Amid a swarm of launches in recent years, such consistency has to be admired. Tanqueray was found to be among the top-two gins in bars in 41% of cases and in almost a half it was in the medal positions.
Gin is the number one spirit in the world’s best bars so this equates to big volumes of the aforementioned expressions, but the brand is kept fresh with spin-o SKUs. Last year we saw Blackcurrant Royale and the gin-not-gin Tanqueray Alcohol Free.
Bombay’s time at the top last year was rather short lived, but it took the runner-up place this year, which is a marked improvement on its third-fourth places finishes from 2013-2020. The Bacardi-owned brand, famed for its vapour infusion, has an ever-widening family which now includes Bombay Sapphire Premier Cru and special editions Bombay English Estate and Bombay Sunset. By the time you read this, there may be a new Bombay, but the original Sapphire (and Bombay Dry in some markets) remains the jewel in the crown. It was the house in 14% of bars polled, but strong in the flanks, with 37% naming it among their three bestselling gins.
Beefeater too is led by its classic London Dry, its super-premium 24 and a host of trend-chasing flavours (Pink… you can guess the rest), but here in discerning bartender land it’s the classic juniper recipe that finds its way into house pours. More than Bombay, actually, though finishes third as it was found to be a top-three gin in under a third of bars polled.
Hendrick’s is now very competitive with the big three. The William Grant & Sons brand is more of gin-on-the-side for most bars though, with 27% saying it was their second or third choice. It’s a drop down from there, with Pernod’s Monkey 47 jumping a place. The only way is up with this botanically greedy German gin – it’s been the top trending brand every year since anyone can remember. It was a top-three gin in 18% of bars polled.
Meanwhile Citadelle, Gin Mare, Roku, Gordon’s and Fords were each found to be a top-three gin in 8-13% of bars polled. With so much gin slung in bars, even the crumbs left by the big brands can make for hearty sales.
Methodology
The results of this report are the culmination of a questionnaire of 106 bars around the world, each cherry-picked to take part based on their performance in global bar awards. We aim to find out not only which brands sell best but also what’s trending. These two data sets give us an insight into the brands that are doing the most volume and the brands that are hot right now.
To read more on the methodology of the Brands Report click here.
