TOP 10 SELLING SCOTCH WHISKY BRANDS IN 2019

 BESTSELLING SCOTCH WHISKIES THROUGH 2019

1. Johnnie Walker: The No 1 bestselling giant of 2018 continues its reign at the top, albeit with a significant drop in volumes sold vis-à-vis 2018, 2.8% at 18.4m 9-litre cases. It will be celebrating its 200^th year in the business in 2020.

The blended Scotch brand reported disparate sales across its portfolio, benefitting from the successful launch of White Walker and the HBO show Game of Thrones. It also launched the 3rd blend in its Ghost and Rare series ex stocks from the shut Glenury Royal distillery in the Highlands. The JW family use Cameronbridge and North British distilleries for its single grain binders, Auchroisk, Benrinnes, Blair Athol, Caol Ila, Talisker, Dailuaine, Cardhu, Royal Lochnagar, Inchgower, Mannochmore, Teaninich and other distilleries for its malt whiskies.

 2. Ballantine's: The second placed brand last year, Pernod Ricard’s Ballantine’s retained its position, marking an uptick in sales, which rose 4.6% to 7.7m cases. This brand helped boost PR’s sales with strong double-digit growth in Eastern Europe, Brazil, India and China. 

The blended whiskies in its profile did rather well, from Ballantine's Finest to Ballantine's older bottlings. The former was very prominent in China.

3. Chivas Regal: Pernod Ricard’s Chivas Regal Blended Scotch whisky brand, which dropped by 1.1% to 4.4m 9-litre cases vis-à-vis 2018 has moved up the ladder from fourth to third place in 2019’s top 10. The 12 YO won the Blended Scotch Whisky 12 Year Old award in the 2019 International Whisky Competition.

 

Chivas Brothers has launched a range of four 13-year-old whiskies as part of a new global collection. This Chivas Extra 13 collection reportedly blends Scotch heritage with flavourful casks. Each cask during the whisky-making process contributes to its own unique combination, delivering four different flavour notes: Spanish Oloroso Sherry, Caribbean Rum, American Rye, and Mexican Tequila.

       Chivas Regal Extra Rum                 Chivas Regal Extra Rye                    Chivas Regal Extra Sherry             Chivas Regal Extra Tequila

4. Grant’s: William Grant & Sons Ltd is an independent Scottish company that distills Scotch whisky among others. Established in 1887 by William Grant, it is run by Grant's descendants as of 2018. It is the largest of the handful of Scotch whisky distillers remaining in family ownership. 

Grant’s whiskies in sum have declined to 4^th spot from 3^rd in 2018. The brand, owned by Scottish spirits group William Grant & Sons, saw a drop of 8.4% in 2019 to 4.2 million 9-L cases. The drop was attributed to a major brand overhaul in July 2018, including packaging redesign, a name change from ‘Family Reserve’ to ‘Triple Wood’, and the launch of new expressions – such as Grant’s Triple Wood Smoky – while other products were discontinued. Other experiments include the launch of the Glenfiddich IPA, XX and a 14 YO in honour of the USA.

Distilleries owned by William Grant & Sons are Glenfiddich, Balvenie, Kininvie, Ailsa Bay and Girvan Grain. They pioneered single malt Scotch whisky as, until Glenfiddich, only blended brands were common. Glenfiddich was first sold as a 6 YO in 1963 and is now the world’s leading single malt Scotch brand with The Balvenie a few slots lower. Another very popular seller is their blended whisky, Monkey Shoulder. 

5. William Lawson’s: A Bacardi brand, Blended Scotch William Lawson’s, witnessed a flat performance in 2019, retaining its fifth spot. Bacardi is looking to double its whisky bottling capacity in India and increase market share through entry-level whisky William Lawson’s. This is its first bottling foray outside Scotland.

 

William Lawson’s Finest Blend is sweet and medium-bodied in style, with a high malt content. At its core is the single malt of Macduff distillery, married with various bold malts and grain whiskies it owns with a difference – no peated whisky is added.

William Lawson started with ‘Lawson’s Liqueur Whiskey’ in 1889. In 1963 Clan Munro Whisky, blender of King of Kings premium whisky, bought the Lawson’s trademark, and agreed to call the brand William Lawson’s. That same year William Lawson Distillers Ltd acquired the 1962/63 Macduff distillery in Banffshire, which distilled and marketed its single malt as Glen Deveron. They expanded with the acquisition of John Dewar & Sons Ltd and five distilleries from Diageo.

Under Bacardi, William Lawson’s sales have risen dramatically, with volumes almost doubling between 2010 and 2014. Introduced into Russia in 2008, Lawson’s is now the country’s largest imported spirit brand. The blend also now enjoys strong sales in France, Spain, Portugal and Mexico.

In addition to Finest Blend, the William Lawson portfolio includes 12-year-old Scottish Gold, 13-year-old Bourbon-Cask-Finished and Super Spiced – whisky infused with vanilla and spice.

