Brands Report 2022: Liqueurs

Liqueurs do a lot of the heavy lifting on a cocktail menu, so naturally, the bestselling list boasts a huge variety of styles.

Again, for the seventh consecutive report, Campari reigns supreme, and a look over our bestselling classics will tell you why. The Negroni, in which Campari has a starring role, is the year’s most popular serve, and the Italian aperitif also features in a Boulevardier and Americano, which both appear in the top 50. It’s the most popular liqueur in a quarter of polled bars and a top-three selection in 40%. 

In second place on the bestselling list and atop the trending table is the Carthusian monk-made, bartenders’ favourite Chartreuse. It remains the bottle to grab for any bartender looking to lend a cocktail a herbal punch.

Giffard takes third place. The go-to brand in 11% of bars, its extensive range of premium classic liqueurs makes it a player across the entirety of a cocktail menu.

Cointreau, our list’s most popular orange liqueur, benefi­ts from its role in many of our top 50 classic cocktails. It’s a top-three most popular liqueur brand in 22% of polled bars.

French brand Merlet, with its extensive range of classic liqueur varieties, completes the top ­five, the most commonly used brand in 7% of polled bars.

The top ­five are unchanged from last year’s list, but there is movement at the foot of the table. Bacardi’s elderflower liqueur St-Germain rises three places to sixth thanks to its role in the growing popularity of spritz serves. 

Diageo’s Irish cream Baileys re-enters the list at seventh, the most popular liqueur in 4% of polled bars and a top three in 7%.

Dutch brand Bols relaunched its 40-strong liqueur range last year with new recipes and bottle design – it returns to the top 10 following a year of absence.

Chile liqueur Ancho Reyes proves there is space on the list for the niche, and Disaronno lands the 10th spot for the second consecutive year.

                                                                                                  

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.