Domestic consumption is twice the size of gin globally, but the spirit remains somewhat niche to most of the world – 99% of all cachaça never makes it out of Brazil, and the 1% that does almost invariably ends up in a Caipirinha. It’s a category that is talked about with reverence by those in the know, yet has never quite managed to find a permanent place in the spotlight. Still, the rise of craft and internationally-owned brands has made an impact in recent years and our poll indicates that more than three-quarters of bars stock a cachaça, more than half stock two brands, and more than a third have three or more on the shelf.

With such a huge number of Brazilian brands vying for the small stake that is the export market, the playing field is relatively flat. High-volume and craft brands perform similarly, and this year’s three bestsellers have all topped previous lists. 

Bacardi’s Leblon, which has taken second place in the last two reports, returns to the head of the bestselling table with a shade over 20% of cachaça-stocked bars choosing the brand as their house pour, and as a top-three serve in a third. 

This result narrowly beat volume-giant Cachaça 51, which was the bestselling cachaça in 19%.

Craft brand Yaguara is an organic Brazilian cachaça made by a fifth generation family-owned producer. It topped both tables in last year’s list and follows up with third and first in the bestselling and trending lists this year. The brand is also the most common second choice for bars on the list.

Gruppo Campari’s Sagatiba, one of the first wave of premium cachaças when it hit the market in 2004, and the single source and pot distilled Avuá, owned by US-based Drifter Spirits, round out the top five.

*The Trending list has been updated after Drinks International became aware of a data error.

Methodology

The results of this report are the culmination of a questionnaire of 106 bars around the world, each cherry-picked to take part based on their performance in global bar awards. We aim to find out not only which brands sell best but also what’s trending. These two data sets give us an insight into the brands that are doing the most volume and the brands that are hot right now.

To read more on the methodology of the Brands Report click here.