DI Annual Bar Report: All Time- Leagues

It takes a lot to make it on to a bars report list and even more to repeat the process. Hamish Smith salutes the brands with the staying power

Bartenders of the world’s best bars are the most discerning buyers you will find – the liquid has to pass more than muster before a brand can get down to talking price. So to be a top seller in one of these bar is tough, but to do it consistently, over a number of years, is the ultimate feat. These pages are designed to give those consistently high-preforming brands recognition.

For our All-Time tables we assigned 10 points for a first place finish in a single year, counting down to one point for finishing 10th. Rankings are based on aggregates of a brand’s points accrued over the years of polling.

BARTENDER’S CHOICE

Overwhelmingly, Tanqueray has been the Bartender’s Choice over the past eight years. With four first-place finishes and one second in the past five years in the bartender vote, it is well ahead of Havana Club, which scored well in the early years of this poll.

Likewise, Bacardi’s top spots from 2010-2011 are the major reason for it lying in third, though with a sixth-place finish in this year’s Bartender’s Choice, it has kept ahead of the chasing pack. But only just. Two points separate Bacardi, Beefeater, Grey Goose and Del Maguey, so whichever brand performs strongest next year will take its place on this hall of fame podium.

VODKA

With Ketel One having topped our vodka charts for the past five years it seems something of anathema to see the brand down in third, but Absolut has always been in the running, posting top-three rankings for eight years straight. Grey Goose too has been a constant presence, with second-place finishes in the past two years. If Ketel One can keep up the dominance it has wrought since 2013, it will slowly climb the all-time table.

RUM

Havana Club and Bacardi are even in the all-time rum list, with aggregate scores precisely the same. We give the nod to Havana Club as the form brand – it’s made up the gap on Bacardi, beating it in each of the past three years. It’s a chasm to third, where Appleton, though featuring in every top 10 rum list for eight years, is under pressure from Zacapa, which has slowly been building up its total score. Probably not next year, but expect Zacapa to join Havana Club and Bacardi in the all-time top three soon. Plantation, our 2017 rum champion, didn’t register scores from 2010-2014, so is fifth in the field.

BRANDY

Hennessy, with its flawless record in our poll, will be the all-time brandy leader for a long time to come. Rémy Martin is not going to contend for first spot for a while, having been beaten every year so far. The Rémy-Cointreau brand is a solid second, ahead of Martell, which, though comfortably on the podium, has Courvoisier for company in fourth.

If our polling had started in 2013, Pierre Ferrand would be up there in the top three, but it didn’t, and thus the brand languishes in fifth.

SCOTCH

Johnnie Walker has proved to be untouchable over the eight years with a perfect eight top-place finishes. Chivas Regal has lost ground on its Diageo-owned foe in the past three years, with seventh, eighth and seventh-place finishes. No-shows from Dewar’s in 2016

and 2017 have seen it drop out of the all-time top three to be replaced by The Macallan – the all-time scotch list’s first single malt. Monkey Shoulder is not far behind.

AMERICAN WHISKEY

With top-four rankings in each of the eight years, Maker’s Mark has consistently been found to be a popular American whiskey brand at the world’s best bars. In second spot, and by dint of championship form from 2010-2012, Jack Daniel’s is a steady second, while Woodford Reserve enters our hall of champions for the first time, edging out Jim Beam. It’ll require more dominant performances from Bulleit before it manages to make the all-time list.

WORLD WHISK(E)Y

Jameson’s success in bars pre-dates Japanese whisky’s international success, and therefore it’s a long way ahead of its rivals. Interestingly, it is Yamazaki that has aggregately scored the best over the eight years ahead of Nikka, which has seen a recent flourish to take third. If Nikka keeps taking top honours in its category, it will likely leapfrog Yamazaki to second but will still be a lap or two behind Jameson.

GIN

Tanqueray and Beefeater have accrued exactly the same number of points in the gin category over the eight years, but we give the nod to Tanqueray. The Diageo gin is the form brand, having topped the last four gin lists. Bombay Sapphire may have lost out to Hendrick’s in the gin category over the past two years but has a stronger record over the eight years, including two first-place finishes in 2010 and 2011.

LIQUEURS

Cointreau, as the ingredient in many a cocktail, is a mile ahead of the competition in the liqueurs hall of fame. In second, because of its early dominance (three top finishes from 2010-2012), is Baileys, which next year looks likely to be knocked down a spot by St Germain, which finally joins the all-time top three after a strong category performance in the past four years. It has replaced Grand Marnier, which, like Baileys, has failed to register on our liqueurs top 10 lists in the past few years. Campari, champion of its category for the past two years, had a fallow period in our poll from 2010-2013 and is thus way back in the field.

TEQUILA

Something of a throwback, José Cuervo is still our tequila all-time leader, thanks to its winning form from 2010-2013. Don Julio has an inverted record, with three top spots in the past four years, meaning it is a whisker away from being our all-time champion. Olmeca, in third, will lose its place on the podium to Patrón, if both parties score similarly next year.

CHAMPAGNE

Moët & Chandon is the largest champagne in the world and has dominated since we started asking bartenders about champagne in 2013. It hasn’t finished outside of the top two places in its category in those five years, but neither has Perrier-Jouët – there is just one point between them. The top two of next year will also decide the top two of the all-time list. A little way back in third is Veuve Clicquot which marched ahead of Mumm after the Pernod Ricard brand failed to score in 2017.

BEER

In the six years we’ve been asking bartenders about beer, Heineken has come top in five editions of the poll and second in one. Peroni is the only brand to have taken Heineken’s scalp, though remains a distant second on aggregate scores. Asahi, another brand associated with bars, has been steady in our beer poll over the years, but will lose its place to Corona should 2017 performances be repeated in 2018.

TONIC WATER

We’ve only been asking bartenders about tonic water for three years, so this is early days for our all-time tonic water list. Suffice to say, Fever-Tree, with uninterrupted first place finishes, heads the leader board, with Schweppes and Fentimans in pursuit. One slip-up from any of these three could see a reordering.

WATER

No matter which bars make up our 100-bar poll, the bottled water one-two-three has been San Pellegrino, Perrier, Acqua Panna. With now decent gaps in aggregate scores between the brands, it’s likely this all-time top three will remain the same for the foreseeable future. Evian in fourth will need to considerably better Acqua Panna’s 2017 score if it is to make headway.