For the 5th year in a row, India-based Officer’s Choice was crowned the world’s largest-selling whiskey with a total of 31.5m cases (1 case = 12 bottles). The company was founded 30 years ago as a mass-market whiskey brand and, boy… did they pick a mass market.
India accounts for nearly half of the world’s whiskey demand thanks to their estimated 1.35B population and general appetite for Hemingway’s lemonade (that’s slang for whiskey).
But don’t sleep on Asian liquor companies. According to a new report by market research firm IWSR, of the top largest booze brands, the South Korean soju brand Jinro is more than a few shots ahead of the competition.
Last year, Jinro sold 76m cases of alcohol, which is more than double the runner up, Thailand’s Ruang Khao at 31.7m, and nearly 5x more than everyone’s favorite pal, Mr. Jack Daniels.