The brand experienced a 4% growth in share from 2020 and 24% growth in share from 2018.

The top celebrity-backed whiskies on Drizly include: Proper No. Twelve, American whiskeys Heaven’s Door, Brother’s Bond and Blackened, and Canadian whisky Mercer + Prince.

Professional fighter Conor McGregor’s Proper No. Twelve brand had a 3% share of the Irish whiskey category on Drizly in 2022, 2021 and 2020. The brand was sold to Jose Cuervo owner Becle in a US$600m deal in April 2021.

Pernod Ricard-backed Bumbu Rum, which has rapper Lil Wayne as an investor, holds a 2% share of all rum sold on Drizly. The brand saw a 55% growth in share from 2020 and 466% growth in share from 2018.

Musician Bruno Mars’ Selvarey brand experienced a 80% growth in share last year, compared to 2021, in the rum segment on Drizly.

Ten to One, co-owned by singer Ciara, reported a 183% growth in share from 2021 to 2022 in rum sales on Drizly.

In 2023 to date, two celebrity brands rank in the top five best-selling brands on Drizly for the mezcal category, Casamigos (number 3) and Dos Hombres (number 5), the latter of which was founded by Breaking Bad stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul.

In Drizly’s 2022 Retail Report, 54% of retailers cited ‘celebrity owned’ as a type of product they intentionally stock.

“Our retail partners have reported that ‘celebrity owned’ is an important product attribute when it goes to what they’re intentionally stocking,” said Liz Paquette, Drizly’s head of consumer insights.

“In fact, 54% retailers from Drizly’s annual Retail Report cited star power as the special product attribute that matters most.

“Celebrity backing and the built-in marketing platform that comes with celebrity backing certainly plays a role in popularity.

“However, the overall quality of the product remains important for overall staying power. Casamigos is a great example of this as it has become the number-one Tequila brand on Drizly.”

New research has found that Diageo’s spirits portfolio features in nearly 80% of US venues.