It appears cocktail culture will continue its rise in the post-pandemic era, if the across-the-board growth of these popular speciality spirits is anything to go by.

Data from Euromonitor International shows sales of bitters rose by 6.2% last year, from 51 million cases in 2021 to 54.2m in 2022. Meanwhile, the speciality spirits in this report – all popular cocktail ingredients – enjoyed impressive gains.

Alcohol e-commerce platform Drizly recently published its fifth annual Consumer Trend Report, which found that to avoid rising inflation costs, 26% of US consumers are spending more money on beverages to drink at home rather than going out to bars.

Furthermore, the report found that more than a quarter (28%) surveyed said they have a home bar setup, with 63% saying they restock it at least once a month. Could this mean the growth for the category next year will be even more impressive? Time will tell.

Earlier this month, we released our Brand Champions 2023 report outlining the sales of the world’s biggest spirits brands. Based on our findings, we’re counting down the biggest-selling speciality spirits on the market now.

Scroll through to discover the best-selling speciality spirits brands of 2022, listed in order of their nine-litre-case sales.

Data listed is to one decimal place for ease of reading, but the percentage changes are based on the full data supplied to The Brand Champions 2023 report. Absent from the table is Fernet-Branca, as owner Fratelli Branca failed to share its 2022 figures.

8. Lillet

2022: 1.3m

2021: 1m

% change: 24.8%

Pernod Ricard once again has seen major success in the speciality spirits category in the last year, with the French firm’s wine-based apéritif, Lillet, experiencing growth of 24.8% to hit 1.3m cases.

The French firm revealed Lillet, alongside its other speciality brands, contributed to 10% growth for the segment in the first nine months of fiscal 2023.

7. Ramazzotti

2022: 1.5m

2021: 1.3m

% change: 15.9%

Italian bitter brand Ramazzotti posted impressive growth of 15.9% in 2022, taking it to total case sales of 1.5m.

Pernod Ricard-owned Ramazzotti was awarded the title of Speciality Spirits Brand Champion 2021, as the only brand that didn’t fare a decline in growth in 2020, and it credited its new Ramazozotti Crema for keeping it afloat. The innovation was said to have attracted new consumers in the 34-to-45 age bracket, and it’s clearly a move that has continued to work wonders for the brand.

6. Orijin Bitters

2022: 2.4m

2021: 2.1m

% change: 14.0%

Diageo’s only feature on the best-selling list for speciality spirits, Orijin Bitters, saw 14% growth in 2022 as it racked up case sales of 2.4m. With the growing popularity of the Martini cocktail, we may see more bitters rising through the ranks in the coming years.

5. Campari

2022: 4.5m

2021: 3.9m

% change: 15.6%

Campari Group’s namesake red bitter, a staple of the classic Negroni, continued its upward trajectory in 2022, increasing sales by 15.6% and shifting 4.5m cases.

The brand benefitted from an injection of cocktail virality in 2022, when an interview between HBO series House of the Dragon actors Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke highlighted the Negroni Sbagliato – another serve that makes key use of the red bitter.

The clip went viral on TikTok, causing a spike in searches for the cocktail, and caused the serve to become the top trending cocktail in Google search (up 5,640% growth in queries versus 2021). The boost in interest also had a halo effect on the classic Negroni, as the cocktail was not too far behind as the number-four trending drink (up 90% versus 2021).

4. Ricard

2022: 4.6m

2021: 4.3m

% change: 6.9%

Pernod’s aptly named pastis brand, Ricard, grew by 6.9% to reach 4.6m cases in 2022.

The bottling is the only anis to make the list, and was created by Marseille native Paul Ricard in 1932, who put his name to the product because he was “sure of the quality of this pastis and proud of its unique taste”.

3. Aperol

2022: 8.8m

2021: 7.1m

% change: 23%

For the second year in a row, our Speciality Spirits Brand Champion is Aperol. The Campari-owned brand posted double-digit growth in 2022 and has increased its sales by nearly 4m cases in the last five years. It’s now hot on the tail of Jägermeister, which sold 9.4m cases last year, rising by 7.8%.

In 2022, the orange aperitivo grew its volumes to 8.8m nine-litre cases, after clocking 7.1m in 2021 – an increase of 23%. Could Aperol overtake Mast-Jägermeister’s flagship brand in the year ahead?

2. Jägermeister

2022: 9.4m

2021: 8.7m

% change: 7.8%

Our 2023 Speciality Spirits Brand Champion would have a mission on its hands if it was hoping to overtake the German liqueur, given its gains in the global travel retail (GTR) market and its 7.8% volume increase which saw it sell 9.4m nine-litre cases last year.

In March, Jägermeister was named the eighth-largest premium spirit brand in GTR after recording double-digit growth in the channel.

1. Martini

2022: 10m

2021: 9.7m

% change: 3.0%

Last year, Bacardi-owned Martini vermouth passed the 10m-case sales mark for the first time, and once again it has retained its place a tthe top of the podium in our best-sellers list.

This year, the brand is marking its 160th anniversary with a multi-channel marketing campaign, with creatives designed to reflect consumers’ changing drinking habits. As such, the brand’s hero product, Martini Fiero, a lower-ABV vermouth, is front and centre in the visuals and represents how Martini is meeting the demand for the rise in mindful drinking, while remaining ‘grounded’ in aperitivo culture.