Top 10 biggest-selling brandy and Cognac Brand Champions
The Cognac and brandy categories are moving in opposite directions, with the former losing much of its previous prestige and the latter steadily gaining momentum.
In 2025, Cognac suffered from declining sales in its two biggest markets, China and the US. But brandy, on the other hand, saw a much smaller drop, perhaps due to its affordability. Data from Euromonitor International showed a volume drop of 16.2% for Cognac last year, while brandy dipped by 1%.
The world’s biggest Cognac brands mirrored the category’s decline too, with a disappointing performance, but million-case brandy players have seen huge success, with most in double-digit growth.
However, there was one brand that hugely outperformed the rest in 2025, making it our Brandy and Cognac Brand Champion. Read on to find out who it was.
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. Courrier Napoleon Brandy
Owner: Tilaknagar Industries
2021: 0.7m | 2022: 1.0m | 2023: 1.5m | 2024: 2.0m | 2025: 1.5m
Growth: -21.4%
Place last year: 6
Wow, that has got to hurt. Courrier had been on a solid growth trajectory since the pandemic, but that all came to an end in 2025. The brand’s volume sales dropped by a stultifying 21.4%, putting it back exactly where it was in 2023. That is perhaps more a reflection of an unusually successful 2024, when the brand grew by 28.3% – but it seems its volumes have now normalised, to Tilaknagar’s chagrin.
9. McDowell’s Brandy
Owner: United Spirits
2021: 1.0m | 2022: 1.1m | 2023: 1.2m | 2024: 1.2m | 2025: 1.6m
Growth: 32.2%
Place last year: N/A
Let’s give it up for McDowell’s Brandy, which managed to hurtle back into the top 10 this year after vanishing from the list in 2025. Admittedly, that has something to do with the poor performance of its peers; however, growing by 32.2% is what really put it in good standing in 2025. The United Spirits-owned brand managed to overtake several rivals, including Alliance 1892 Brandy Factory’s Old Kenigsberg, Amrut Distillers’ Silver Cup, and Radico Khaitan’s Morpheus – not to mention Courrier in 10th place.
8. Martell
Owner: Pernod Ricard
2021: 2.6m | 2022: 2.3m | 2023: 2.3m | 2024: 1.9m | 2025: 1.8m
Growth: -5.7%
Place last year: 7
Only two Cognac brands submitted data to The Brand Champions 2026, and when you see their results, you can see why others opted to stay quiet. Considering the Cognac category as a whole contracted by 16.2%, Martell’s decline of 5.7% seems pretty reasonable. In 2025, the Cognac brand partnered with mixologist Rémy Savage to open a rooftop bar at its maison in France, and invited guests into Château de Chanteloup for a culinary experience.
7. Aznauri Brandy
Owner: Global Beverage Trade
2021: 0.5m | 2022: 0.6m | 2023: 1.1m | 2024: 1.6m | 2025: 1.9m
Growth: 19.7%
Place last year: 8
Would you expect anything less from the winner of the Cognac/Brandy Brand of the Year at The Spirits Business Awards 2025? Ukrainian Aznauri proved the award was well-chosen by our judges last year by growing by nearly 20%, just shy of the 2m-case mark. Its fortunes in 2026 may be a little shakier, however, as the distillery was bombed in September 2025. Despite this, a representative said product stocks had been secured, and the team were working to get production back on track. Best of luck to them.
6. E&J Brandy
Owner: Gallo
2021: 3.6m | 2022: 3.4m | 2023: 3.2m | 2024: 3.0m | 2025: 2.7m
Growth: -9.4%
Place last year: 5
The steady decline for Gallo’s E&J Brandy continued in 2025, with its volumes falling by nearly 10% and the brand tumbling down a spot in the top 10. It seems like its parent company’s mind is elsewhere, with Gallo having purchased Four Roses Bourbon for US$775 million in April 2026. Prior to this, the firm seemed mainly to be concentrating on its ready-to-drink brands High Noon and Lucky One. Has it given up on E&J Brandy, which it launched in 1975 as a companion to its wine business, in favour of shinier categories – or is a comeback on the horizon?
