Leading Whiskies In The U.S. Aim To Restore Momentum
After a bull run over the past 15 years, whisk(e)y volume in the U.S. has slowed, with Impact Databank estimating that the total category—including flavored whiskies—was down 2% to 73 million cases last year (excluding flavors, the whisk(e)y category stands at 54.5 million cases). Still, high-end Bourbons and ryes eked out value gains as consumers continue to reach for premium and-above brands.
The two largest American whiskies in the U.S., Jack Daniel’s and Jim Beam, slipped 6% and 4% by volume last year, respectively. Despite the decline, Jack Daniel’s continues to rank as the fifth-largest spirits label in the U.S. in retail value terms at just over $1.75 billion. In Brown-Forman’s fiscal first half ended in October, Jack Daniel’s sales were flat organically, which the company noted was a sequential improvement. However, higher-end bottlings within the brand family were down, offsetting growth for Brown-Forman’s other super-premium American whiskies like Woodford Reserve and Old Forester.
At Suntory Global Spirits, Jim Beam decreased by 200,000 cases last year, about half the volume surrendered by Jack Daniel’s. Among its recent initiatives, the distiller last year revamped its higher-end Jim Beam Black expression ($25). The new version carries a 7-year-old age statement—making it six months older—and it’s also gotten a higher abv, boosted from 43% to 45%. Jim Beam also recently debuted a new campaign aimed at football fans featuring comedian Keegan-Michael Key.
Evan Williams, part of the Heaven Hill portfolio, dipped slightly last year but remains 200,000 cases above its 2019 volume. “Our Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond has been really strong both in the on-premise as well as in the off premise,” says Susan Wahl, Heaven Hill’s vice president of American whiskey. “The other shining star has been Evan Williams 1783 Small Batch.”
Canadian whisky leader Crown Royal received a marked boost last year from the launch of its Blackberry flavor. Diageo also added a Single Malt ($55) to the Crown Royal franchise, and the brand recently received a revamped bottle and label. “Our goal is to be the flavored whisky category leader,” Crown Royal national brand ambassador Stephen Wilson told SND. “One-fifth of all whisky consumers in the U.S. drink flavored whisky. Right now, we’re confident in the equity we’re building for Blackberry and our other flavored offerings.” Among all spirits brands in the U.S., Crown Royal ranks second behind only Tito’s in terms of retail dollar value, at well over $2 billion.
Sazerac’s Fireball continued to account for two-thirds of the flavored Canadian whisky market last year, according to Impact Databank. Fireball has slowed down markedly the past few years, but has still tripled in size since 2013. It has U.S. retail value of above $1.25 billion.
Elsewhere, Irish whiskey’s top brand, Jameson, saw volume decline in the U.S. last year to approximately 3.7 million cases, but the brand remains ahead of its pre-pandemic total. Jameson was recently named the official whiskey of Major League Soccer. The partnership, which covers multiple years, is the next step in the brand’s “Must Be a Jameson” campaign. Last week, brand owner Pernod Ricard said underlying sell-out trends for Jameson showed improvement in the the three months through December, and that it expects better trends to continue through the first half of this year. —Daniel Marsteller
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Tagged : Crown Royal, Evan Williams, Fireball, Jack Daniel’s, Jameson, Jim Beam
