With a large push in recent years for whiskies to expand their market demographics, the overarching trend has been an increase in Bourbon and Irish whiskies, to the detriment of the Scotch variety. Spiros Malandrakis of Euromonitor International recently analysed the global whiskey market to see which brands, rather than varietals, came out on top for best-value sales.
The top spot belongs to Johnnie Walker, which constitutes more than $US 10 billion in sales. This is due largely in part to expanding their distribution markets and, most importantly, to expanding their range of whiskies to include higher-end offerings. Johnnie Walker has brought in almost double the amount of sales dollars than its closest competitor.
Coming in at second, with over $US 5 billion in sales, Jack Daniels is the best-value Bourbon whiskey in the global market. It’s suggested that this is due to its more casual appeal, making it accessible to a larger variety of markets.
Chivas Regal has come in at number three, with $US 3.5 billion in sales. Malandrakis suggests that it has over-relied on Asian markets and compensated with the release of higher-end options. Ballantines – another Scotch whisky – accounted for roughly the same amount of sales.
In the fifth spot is Jameson’s at $US 3 billion, representing and bolstering the thriving Irish whiskey sector. It is projected that in the short to medium term it will overtake some of the whiskies mentioned above, as it’s on a trajectory for growth in sales.
While these five noted brands make the top 5 in best-value sales, in terms of volume the winner of the top spot is Officer’s Choice, an affordable whisky brand targeted mainly at the Indian market. In 2013-14 alone, 23.13 million cases of Officer’s Choice were sold in 18 countries.