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 200th 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 Regal Extra 13 Chivas Regal Mizunara Chivas Regal Ultis
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.
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| 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 4th spot from 3rd 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 7th.
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 7th 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 10th 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.
