Beverage Dynamics is the largest national business magazine devoted exclusively to the needs of off-premise beverage alcohol retailers, from single liquor stores to big box chains, through coverage of the latest trends in wine, beer and spirits.
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TOP TEN SPIRITS BRANDS BY SALES (1967 - 2014) Sales Rank / Year 1967 1972 1977 1982 1987 1992 1 Seagram's 7 Crown Seagram's 7 Crown Seagram's 7 Crown Bacardi Bacardi Bacardi 2 Seagram's VO Seagram's VO Smirnoff Smirnoff Smirnoff Smirnoff 3 Canadian Club Smirnoff Bacardi Seagram's 7 Crown Seagram's 7 Crown Seagram's Gin 4 Smirnoff Canadian Club Seagram's VO Jack Daniel's Canadian Mist Jim Beam 5 Gordon's Gin Bacardi Canadian Club Seagram's VO Jim Beam Popov Vodka 6 Old Crow Gordon's Gin Gordon's Gin Canadian Mist DeKuyper Seagram's 7 Crown 7 Jim Beam J & B Jim Beam Jim Beam Popov Vodka Bacardi Breezer 8 Imperial Jim Beam J & B Canadian Club Jack Daniel's Canadian Mist 9 Calvert Extra Cutty Sark Windsor Supreme Windsor Supreme Seagram's Gin Jack Daniel's 10 Gilbey's Gin Gilbey's Gin Gilbey's Gin Popov Canadian Club Absolut Source: The Beverage Information & Insights Group. Visit www.bevinfostore.com for more information. EIGHT DISTILLED SPIRIT CONSUMPTION BY CATEGORY 1955 1960 1965 U.S. Straights 16,494,771 22,471,110 26,377,097 U.S. Blends 30,607,387 27,733,977 27,442,141 Canadian 3,641,198 4,897,331 7,384,070 Scotch 5,136,030 7,949,840 12,141,854 Irish & Other Bonds 5,032,790 3,794,649 2,909,984 100% Lights Others 98,541 124,767 254,784 Total Whiskey 61,010,717 66,971,974 76,509,930 Gin 7,240,314 8,188,968 11,276,533 Rum 1,133,630 1,501,808 2,476,400 Brandy 1,700,616 2,422,566 3,466,916 Cordials 2,427,290 3,387,489 4,701,903 Vodka 2,383,105 6,869,130 10,809,129 Tequila Prepared Cocktails Misc 341,779 502,420 1,429,117 Total 76,237,451 89,844,055 110,669,928 Top Ten Brands THIS CHART SHOWS EACH YEAR'S TOP TEN SELLING BRANDS, ranked per 9-liter cases sold (sales numbers omitted for brevity). Seagram's whiskies dominated in the earlier decades, especially their 7 Crown. That brand lives on today as a Diageo product, but Seagram's the company — founded in 1857 — came apart in the 2000s. Its whiskey, however, along with the overall category, had lost its hold on top-selling spots long before the turn of the century. Americans turned towards vodka and rum in the 80s and 90s, fueled in part by craft cocktails and the Smirnoff craze. White spirits continue to post strong sales numbers today, but the whiskey resurgence is in full force, led by household brands and new, spicier variants. 38 Beverage Dynamics • November/December 2015 www.beveragedynamics.com Category Consumption THIS CHART TRACKS THE AMERICAN CONSUMPTION of major spirits categories, as far back as 1955. Whiskey drink- ers will notice its past peak age, between 1965 and 1980, when brown spirits where the preferred drink in this country. That torch was gradually passed to vodka. It may surprise some, though, that this chart shows the white spirit trailing whiskey until the mid-2000s. However, that statistical oddity is likely due to the great scope of the whiskey category, which includes Canadian and Scotch brands. (That this chart ends at 2010 unfortunately cuts off the fi gures for the recent whiskey resurgence.) Growing in popularity as a sipper and cocktail ingredient, rum is shown here to be fi rmly on the rise. So too is brandy experiencing an upswing. Another spirit that has begun appealing to connoisseurs is tequila. This category also appears to have benefi ted from the craft boom. Its numbers climb steadily in recent decades. As does overall consumption in general, save for a dip during the late '90s and early 2000s.