6. Dewar’s:

 One of the classic blends, Dewar’s has retained its reputation as an accessible, smooth Scotch while modernising its range in recent years. Dewar’s grew volumes by 6.4% to reach 3m nine litre cases in 2019. Consistent innovation and clever marketing have taken the brand past its 2013 volumes again, and secured Dewar’s the title of Scotch Whisky Brand Champion 2020. It has moved one slot up to lie 7^th.

Last year, the Bacardi-owned brand released its travel retail-exclusive range, Dewar’s Double Double, comprising three whiskies aged for 21, 27 and 32 years, which have each undergone a four-stage maturation process. The Dewar’s family worked hard to establish their eponymous blended Scotch whisky around the world, with the US market a particular strength.

Dewar’s followed this with its Cask Finish Series, which started with the launch of Dewar’s Caribbean Smooth Rum Cask, created by finishing eight-year‐old Dewar’s in ex-rum casks. The Cask Finish Series was extended further this year with the launch of eight-year-old, mezcal cask finished Dewar’s Ilegal Mezcal. At this brand's core, however, is Dewar’s White Label, which delivers Dewar’s signature soft honey, vanilla and floral flavours, though 12, 18 and 25-year-old expressions are also available.

7. J&B: J&B dropped to 7^th on a reduction of sales by -6% to 3 million cases in 2019. Diageo’s J&B brand has unfortunately been falling consistently for five years. J&B is notably popular in southern European markets, and promoted there as the world’s ‘party whisky’.

In May last year, Justerini & Brooks, the maker of J&B, brought distribution of the blended Scotch brand back inhouse after 21 years. The product is a blend of more than 40 Scotch whiskies. Prior to Prohibition (1920-33), J&B had sold modest quantities of whisky in the States, and when the firm’s Director visited the US in 1930 he concluded there would be great opportunities for Scotch once Prohibition ended. Accordingly, in the early 1930s, J&B Rare was developed, designed specifically to appeal to the American palate. 

8. Black & White: A Canadian, James Buchanan formed his own whisky company in 1884 naming his flagship whisky The Buchanan Blend, a light, smooth unpeated expression designed specifically to appeal to the English palate. The malts used were from Dalwhinnie, Clynelish and Glendullan distilleries.

The Buchanan Blend became an instant hit south of the border, reaching the Members Bar at the House of Commons in London. Buchanan then renamed the blend Buchanan’s House of Commons Finest Old Highland whisky, presented in a dark glass bottle with a striking white label. Before long, drinkers began ordering ‘that Black & White whisky’, and in 1902 the name was officially changed to Black and White. By then the brand was being exported across the world, and by 1907 it was being ordered by the emperor of Japan. Two years later it had become the most popular blend in England. Black and White is popular around the world in countries such as India, South Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

During the 1920s, the Black & White terriers began featuring more heavily in the brand’s advertising, quickly becoming iconic ambassadors for Buchanan’s flagship blend. In 2013 the brand was given a contemporary makeover, and the terriers made the move onto the bottle’s label for the first time.

9. Label 5: La Martiniquaise-Bardinet’s blended Scotch brand Label 5, which grew by 3.5% in 2019, has moved up one place to the ninth position. Last year, the French group updated the bottle design for its core Label 5 expression to spruce up its “contemporarity and impact”. In 2008, La Martiniquaise purchased the Glen Moray single malt distillery from The Glenmorangie Company, a major component in the Label 5 blend. The grain whisky comes from its 2009-built Starlaw distillery.

Over the years the brand has enhanced its portfolio with a ladder of expressions boasting a large quantity of Speyside single malt, from the flagship Label 5 Classic Black and Extra Premium 12 Year Old, through to the Extra Rare 18 Year Old, slightly smoky Gold Heritage and Sherry cask-finished Reserve No. 55.

10. Famous Grouse: Edrington’s Famous Grouse, the best selling whisky in Scotland for the past 40 years reached the 10^th slot, displacing Bell’s, once the No 1 brand in the UK, which suffered a 14.7% drop in sales.

The Famous Grouse has developed into one of the world’s leading Scotch whiskies and in recent years has been flanked by complementary expressions to form a range of its own. The Famous Grouse range also features Smoky Black, which incorporates peated whiskies from Islay and also Glenturret distillery into the blend, as well as a heavily-peated expression, Black Grouse Alpha Edition, which features a higher content of aged malts.

The Naked Grouse was introduced as a premium offering in the range, containing whiskies matured in first-fill Sherry casks for a richer, fruiter flavour. The Famous Grouse Mellow Gold, designed to impart a ‘smoother’ and sweeter palate, is the newest addition to the range. At the same time a distinctly purple-hued redesign of The Famous Grouse’s packaging was implemented in a bid to premiumise the brand.