World whisky is defined as any outside the more traditional producing regions of Scotland, America and Ireland. The geo split of the top 10 is 50% Japan and 30% Canada, plus Taiwan’s Kavalan and India’s Amrut, suggesting Japan is on the cusp of warranting its own section and tipping over to traditional status.

With one in three bars declaring it the house pour, Nikka From the Barrel remains the bestselling world whisky in the world’s best bars. The squat, square bottle is widely recognisable and, while consumers enjoy it neat, bartenders enjoy working with it in cocktails. Across the whole poll, 73% said their bestselling world whisky came from Japan and, as more distilleries continue to open across the country, this trend will likely continue.

One trend in the bestselling list is that of bartender taste. They’re creatures of habit – they like rye and single malts, which make up more than half the list.

How we did it

The Brands Report has been released every January for the past 16 years and aims to provide data analytics into the buying habits of consumers in the world’s best bars.

To collect the data, we first curate a sample of industry-acclaimed bars from a combination of The World’s 50 Best Bars and its regional North America and Asia lists.

In order to ensure the best global coverage, about 5% of the poll were ‘editor’s picks’ – highly rated bars in regions less represented to assure a truly global data pool reflective of the current bar industry. Each year the panel rotates to ensure a fair and accurate set of results.

As part of the survey, we ask each bar owner or head bartender to dig out their sales spreadsheets and rank the three bestselling products in each spirits category, as well as beer, champagne and mixers. The bestselling list is based on hard data, while top trending is more subjective – the brand which isn’t necessarily shifting big volumes but is seen as in vogue by each bar. Often, the brands that figure highly in the trending list move on to the bestselling list the following year, as curiosity and excitement transition to weight of sales.

We also ask our poll to declare the house pour in some of the world’s bestselling classic cocktails. The drinks are chosen to specifically represent major spirits categories and are generally big hitters in the Cocktail Report’s list of the 50 bestselling classic cocktails, due to launch in spring.

To view the page-turner edition of the Brands Report click here.

The Brands Report will be serialised on drinksint.com throughout January.