Top 10 best-selling world whisky Brand Champions
While North American and Japanese whiskies had a lacklustre 2025, there was one Irish player that stormed to success.
While Scotch and Indian whiskies have their own dedicated pages in The Brand Champions 2026 supplement, other whiskies – made in countries like the US, Canada, Japan and Ireland – are analysed in the world whisky section of our annual report on the biggest-selling spirits brands.
The global whisky industry is facing a downturn in sales with some sectors facing oversupply issues and tariff-related disputes (like Canada’s ban on American spirits in March 2025).
Data from the Distilled Spirits Council of the US revealed a 1% volume drop for American whiskey in 2025 to 30 million nine-litre cases, while value dipped by 0.9%.
On a global scale, Euromonitor International data showed a 1.9% volume rise for Irish whiskey in 2025, as American, Canadian and Japanese whiskies fell by 2.8%, 2% and 3.9% respectively.
In terms of the performance of million-case world whisky brands, among our top 10 sellers there were only three in growth. Whiskies made in the US and Canada were hit hard while one Irish whiskey giant managed to increase its volumes and take this year’s World Whisky Brand Champion title away from a Bourbon.
Scroll down for a deep dive into the top 10 biggest-selling world whisky brands and how they performed last year.
The full Brand Champions 2026 report is free to read online.
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.
10. Seagram’s 7
Owner: Diageo
2021 2.4m | 2022 2.4m | 2023 2.2m | 2024 2.0m | 2025 2.0m
Growth: 0.0%
Place last year: N/A
Diageo’s Seagram’s 7 made a comeback to our top 10 list after its omission last year, but the brand failed to grow its volumes for the second year in a row.
The blended American whiskey reported stagnant sales in 2025, remaining at the two million case mark, similar to its stablemate Bulleit, which managed to grow its volumes by 2.6%.
But the brand’s fortunes could grow if its new Apple Pie variant is able to make its mark with US consumers this summer.
9. Torys
Owner: Suntory Global Spirits
2021 2.0m | 2022 2.1m | 2023 2.5m | 2024 2.4m | 2025 2.5m
Growth: 3.6%
Place last year: 9
Japanese whisky brand Torys returned to growth last year after posting a gain of 3.6% to 2.5m cases. The Suntory-owned brand is popular in its core Japanese market, but technically it cannot be called a whisky in the EU due to its 37% ABV.
However, the minor growth of 3.6% was not enough for it move up in our ranks, with the brand holding the same position in our top list as last year.
8. Maker’s Mark
Owner: Suntory Global Spirits
2021 2.6m | 2022 2.8m | 2023 3.0m | 2024 2.7m | 2025 2.7m
Growth: -0.7%
Place last year: 8
The second Suntory brand to appear on our list is Maker’s Mark, which saw its volumes slip by 0.7% in 2025 – similar to what it recorded the previous year.
Last year saw the brand reveal several new innovations, including its first non-Bourbon whiskey, the latest release in its Wood Finishing Series, and a collaborative product with the Los Angeles Dodgers team.
The Japanese spirits group reported a 0.4% drop in alcohol sales last year, but noted that its flagship Bourbon brands, Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark, ‘outperformed’ the American whiskey sector in the US despite category headwinds, based on Nielsen figures to 27 December 2025.
7. Evan Williams
Owner: Heaven Hill Brands
2021 3.1m | 2022 3.1m | 2023 3.1m | 2024 3.1m | 2025 2.9m
Growth: -3.9%
Place last year: N/A
Despite a decline last year, Evan Williams also returned to this year’s top 10 list after holding the eighth spot in our 2023 roundup. Now holding the seventh place, the Heaven Hill-owned brand fell below the three million mark for the first time in five years.
Last September, the company officially opened its new Heaven Hill Springs Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky.
In July, Heaven Hill opened its new office in Louisville, bringing its team together under one roof for the first time in years.
6. Kakubin
Owner: Suntory Global Spirits
2021 3.6m | 2022 4.3m | 2023 4.2m | 2024 4.0m | 2025 4.0m
Growth: 0.2%
Place last year: 6
Suntory’s other million-case Japanese whisky brand Kakubin had a disappointing 2025 with flat sales. Holding firm at number six on our list, the brand’s performance is still better than the previous year when it declined by 4.5%.
