Marketing

Irish whiskey sales in US up 15% in Q1

US sales of Irish whiskey grew by 15% in the first Quarter of 2022 according to the Luxury Brand Index, a tool created by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States to analyse sales of spirits brands by volume at the top end of the distilled spirits market.

 

Over the past five years sales of Irish whiskey have shown growth of 16% a year.

Over the past five years sales of Irish whiskey have shown growth of 16% a year.

Luxury spirits brands continued their impressive growth in the US by increasing sales 37% in the first Quarter of 2022 compared with the same Quarter of 2021.

“The gradual uptick in on-premise cocktail occasions continued to drive premiumization trends into the first quarter of 2022,” said the Chief of Public Policy at DISCUS Christine LoCascio, “Consumers who chose luxury brands when experimenting with at-home cocktails during the height of the pandemic have maintained their preference for these special brands while enjoying spirits at bars and restaurants.”

With the lifting of the retaliatory tariffs in the US in June 2021, Scotch Whisky continued its strong rebound in the US with a 34% growth rate after showing losses during the period when the tariffs were in effect.

Over the past five years sales of Scotch in the US showed 7% growth a year while Irish whiskey grew at 16% a year.

Indeed, over the five years between the first Quarter of 2017 and 2022 all spirits categories included in the LBI increased annual growth by rates ranging from 5% to 46%, with an average rate of 23%.

The LBI was first launched at the DISCUS Annual Conference in October 2021 and is released quarterly to provide insight to the beverage business community, analysts and media.

The LBI tracks the volume sales of spirits brands that have a retail price of $50 or more for 750ml. Retail prices were calculated by IRI Worldwide using retail scanner data and volumes were derived from DISCUS’ proprietary brand data.


Sign Up for Drinks Industry Ireland

Get a free weekly update on Drinks Industry trade news, direct to your inbox. Sign up now, it's free