I recently was trying to find a list of the best-selling whiskies in the world by volume, and to my surprise, I was having trouble. Sure, there’s lists of the best-selling Scotch whiskies and bourbons, for example. However, I couldn’t find a list that put global sales for all whisky brands together.So I figured I would solve that problem and do it myself, with help from information that I received from drinks market analysts IWSR, The Spirits Business, and a few other sources where necessary.Looking at the list, I’m willing to bet that you’ll be surprised to see so many brands you’ve never heard of near the top, or that a small group of companies control so many different bestselling brands.Some things to bear in mind. These rankings reflect sales by volume, not by value. The sales figures here are also as up to date as possible, reflecting overall sales for 2017. The number I’ve included below is the number of sales by thousands of 9-liter cases, which is the standard industry sales metric. So for example, sales of ‘1,000’ mean 1 million cases were sold, totaling 9 million liters.
So here’s the best-sellers:
Country: India
Owner:Allied Blenders and Distillers
Sales:31,510.1
Country:India
Owner:Diageo
Sales:26,338.2
Country: India
Owner:Pernod Ricard
Sales:18,847.7
Country:India
Owner:Pernod Ricard
Sales:18,700
Country:Scotland
Owner:Diageo
Sales:18,300
Country:USA
Owner:Brown Forman Corporation
Sales:12,900
Country:India
Owner:John Distilleries Pvt Ltd
Sales:10,300
Country: India
Owner: Diageo
Sales: 8,900
Country:USA
Owner:Beam Suntory
Sales:8,900 (includes sales of flavored whiskey)
Country:India
Owner:Diageo
Sales:7,400
Country:India
Owner:Radico Khaitan
Sales:7,000
Country:Canada
Owner:Diageo
Sales:7,000 (includes sales of flavored whisky)
Country:Myanmar
Owner:Thai Beverage
Sales:7,000 (estimate based on the Thai Bev annual report)
Country:Scotland
Owner:Pernod Ricard
Sales:6,900
Country:Ireland
Owner:Pernod Ricard
Sales:6,900
Country:India
Owner:Pernod Ricard
Sales:6,400
Country:India
Owner:Diageo
Sales:6,000
Country:Canada
Owner:Sazerac
Sales: 4,900 (U.S. sales alone, I couldn’t find global sales)
Country:India
Owner:Diageo
Sales:4,500
Country:Scotland
Owner:William Grant & Sons
Sales:4,500
Country:India
Owner:Diageo
Sales:4,200
Country:Scotland
Owner:Pernod Ricard
Sales:4,200
Country: India
Owner:John Distilleries Pvt Ltd
Sales:3,500
Country:Japan
Owner:Beam Suntory
Sales:3,400
Country:Scotland
Owner:Diageo
Sales:3,400