During its 2025 financial results, Suntory named Kakubin among its Japanese whiskies that delivered ‘strong growth’ year on year.
5. Canadian Club
Owner: Suntory Global Spirits
2021 6.2m | 2022 6.5m | 2023 6.2m | 2024 5.3m | 2025 5.3m
Growth: -0.2%
Place last year: 5
Another stagnant performance for Suntory came from its Canadian Club whisky, which reported a 0.2% drop in 2025 to record 5.3m cases for the second year in a row. However, the Canadian whisky brand managed to perform better than in 2024, when sales plunged by 15.2%.
The dip comes as a surprise considering the ban of American spirits since March 2025 in nearly all Canada provinces, where governments have encouraged consumers to ‘drink local’.
In the Liquor Control Board of Ontario’s (LCBO) third-quarter update, covering 12 October 2025 to 3 January 2026, Canadian Club was its eighth-biggest-selling spirit.
4. Crown Royal
Owner: Diageo
2021 9.0m | 2022 8.4m | 2023 7.7m | 2024 8.0m | 2025 7.9m
Growth: -2.1%
Place last year: 4
Similarly to Canadian Club, competitor Crown Royal whisky suffered a drop of 2.1% last year, after previously growing by 4%.
Parent company Diageo reported a 8% organic sales decline for Crown Royal in its financial results for the last six months of 2025. The Canadian whisky also fell by 7% in organic volumes.
In the US, the brand suffered a 9.2% drop over the six months, which Diageo attributed to ‘lapping strong consumer demand’ for Crown Royal Blackberry in the first half of fiscal 2025 and softness in Crown Royal Deluxe.
Crown Royal has hit the headlines a lot in the past 12 months as the premier of Ontario threatened to boycott the brand due to Diageo’s closure of a bottling site in Amherstburg.
However, the issue was resolved after Diageo agreed to pay nearly CA$23 million (US$16.8m) to keep Crown Royal in LCBO stores in February.
3. Jameson
Owner: Pernod Ricard
2021 9.6m | 2022 11.1m | 2023 10.2m | 2024 10.9m | 2025 11.1m
Growth: 2.2%
Place last year: 3
The 2026 World Whisky Brand Champion, Jameson, recorded its second year in growth.
The Pernod Ricard-owned brand is back above 11m cases at a time when the wider whisky category is struggling.
Jameson recorded full-year (12 months to 30 June 2025) double-digit growth in multiple markets in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Turkey.
The brand’s growth has been driven by marketing campaigns such as the Must Be a Jameson campaign, which featured actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
Last year also saw the brand revamp its range.
2. Jack Daniel’s
Owner: Brown-Forman
2021 13.5m | 2022 14.6m | 2023 14.3m | 2024 14.1m | 2025 13.4m
Growth: -4.6%
Place last year: 2
Tennessee whiskey brand Jack Daniel’s continued its downward trajectory of the last four years, falling by 4.6% to 13.4m cases in 2025.
Its parent company, US-based Brown-Forman, has been notably impacted by Canada’s ban on US spirits, with total sales plunging by 59% in Canada in the nine months ending 31 January 2026.
The core Jack Daniel’s whiskey expression suffered a 3% drop over the period, while its Honey and Fire expressions were also down by 5% and 8% respectively.
However, Brown-Forman is hoping to target emerging markets to drive Jack Daniel’s in the future, so a return to growth could be on the cards for this year or next.
1. Jim Beam
Owner: Suntory Global Spirits
2021 17.0m | 2022 16.6m | 2023 17.0m | 2024 17.5m | 2025 16.7m
Growth: -4.6%
Place last year: 1
The fifth and final Suntory-owned brand to make our list and maintain its top spot is Jim Beam. Previously holding the World Whisky Brand Champion title for three years in a row, Jim Beam lost out in 2025 after a sluggish sales performance.
Like its nearest competitor, it also saw a drop of 4.6% in 2025, falling below 17m cases.
Over the past year, the brand has made efforts to remain relevant and attract new drinkers, releasing a pineapple-flavoured whiskey and a 15-year-old bottling.
The brand has also likely been impacted by Canada’s ban on US spirits, alongside what Suntory called a ‘challenging external environment’ and a slowdown in its major international markets in its 2025 full-year results.
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