Top 10 biggest world whisky Brand Champions
It was a tough year for whiskies made in North America, Ireland and Japan with the majority of million-case brands in decline – but there were some bright spots.
The world whisky category in The Brand Champions report covers all whiskies made outside of Scotland and India, which have their own dedicated sections. Of the top 10 list, spanning American, Irish and Japanese brands, there were only three in growth – each hailing from these countries.
Two of the biggest categories within world whisky have seen a mixed performance. While American whiskey volumes declined in the US last year, its Irish counterparts have managed to surpass 15 million cases.
According to the Distilled Spirits Council of the US and IWSR, American whiskey volume sales in the US fell by 2.7% in 2024 to 30.3m cases and by 1.8% in value to US$5.2 billion.
Interestingly, the three largest brands in Irish, Canadian and American whiskey have managed to grow their volumes, a positive sign for these categories.
For a closer look at how the biggest players performed last year, scroll down for an analysis of their case sales.
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. Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey
Owner: Brown-Forman
Volume: 2020: 2.0m | 2021: 2.0m | 2022: 2.1m | 2023: 2.2m | 2024: 2.0m
% change: -3.4%
Place last year: N/A
The honey-flavoured version of Tennessee whiskey Jack Daniel’s has returned to our top 10 best-selling world whisky list after several years, despite a 3.4% decrease in 2024.
After experiencing two consecutive years in growth, the brand returned to 2.0m cases last year.
In Brown-Forman’s financial results for the 12 months to 30 April 2025, Tennessee Honey recorded a 2% organic sales increase so the brand could be back in growth by the end of 2025.
9. Torys
Owner: Suntory Global Spirits
Volume: 2020: 2.4m | 2021: 2.5m | 2022: 2.1m | 2023: 2.5m | 2024: 2.4m
% change: -2.2%
Place last year: N/A
Suntory-owned Japanese whisky Torys also made a comeback to the biggest-selling list after its notable omission last year.
The brand is popular in its core Japanese market, but technically it cannot be called a whisky in the EU due to its 37% ABV.
8. Maker’s Mark
Owner: Suntory Global Spirits
Volume: 2020: 2.4m | 2021: 2.6m | 2022: 2.8m | 2023: 3.0m | 2024: 2.7m
% change: -10.1%
Place last year: 9
Maintaining its ninth spot on the list was American whiskey Maker’s Mark, also owned by Suntory Global Spirits.
Maker’s Mark saw its first decrease in five years, falling by 10.1% to 1.7m nine-litre cases.
During 2024, the brand appointed Dr Blake Layfield as its new master distiller and debuted the second release in the Cellar Aged series.
Earlier this year, Maker’s Mark unveiled a new global campaign that will roll out in key markets in 2025, as well as its first non-Bourbon whiskey. These efforts could help the brand return to growth this year.
7. Black Nikka
Owner: Asahi Beverages
Volume: 2020: 3.3m | 2021: 3.3m | 2022: 3.5m | 2023: 4.0m | 2024: 4.0m
% change: 0.0%
Place last year: 7
Blended Japanese whisky brand Black Nikka reported stagnant volumes in 2024, maintaining its seventh spot and case sales of 4m.
It was reported last summer that Nikka Whisky had invested in its storage facilities to increase production capacity and exports, which could give the brand a boost in 2025.
6. Kakubin
Owner: Suntory Global Spirits
Volume: 2020: 3.7m | 2021: 4.6m | 2022: 4.3m | 2023: 4.2m | 2024: 4.0m
% change: -4.5%
Place last year: 6
The second Japanese whisky from Suntory to sit in our top 10 list, Kakubin, managed to hold on to its sixth spot despite falling by 4.5% in 2024.
The brand saw its fourth year of decline, and its latest drop is perhaps indicative of a wider decrease in Japan where consumers are choosing to consume less alcohol, according to IWSR.
Provisional IWSR data for 2024 showed a 4% volume drop for ‘national spirits’ in Japan.
5. Canadian Club
Owner: Suntory Global Spirits
Volume: 2020: 5.9m | 2021: 6.2m | 2022: 6.5m | 2023: 6.2m | 2024: 5.3m
% change: -15.2%
Place last year: 5
Suntory’s sole Canadian whisky brand, Canadian Club, suffered the biggest decrease of the best-sellers, plunging by 15.2% to 5.3m cases last year.
According to on-premise data from CGA, Canadian whisky sales have fallen twice as much as American Bourbon in the year to November 2024 – at 3.5%, compared to 1.4%. However, whisky was not the only spirit in decline, this was the case for all categories across Canada, except for Tequila – the only category in growth.
Potential tariffs on Canadian products in the US could provide a growth opportunity for Canadian whisky in its home market, as American products are removed from liquor store shelves in retaliation. Canadian Club could be set to benefit from this move.
4. Crown Royal
Owner: Diageo
Volume: 2020: 8.1m | 2021: 9.0m | 2022: 8.4m | 2023: 7.7m | 2024: 8.0m
% change: 4.0%
Place last year: 4
Crown Royal, the category leader in Canadian whisky, had a more positive performance than its competitor Canadian Club in 2024.
The Diageo-owned brand rebounded with growth of 4% last year, but it struggled to return to its sales high of 9m cases in 2021.
In the last six months of 2024, Diageo reported a 3% organic sales increase for Crown Royal, driven by the ‘strong demand’ for the brand’s new blackberry-flavoured whisky in the US.
3. Jameson
Owner: Pernod Ricard
Volume: 2020: 7.7m | 2021: 9.6m | 2022: 11.1m | 2023: 10.2m | 2024: 10.8m
% change: 6.3%
Place last year: 3
The world’s biggest-selling Irish whiskey brand, Jameson, rose by 6.3% last year – marking a return to growth for the Pernod Ricard-owned brand.
In the last six months of 2024, Jameson recorded ‘strong’ volume gains in India, and good growth in China and Europe.
Jameson has been quite active in the past 12 months, launching a St Patrick’s Day campaign, a music programme with rapper Anderson .Paak and a short film with actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
2. Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey
Owner: Brown-Forman
Volume: 2020: 12.3m | 2021: 13.5m | 2022: 14.6m | 2023: 14.3m | 2024: 14.1m
% change: -1.5%
Place last year: 2
Tennessee whiskey Jack Daniel’s saw a minor dip in 2024 when its case sales fell by 1.5% to 14.1m cases.
The brand’s sales suffered in its core US market, a ‘challenging consumer environment’, according to Brown-Forman’s fiscal 2025 results (year ending 30 April). However, there was growth in Japan, Turkey, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates.
1. Jim Beam
Owner: Suntory Global Spirits
Volume: 2020: 16.4m | 2021: 17.0m | 2022: 16.6m | 2023: 17.0m | 2024: 17.5m
% change: 2.9%
Place last year: 1
For the third year in a row, Jim Beam has taken the World Whisky Brand Champion title after increasing sales by 2.9% in 2024.
The Suntory Global Spirits‐owned brand’s growth is particularly impressive, as nearly all but one of its competitors in the million-case American whiskey category are in decline.
Jim Beam also reached its greatest number of case sales to date – 17.5m – in 2024, higher than the 17m it recorded in 2021 when sales boomed during the pandemic.
KK Hall, global brand vice‐president for Jim Beam, said the brand delivered a “solid performance” in the US, and “over performed” in both Mexico and Brazil. Hall also pointed to the brand’s growth in Asia, especially in Japan and China.
The brand’s momentum could be set to continue into 2025 as it unveiled a Pineapple variant in March 2025 – Jim Beam’s first new flavoured spirit in four years.
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