Exclusive: Impact Databank’s Look At Single Malt Scotch’s Top Players

While blended Scotch has been steadily losing ground in the U.S. market, the upscale single malt segment is thriving. Few spirits categories are showing as much promise as single malt, which followed a 10% jump in 2013 with a 6% advance to 1.37 million cases in the U.S. last year, according to Impact Databank.

Single malt is now nearly 40% bigger in the U.S. than it was five years ago, and its share of the Scotch category has progressed from 13% in 2010 to 18% in 2014. And while many upscale spirits segments are dominated by just a few players, single malt’s expansion has been driven by a wide array of brands. Last year, category leader The Glenlivet became one of the U.S. market’s top five Scotch brands overall, while seven of the top 10 single malt labels posted double-digit gains.

Amid the general upturn, The Glenlivet saw a roughly flat performance in 2014, but the brand is up by 25% since 2010, and remains about 80% larger than its nearest rival, The Macallan. Looking to increase its momentum, the Pernod Ricard brand recently unveiled a new core offering in the U.S, The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve ($45). “The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve has been received particularly well, with overwhelmingly positive consumer and trade reaction since its launch,” says Sophie Gallois, global marketing director for Pernod’s Chivas Brothers unit.

Tagged : Beam Suntory, Edrington Americas, Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie, Laphroaig, Moet Hennessy, Pernod Ricard, The Balvenie, The Glenlivet, The Macallan, William Grant & Sons

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