The world’s biggest selling spirits is a curious bunch of brands. Most likely you will have heard of no more than two or possibly three brands on the list.
Most likely you will not be familiar with the world’s biggest selling spirit, unless you have read our spirits posts before here on BKWine Magazine.
In fact, most of the brands on the top-10 spirits list are local or regional brands in Asia. The world’s biggest seller is Korean spirit called Jinro Soju. Soju, also called Shochu, is resembling vodka; it is a clear spirit. It is made from rice, wheat, or barley.
There are really only two “international” (i.e. Western) brands on the list: Smirnoff vodka and Johnnie Walker whisky, in 4th and 8th place respectively.
The biggest seller, Jinro, has a volume of 67 million nine litre cases (the traditional measure for spirits), i.e. just over 600 million litres, which is more than double the spirit that comes in second place, Emperador.
Here is the top 10 spirits in the world 2013
| Top 10 spirits from the IWSR’s Real 100 list | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank/Brand | Category | Owner | Volume 2009 | Volume 2012 | Volume 2013 | % chg 12->13 |
| 1 Jinro Soju | Shochu/Soju | Hite | 67,362 | 67,710 | 65,660 | -3 |
| 2 Emperador | Other brandy | Alliance Global | 7,100 | 30,000 | 31,950 | 6.5 |
| 3 Ruang Kao | Other spirits | Thai Beverage | 31,900 | 31,500 | 30,870 | -2 |
| 4 Smirnoff | Vodka | Diageo | 23,910 | 26,118 | 25,751 | -1.4 |
| 5 Officer's Choice | Other whisk(e)y | ABD | 12,277 | 18,705 | 24,164 | 29.2 |
| 6 McDowell's | Other whisk(e)y | USL/Diageo | 13,040 | 19,273 | 23,291 | 20.8 |
| 7 Chum Churum | Shochu/Soju | Lotte | 16,773 | 21,273 | 21,814 | 2.5 |
| 8 Johnnie Walker | Scotch whisky | Diageo | 14,880 | 18,847 | 19,288 | 2.3 |
| 9 Celebration | Rum | USL/Diageo | 11,157 | 17,657 | 18,904 | 7.1 |
| 10 Hong Tong 'Liquor' | Other spirits | Thai Beverage | 6,500 | 16,375 | 18,500 | 13 |
| Source: The IWSR Database 2014, units: 000s nine-litre cases | ||||||
So now I am wondering, have you ever tasted soju? If so, how did it taste?
Source: IWSR
Nowhere on the list:
