Close Menu
Feature

The biggest-selling gin Brand Champions 2026

The juniper boom that peaked in 2020 may be fading into memory, but gin is proving much more resilient to challenging market conditions than many have predicted.

Decorated Gin Soda with a Rosemary Leaf on a wooden desk
Only three of our Brand Champions achieved growth during another challenging, but not necessarily disastrous, year for gin

Growth slowed dramatically in 2025, with data from IWSR and Euromonitor indicating only modest gains at best and stagnation at worst. But gin continued to outperform the total spirits market, which declined by 1% overall.

The brands that managed to achieve growth, or at least mitigate contraction, appear to be those that made gains in emerging international markets or embraced the increasing diversification of the gin category.

Notable on both counts is this year’s Gin Brand Champion, which we’ll reveal shortly.

Scroll down to see the biggest performers from The Brand Champions 2026 report.

The data is listed to one decimal place for ease of reading, but the percentage changes were calculated on the full data supplied. All data is recorded in millions of nine-litre cases.


8. Larios Gin

Larios gin

Owner: Suntory Global Spirits

2021: 1.2m | 2022: 1.5m | 2023: 1.2m | 2024: 1.1m | 2025: 1.1m

Growth: -6.3%

Place last year: 7

Sales of Suntory Global Spirits’ Larios Gin fell once again, albeit slightly less dramatically than the 9.8% decline recorded in 2024. Once a force to be reckoned with in European markets, only time will tell if Larios can recover and maintain its volumes above 1m nine-litre cases.

Suntory Holdings confirmed a 0.4% overall drop in alcohol sales last year, with newly appointed president and CEO Nobuhiro Torii commenting: “In 2025, markets around the world experienced slowdowns, which resulted in a challenging business environment for many of our regions and businesses.”


7. Barrister

Owner: Ladoga

2021: 0.4m | 2022: 0.7m | 2023: 1.1m | 2024: 1.3m | 2025: 1.4m

Growth: 7.7%

Place last year: 6

This year’s Gin Brand Champion enjoyed strong growth in 2025, with Barrister winning the title for a second time, after first claiming it in 2024. According to owner Ladoga’s president, Veniamin Grabar, the brand led the creation of the gin category in its domestic market of Russia.

“In 2016, the entire gin category was 14 times smaller than the current sales of Barrister Gin alone,” he explains. “The brand continues to grow its sales in the segment, holding an absolute leadership position with a 50% market share.”

While the rise in volumes didn’t quite equal last year’s impressive 18.2% increase, Russia’s largest gin brand continues to expand its product range, manufacturing capabilities and international reach. The brand entered new markets in Kenya and Malaysia, doubled sales in Korea and Thailand, and grew sales by 144% in the Middle East.

There is currently a 35% tariff on Russian spirits coming into the UK and a total import ban in the US, closing off two of the world’s most lucrative gin markets. So, while Barrister may not be in a position to threaten sales of the biggest players in the category, it has demonstrated an ability to make significant gains in emerging markets. One to keep an eye on.


6. Gilbey’s Gin

Gilbey's

Owner: Diageo

2021: 1.0m | 2022: 1.2m | 2023: 1.1m | 2024: 1.0m | 2025: 1.4m

Growth: 40%

Place last year: 8

A dramatic change in fortunes for Diageo’s Gilbey’s gin this year saw the biggest volume increase of any entry on this list. This uptick follows relatively stagnant sales over the previous four years.

When London Dry Gin came to prominence in the mid-19th century, Gilbey’s was one of the emerging category’s great success stories. During its heyday, it was made in London’s Camden Town, but is now produced under licence at various distilleries around the world. Whether this year’s figures indicate a return to form for this storied brand, or if it was something of a fluke, should become clear in the coming years.


5. Seagram’s

Seagram's gin

Owner: Pernod Ricard

2021: 2.4m | 2022: 2.5m | 2023: 2.0m | 2024: 2.1m | 2025: 1.9m

Growth: -9.8%

Place last year: 5

While it has managed to hold the number five spot, Seagram’s continued its downward trajectory in 2025. The gains it enjoyed in 2022, buoyed by the gin category’s extraordinary 6% overall growth, have completely disappeared.