5. Dreher
Owner: Campari Group
2021: 2.8m | 2022: 2.4m | 2023: 2.7m | 2024: 3.0m | 2025: 3.5m
Growth: 16.7%
Place last year: 4
There was a lot of talk about Campari offloading some brands at the end of 2025, which ultimately resulted in the sale of Amaro Averna and Zedda Piras. Many names had been thrown about as suggestions for the chopping block, but one that was rarely mentioned is Dreher. While it might not achieve the dizzying volumes of Aperol (10m cases), 3.5m cases is nothing to be sniffed at – especially when you consider the parent firm’s namesake bitters brand is just 1.5m cases ahead. Plus, Dreher’s growth of 16.7% made it one of the fastest-growing brandy brands in The Brand Champions 2026. Interestingly, Campari declined to provide results for its Cognac brand, Courvoisier, which the firm purchased in May 2024.
4. Hennessy
Owner: LVMH
2021: 8.6m | 2022: 7.9m | 2023: 6.5m | 2024: 6.3m | 2025: 5.8m
Growth: -7.6%
Place last year: 2
The Cognac slide continued for LVMH-owned Hennessy, which saw a 7.6% fall last year, taking it under the 6m-case mark for the first time in Brand Champions history. The brand has been on a slow decline since 2021, when it reached a record high of 8.6m cases. Despite this, Hennessy has really been putting the work in, collaborating with everyone from fashion house Loewe to Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny in 2025. The brand might be trying a change of tack in 2026, though, by entering the ready-to-drink space with Hennessy Very Special Cocktails.
3. Shustoff
Owner: Global Spirits
2021: 1.6m | 2022: 1.6m | 2023: 3.0m | 2024: 4.2m | 2025: 5.8m
Growth: 39.9%
Place last year: N/A
Global Spirits’ Shustoff didn’t submit data for The Brand Champions in 2025, which turned out to be a boon for the remaining brandies on this list. Had it done so, the brandy would have sat happily in fourth place – a position it has now topped after growing its volume sales by a whopping 39.9%. Shustoff was our Brandy Brand Champion in both 2021 and 2022 – and while its 39.9% growth was certainly impressive, it was pipped to the post this year by one other brand.
2. Mansion House Brandy
Owner: Tilaknagar Industries
2021: 4.5m | 2022: 7.1m | 2023: 8.3m | 2024: 7.9m | 2025: 9.7m
Growth: 23.4%
Place last year: 1
It’s all change at the top, and it’s not to Tilaknagar Industries’ advantage. Despite an impressive 23.4% growth, Mansion House failed to take the top spot on this list, which it had enjoyed for the whole of Brand Champions history. In 2024, it didn’t even have a close competitor – but no spoilers for what’s in first place. Tilaknagar Industries might not be too upset about this particular result though, given the significantly worse performance of Mansion House’s stablemate Courrier. Despite that, the parent firm nearly doubled its revenues in its most recent financial results.
1. Old Admiral Brandy
Owner: Radico Khaitan
2021: 3.8m | 2022: 4.3m | 2023: 3.7m | 2024: 4.4m | 2025: 10.9m
Growth: 147.2%
Place last year: 3
Our brandy and Cognac Brand Champion for 2026 is Radico Khaitan’s Old Admiral Brandy, and we’re sure none of the other brands will be surprised when they see those numbers. The brand grew by a whopping 147.2%, more than doubling its volumes to sprint past the 10m-case mark, and becoming the third fastest-growing spirit of 2025.
“Old Admiral’s strong growth was driven by rising consumer preference for trusted and accessible premium brands, along with deeper market penetration across key markets,” said Sanjeev Banga, president of international business, Radico Khaitan. “The brand continued to resonate with consumers through its consistent quality, strong legacy, and competitive positioning. Enhanced distribution and focused visibility initiatives also played an important role in accelerating growth momentum.”
According to Banga, Old Admiral’s top markets are India, the Middle East, and Africa. “Countries with a strong consumer base for brandy delivered exceptional performance last year,” he says, adding that there was “encouraging momentum in emerging markets”. The future focus will be on “strengthening consumer engagement, expanding market presence and maintaining consistent product quality”, he says.
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