DISCUS: Whisk(e)y Growth Drives 4% Value Increase Across U.S. Spirits Market

The Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. (DISCUS) says strong momentum from the whisk(e)y category drove spirits supplier sales up 4.1% last year to $24.1 billion, with volume rising 2.3% to 215 million cases. Spirits’ ongoing premiumization trend was evident in 2015, as the high end (defined as bottles retailing from $20-$30) advanced 7.1% to nearly 3 million cases, creating $509 million in supplier revenue. Super-premium spirits (priced above $30) were up 6.5% to 1.2 million cases, generating $395 million. Combined, the high-end and super-premium segments comprised 95% of the $950-million increase in supplier revenue last year.

In 2015, all whisk(e)y segments collectively reached more than 59 million cases—with 12.3 million cases added since 2010—while generating $8.1 billion in supplier revenue. In particular, Bourbon, rye, Tennessee whiskey and white/corn whiskey grew a combined 5.2% last year to 20.4 million cases. Meanwhile, Tequila (+7.4% by volume, +9.4% by value), Cognac (+14% by volume, +16.2% by value) and vodka (+1.8% by volume, +0.5% by value) also made progress, while rum was down 1.5% by volume and 2% by value, according to the DISCUS report.

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