Flying higher
IF we know one thing about 2014 it is that it was a big year for Scotland – politically, sports-wise and more.
So arguably it should have been a good time to sell Scotch whisky, to locals and visitors alike.
Well, it didn’t quite work out that way.
The overall whisky market is fairly complicated. It includes a wide variety of brands and styles and of course it includes home-produced and imported (and for whisky purposes that includes Irish, Welsh and English).
Many c-stores have limited space and will choose to store and display whisky and other spirits behind the counter.
Arguably that makes it all the more important to know the best-selling brands and styles.
So how did the various whiskies do in 2014 in the Nielsen ScanTrack figures?
Well blended Scotch remains by far the biggest-selling type of whisky in the Scottish off-trade. Nielsen measured it as worth more than £108m. So it is almost three times the size of off-trade malt. And it’s around seven times the size of imported whiskey in Scottish take-home.
But while malt whisky sales grew at a healthy 7% year on year and imported whiskey grew by an impressive 13%, sales of the blends dropped significantly – down 5% in the Nielsen findings.
But look a little more closely and it’s clear there were winning and losing blends in 2014.
And the main winner has to be the Scottish market leader The Famous Grouse.
While the market fell by 5% and many of its closest rivals – including Whyte & Mackay, Grant’s and High Commissioner – were down broadly in line with that figure, The Famous Grouse, from an already high base, added a further 6% to its sales value in the Scottish off-trade, putting more than £30m through take-home tills.
It looks as if concerted marketing efforts, including TV advertising, range extensions and more, are paying off for Grouse.
Diageo-owned Bell’s was another big brand to beat the market’s performance. Diageo’s relatively recently relaunched Johnnie Walker Red Label grew very considerably. And the premium or deluxe blends Johnnie Walker Black Label and Chivas Regal also did well. But it appears to have been a bad Scottish off-trade year for the new Black Bottle blend.
The increasing diversity of malt Scotch is shown by the fact that even though malt sales are more than double those of imported whiskey there isn’t a malt whisky in our overall off-trade drinks top 50.
However, a remarkable performance by Aberlour 10 Year Old saw it crash into first place in off-trade malt, leapfrogging the established top three of Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie and Glenlivet in the process.
Highland Park achieved growth that was more than twice the rate of the market. And Glen Moray, Dalwhinnie, Laphroaig and Monkey Shoulder also did well.
In imported whiskey there was very steady sales growth by the clear market leader Jack Daniel’s. But second-placed Jim Beam made up some ground with very considerable growth indeed. And Jameson Irish whiskey also had a very good year, increasing sales by 23%.
Some small-batch Bourbons and other premium American whiskeys did well, though in some cases the growth was off of a fairly low base of existing sales. And it’s also interesting to see the flavoured whisky Jim Beam Red Stag do well. There are also other flavoured whiskey-based products out there but as their ABV level is less than 40% they are not allowed to be called whiskey.
Scotland’s top off-trade blended Scotch by sales value :
|
Rank |
Brand |
MAT £000s to w/e 04.01.14 |
MAT £000s to /we 03.01.15 |
% Change |
|
|
Total blended Scotch |
114,202 |
108,066 |
-5 |
|
1 |
The Famous Grouse |
28,953 |
30,372 |
5 |
|
2 |
Whyte & Mackay |
22,660 |
21,463 |
-5 |
|
3 |
Bell’s Original |
16,791 |
17,419 |
4 |
|
4 |
Grant’s Family Reserve |
7,119 |
6,635 |
-7 |
|
5 |
High Commissioner |
6,673 |
6,271 |
-6 |
|
6 |
Teacher’s Highland Cream |
2,845 |
2,261 |
-21 |
|
7 |
Chivas Regal 12 Year Old |
990 |
1,083 |
9 |
|
8 |
Scottish Leader Finest |
994 |
956 |
-4 |
|
9 |
Black Bottle |
2,007 |
916 |
-54 |
|
10 |
Johnnie Walker Red Label |
591 |
904 |
53 |
|
11 |
The Black Grouse |
880 |
798 |
-9 |
|
12 |
Johnnie Walker Black Label |
582 |
657 |
13 |
|
13 |
Highland Pride |
783 |
579 |
-26 |
|
14 |
Glen Afton |
453 |
472 |
4 |
|
15 |
Claymore Scotch Whisky |
366 |
376 |
3 |
Scotland’s top off-trade imported whisky by sales value :
|
Rank |
Brand |
MAT £000s to w/e 04.01.14 |
MAT £000s to /we 03.01.15 |
% Change |
|
|
Total imported whisky |
13,372 |
15,131 |
13 |
|
1 |
Jack Daniel’s |
8,717 |
9,737 |
12 |
|
2 |
Jim Beam |
1,054 |
1,616 |
53 |
|
3 |
Jameson |
932 |
1,145 |
23 |
|
4 |
Jack Daniel’s Gentleman Jack |
387 |
385 |
-1 |
|
5 |
Jim Beam Red Stag |
315 |
341 |
8 |
|
6 |
Bushmills Original |
244 |
236 |
-3 |
|
7 |
Old Samuel Bourbon |
293 |
213 |
-27 |
|
8 |
Tullamore Dew |
236 |
191 |
-19 |
|
9 |
Woodford Reserve Bourbon |
108 |
127 |
18 |
|
10 |
Buffalo Trace |
60 |
118 |
96 |
|
11 |
Canadian Club |
156 |
111 |
-29 |
|
12 |
Bushmills Malt 10 Year Old |
133 |
100 |
-25 |
|
13 |
Jim Beam Devil's Cut |
30 |
67 |
123 |
|
14 |
Wild Turkey |
16 |
58 |
258 |
|
15 |
Penderyn Malt Whisky |
45 |
53 |
18 |
