Maker’s Mark, Knob Creek, Basil Hayden’s, Hibiki and Laphroaig are among the brands that have driven especially strong volume growth, the company said.

Suntory’s spirits unit, Suntory Spirits, sales were up 8% in the year to date. While the overall beer market is forecast to be down about 1% year-on-year, Suntory Beer sold 53.31 million cases, up 0.2%. Suntory's wine unit, Wine International, grew sales by 5% year-on-year.

For the period ending in December 2015, Suntory is anticipating net sales to increase 7.9% year-on-year, operating income to increase by 17.1%, and net income to increase 30.3% year-on-year.