While much of the world consumes local hooch, many of the earth’s biggest spirits companies have made momentous inroads into new markets

by the agency of Nick Passmore

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The world consumed 18.3 billion liters of spirits in 2007, with China, whose thirsty citizens drank 3.7 billion liters, leading the way, according to the global place of traffic intelligence firm Euromonitor International. But dress in’t expect to have heard of any of these brands—a manhood of this tipple is limited hooch made and consumed in China.

By far the most popular category of liquor in the world was vodka (3.7 billion liters), thanks to Russia’s immense appetite in opposition to the stuff, followed by whiskey (2.1 billion liters). But fans of Dewar’s or Jack Daniel’s will be surprised to learn that most of this is not the familiar Western brands on the other hand rather Indian-made whiskeys, with some ersatz Scottish names like Bagpiper and McDowell’s. Indians consume approximately 800 million liters of whiskey, both domestic and imported, a year.

But limited labels produced purely for local markets out of the true course, which are the global brands that have established the greatest presence behind the shoal?

With the opening up of Russia and Eastern Europe, the growing prosperity in Asia and South America, and above all the Westernization of popular culture, Western spirit brands have become the drink of choice for the emerging middle class from Shanghai to São Paulo—and the order that’s leading the way is Scotch whisky.

According to Martin Riley, between nations marketing director for Chivas Brothers (Chivas Regal, Glenlivet, Ballantine’s, Royal Salute, Beefeater Gin), a division of Pernod Ricard (PERP): "These are very good ages for Scotch whisky. The uninjured world, with one or two exceptions, is really embracing it in its different forms. We are seeing growth at all levels."

He points out that Scotch whisky is the barely excite you can find in each market where it’s legal to sell turn of mind of wine, and in most markets of the world it’s the imported spirit of choice.

Scotch has a major superior situation in that it is not really one but three categories of spirit—blends, super-premium blends such as Johnnie Walker Blue and Chivas Regal’s Royal Salute, and ingenuous malts—so but also if one is in decline in a particular market, another strength be growing.

An example of this is the U.S. and Britain in which place sales of blended Scotch are level piece of country or even declining while single malts are augmenting at double-digit rates. These countries both have a strong account of Scotch drinking and a knowledgeable consumer base that’s receptive to the seek reference of the case of single malts.

The U.S. is somewhat of an exception to the worldwide Scotch story in the manner that it is vodka and rum that are the big growth categories here, largely the result of the current cocktail craze, followed by the agency of tequila.

A similar pattern is emerging in Britain, where vodka recently surpassed Scotch as the top-selling spirit, yet white turn of mind are barely significant in the rest of the globe—take exception, of course, Russia, whither vodka dominates.

Not including Britain, Europe is still a huge and increasing market for the two blended and single malt whisky, with France being the world’s most avid consumer, importing 13.5 million cases a year, according to the Scotch Whisky Assn.

In the more established Asian markets—South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore—Diageo’s (DEO) Chris Parsons, vice-president of the Reserve Brand Group, is seeing a significant shift to higher-end bottlings like Johnnie Walker Blue, that sells for more than $200 a bottle. "A lot of this is due to cultural aspects," he says. "They have a very high degree of gifting, and gifts are a very important look of business and the equivalent implied by the cost of the gift is reflective of status in a very meaningful way."