The 2019 Annual Brands Report by Drinks International has just been released, and it makes for fascinating reading. For those that consider themselves a whisky connoisseur or, perhaps more accurately, a hardcore enthusiast, it also suggests you’re possibly out of step with what’s happening on the on-premise scene…
When did you realise your fondness for whisky went next level? At what point did you graduate from being someone who merely liked whisky to someone who was interested in whisky?
Was it the day you went into a bar and ordered a neat single malt rather than a JW & coke? The day you joined a Facebook whisky group? Or was it the day you corrected someone for mispronouncing Islay?
Once your relationship with whisky transitions from merely liking to exploring, you join an enlightened group of comrades. You learn and speak a new language; you make new acquaintances; you form new strong friendships; you grow a collection; and you devour all the information you can about whisky. And, importantly, for the purposes of this piece, you find yourself part of a very small minority. For it turns out that the rest of the world – even those that like and drink whisky – are marching to the beat of a different drum. There is a huge disconnect between the priorities and purchasing habits of a whisky enthusiast and the common imbiber. And this becomes very apparent when you look at what’s going on in the bar scene…
The Annual Brands Report is a poll that aims to track the trends of the best bars in the world. The identified bars – polled from across 38 countries – participate in a survey where they’re asked to rank their three bestselling products in each spirit category. The results are reported back in two formats – there’s a Top 10 list of the bestselling brands, and also a Top 10 list of the top trending brands. The latter list doesn’t reflect what’s selling in large volumes but, rather, what customers are increasingly asking for – perhaps because of word of mouth, or bartenders’ recommendations. The report points out that brands that appear on the trending list one year often subsequently appear on the bestselling list the following year.
The results for Scotch tell a story: The number one selling brand – on both lists, mind you – is Monkey Shoulder. Yes, that’s right, a blended malt. Johnnie Walker comes in second on the Bestselling Brands list (after nine consecutive years in the number one spot), but is nowhere to be seen on the Trending Brands list. Two other blends, namely Dewar’s and Chivas Regal, feature on the bestselling list at No.’s 6 and 10 respectively.
The four aforementioned brands are worthy players and all make good whisky. But it would not be a stretch or unfair to suggest that those brands are unlikely to excite a genuine whisky enthusiast.
The emergence of Monkey Shoulder at No.1 is a story in itself – particularly to knock off a behemoth such as Johnnie Walker (with its many diverse expressions). If I may isolate one market for a moment and look purely at Australia, the rising consumption figures for blended malt whisky over time reveal not just impressive growth, but also – arguably – a decided and very successful marketing campaign by William Grant & Sons. Admittedly, the figures are now a few years old, but from 2007 to 2010, consumption of blended malt whisky (previously known as vatted malt) in Australia rose 4.5%. Here’s the kicker: Monkey Shoulder was introduced to the Australian market in 2011. Between 2010 and 2012, consumption of blended malt whisky suddenly jumped up 37.3%! For the exact same period, consumption of blended malt whisky was stagnant or fell in almost every other market (e.g. USA, Western Europe, Japan, Russia), with Latin America being the other notable exception to see a rise.
Is it fair to say that most people aren’t walking into a bar and ordering a Monkey Shoulder on the rocks? Almost since its inception (which was actually back in 2005!), Monkey Shoulder has been marketed as a great whisky for mixing and barely a single article exists on the brand without it being mentioned somewhere that it’s brilliant for cocktails. It has the appeal of being a malt whisky, with the inherent additional robustness, texture, and flavour that affords, whilst not necessarily carrying the price tag of most other single malts.
As for we whisky enthusiasts, there’s a big difference between what we order at a bar and what we purchase by the bottle at our local liquor outlet. If you’re lucky to have a well-stocked or specialist whisky bar nearby, such venues are usually opportunities to explore deluxe releases by the dram that perhaps we can’t afford by the bottle. Or merely to taste a whisky rather than invest in it. But my point is this: We’re not the ones walking into a bar and ordering a cocktail with Monkey Shoulder in it. But it’s evident the rest of the world is.
And if you were wondering what the other six brands were in the Bestselling List, the answers are again intriguing. Four of them are peated, and three of those four are from Islay. Laphroaig is the surprise packet at No. 3; Ardbeg made No. 7, Lagavulin at No. 8 and Talisker at No. 9. The three Islay distilleries have relatively small output capacities, so their appearance on any bestselling list might raise an eyebrow or two. However, given the increasing popularity of using smoky malts in cocktails and the fact that punters are exploring stronger flavours when imbibing neat, perhaps this isn’t so surprising after all. But one also wonders if the likes of the Ron Swanson’s of this world are having an impact? As for the remaining two, and looking at the huge number of different expressions in Macallan’s and Glenfiddich’s portfolio, plus the sheer size and volume of both, it is perhaps no surprise they feature high up in the list in the on-premise market.
The pleasing part of the story is that six of the top 10 are actually single malts. As the editors again point out, when the polling started years ago, blends dominated the list, now single malts make up the majority. Maybe the world is catching up to us after all? 😉
Cheers,
AD
PS: If any of the above resonated with you, you might also like our article, Unknown heroes of the whisky industry
You’ve highlighted a phenomena that has always intrigued me.
Most whisky blogs concentrate on single malts yet they make up a small percentage of total sales.
There is indeed a disjoint between the blogosphere and the buying public.