Though Seagram’s has historically been the bestselling gin in the US by volume, another challenging year for the Pernod Ricard-owned brand may come as the result of a broader shift from budget-friendly options to premium gins and other drinks categories.


4. Beefeater

Owner: Pernod Ricard

2021: 3.3m | 2022: 3.8m | 2023: 3.5m | 2024: 3.4m | 2025: 3.3m

Growth: ‐1.2%

Place last year: 4

Much like Seagram’s, Beefeater enjoyed strong increased sales when the gin category swelled slightly in 2022, but that wave has now receded. The brand’s owner, Pernod Ricard, launched grapefruit-flavoured and alcohol-free variants last year, as well as investing in a global campaign celebrating ‘The Spirit of London’.

These moves may have been enough to keep Beefeater at number four on our Gin Brand Champions league table. However, the decision to close the distillery’s visitor’s centre in South London amid restructuring may indicate that confidence in the brand is faltering.


3. Bombay Sapphire

Bombay Sapphire

Owner: Bacardi

2021: 4.4m | 2022: 5.2m | 2023: 4.6m | 2024: 4.4m | 2025: 4.3m

Growth: -1.8%

Place last year: 2

Sales of Bombay Sapphire continued their three-year decline in 2025. Stiff competition from rivals Diageo may have taken the iconic blue bottle down a peg for 2026, but a volume loss of 1.8% may be seen as hopeful compared with the previous year’s 4.6% contraction.

Far from accepting these shifting fortunes, Bacardi backed Bombay Sapphire last year with a global advertising campaign asking drinkers to ‘step into the blue’ and renovations to the brand’s visitor centre in Hampshire.


2. Tanqueray

Tanqueray

Owner: Diageo

2021: 5.6m | 2022: 5.5m | 2023: 4.7m | 2024: 4.4m | 2025: 4.5m

Growth: 2.1%

Place last year: 3

Though its sales rose only modestly, Tanqueray was the only one of the big hitters to achieve growth in 2025. The brand’s owner Diageo will be glad to see it overtake Bombay Sapphire, reclaiming the coveted second-place spot it missed out on last year.

Diageo announced earlier this year that actor Sarah Jessica Parker would be coming on board as Tanqueray’s global brand ambassador. Whether the influence of the Sex and the City star is enough to mitigate the effects of US tariffs and a general cooling of the gin category remains to be seen. Maybe, if she can convince us all to use Tanqueray instead of the traditional vodka in our Cosmos.


1. Gordon’s

Gordon's gin portfolio

Owner: Diageo

2021: 7.4m | 2022: 7.7m | 2023: 7.0m | 2024: 7.7m | 2025: 7.2m

Growth: ‐6.9%

Place last year: 1

It’s done it again. Global gin heavyweight Gordon’s takes the number-one spot once more in 2026. Not even a precipitous 6.9% decline since the previous year was enough to take this centuries-old brand down.

Gordon’s recent history has been marked by agile manoeuvring into growing sub-categories such as flavoured gins, alcohol-free ‘spirits’ and RTDs. Last year also saw the brand seeking to capitalise on the enduring popularity of Italian-style aperitivo drinks with the launch of Gordon’s Spritz Edition, which comes in Strawberry & Passionfruit and Lime & Elderflower flavours and is designed to be enjoyed with Prosecco.

While some of these products stretch the limits of Gordon’s identity as a gin brand, this year’s figures show that diversification may be key to continued success for the world’s beleaguered gin producers.

Related news

Top 10 best-selling world whisky Brand Champions

Top 10 biggest-selling Indian whisky Brand Champions

Top 10 biggest-selling Scotch Brand Champions

It looks like you're in Asia, would you like to be redirected to the Drinks Business Asia edition?

Yes, take me to the Asia edition No