Impact Databank: Upscale Gin Imports Sustain Double-Digit Pace

After pantry-loading in 2020 led to a rare increase for the overall U.S. gin market, the category resumed its long-term decline last year. Total gin depletions have now fallen in 12 of the past 14 years, according to Impact Databank. Imported gin, however—and super-premium priced imports specifically—have bucked the trend. Other than supply disruptions caused by the pandemic, upscale gin imports (at least $25 a 750-ml) have consistently registered double-digit gains, and they combined for more than a million cases in the U.S. last year, more than doubling their aggregate volume in the past five years.

William Grant & Sons’ Hendrick’s is the segment’s frontrunner, and the market’s fifth largest-selling gin brand overall, according to Impact Databank. In March, Hendrick’s unveiled Flora Adora, a new limited release inspired by garden florals, retailing for $40 a bottle. Hendrick’s accounts for roughly half the volume of all upscale gin imports. A distant second is Canada’s Empress 1908, which was acquired last year by Austin, Texas-based Milestone Brands. In addition to seeing growth in the U.S., Empress 1908 sells nearly 50,000 cases in its home market of Canada.

Third-ranked The Botanist from Rémy Cointreau generated strong momentum from its 2022 Super Bowl commercial, and launched a new “Look Further” campaign earlier this year. The Botanist has more than tripled its U.S. volume in the past five years, according to Impact Databank. Late last year, Maison Ferrand’s fourth-ranked Citadelle brand launched a new series of limited-edition gins—Les Excentriques—with a cornichon-flavored spirit with a suggested retail price of $30 a 750-ml.

Other upscale gin imports that registered strong double-digit growth last year included two brands from Beam Suntory—Roku and Sipsmith—as well as Brown-Forman’s Fords London Dry, Pernod Ricard’s Malfy, and Martin Miller’s from Zamora Co. Upscale imports will propel the total imported gin sector to attain half the overall gin market’s volume by mid-decade, doubling its share since 2000. Imports already generate more than double the retail dollar value of domestic gin brands in the U.S., according to Impact Databank.

Tagged : Beam Suntory, Botanist, Brown-Forman, Empress 1908, Fords, Hendrick's, Malfy, Martin Miller's, Milestone Brands, Pernod Ricard, Remy Cointreau, Roku, Sipsmith, William Grant & Sons

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