This decade has seen steady, if slow, growth in the dark spirits category, with volume sales growing nearly 7% since 2012. Throughout the period under review, volume sales increases in whiskey outperformed brandy, cognac, and Armagnac, whose sales growth has been flat. The segment is poised to reap the benefits of flavored additions, an area of interest for 50% of women, who traditionally under index in the consumption of dark spirits.

Young dark spirits consumers are experimenting with a variety of beverages, including brandy and cognac, but they appear to have not settled upon a favorite brand, indicating a potential for manufacturers large and small.

This report builds on the analysis presented in Mintel’s Dark Spirits – US, October 2013, as well as the September 2012 report of the same title. The category was also covered in the following reports: Spirits: The Consumer – US, September 2011; Spirits: The Market – US, September 2010, and Spirits: The Consumer – US, August 2010.

This report includes dark spirits sold for home preparation and/or consumption. The following types of dark spirits are analyzed:

• Whiskey/whisky, which includes the following subsegments:

Canadian whisky

Straight American whiskey, including bourbon and unaged white whiskey (also known as moonshine; the report covers legally sold, unaged white whiskey marketed as moonshine, not the illegally made varieties often associated with the term in various regions of the US).

Scotch whisky

Blended American whiskey

Irish whiskey

• Brandy and cognac, as well as Armagnac

This report excludes the following categories, which are covered in Mintel’s White Spirits – US, November 2014:

• Vodka

• Rum, including dark, aged, and/or spiced rum

• Gin

• Tequila

RTD (ready-to-drink) premade alcoholic beverages, including wine coolers, flavored malt beverages, and RTD premixed cocktails, will be covered in the Mintel report Alcoholic Beverage RTDs – US, December 2014.

Dollar sales data in this report include all distilled spirits segments (dark and white), while volume sales data solely cover dark spirits. Dark spirits, unless otherwise noted, is defined as whiskey/whisky and brandy, cognac, and Armagnac, and the segment does not include cordials and liqueurs, a market to be covered in Mintel’s Alcoholic Beverage Mixers & Liqueurs – US, September 2015 report.

Beer, including domestic, imported, and craft or microbrew beer, also is excluded from this report and is covered in Mintel’s Beer – US, January 2015, as well as Craft Beer – US, June 2014, Beer – US, December 2013 and Craft Beer – US, November 2012.

Value figures throughout this report are at rsp (retail selling prices) excluding sales tax unless otherwise stated.

• Market Size and Forecast: Mintel/based on Information Resources Inc.; The Beverage Information Group 2014 Liquor Handbook; Bureau of Economic Analysis

• Segment Performance: Volume sales based on The Beverage Information Group 2014 Liquor Handbook/Mintel.

• Retail Channels: Volume sales based on The Beverage Information Group 2014 Liquor Handbook./Mintel.

• Leading Companies and Brand Share: Volume sales based on The Beverage Information Group 2014 Liquor Handbook/Mintel.

For the purposes of this report, Mintel commissioned exclusive consumer research through GMI to explore consumer consumption/purchases of and attitudes toward dark spirits sold at retail. Mintel was responsible for the survey design, data analysis, and reporting. Fieldwork was conducted in August 2014 among a sample of 2,000 adults aged 22+ with access to the internet. The base of respondents aged 22+ is inclusive of consumers who were of legal drinkng age (21 years old) in the previous six months for comparative questions.

Mintel selects survey respondents so that they are proportionally balanced to the entire US adult population based on the key demographics of gender, age, household income, and region. Mintel also slightly oversamples, relative to the population, respondents that are Hispanic or Black to ensure an adequate representation of these groups in the survey results. Please note that Mintel surveys are conducted online and in English only. Hispanics who are not online and/or do not speak English are not included in the survey results.

Mintel has also analyzed data from Experian Marketing Services, using the Simmons NCS (National Consumer Study) and the Simmons NHCS (National Hispanic Consumer Study). The Experian Marketing Services Simmons NCS/NHCS was carried out during the Summer 2014 survey period, and the results are based on the sample of 24,852 adults aged 21+, with results weighted to represent the US adult population.

While race and Hispanic origin are separate demographic characteristics, Mintel often compares them to each other. Please note that the responses for race (White, Black, Asian, Native American, or other race) will overlap those that also are Hispanic, because Hispanics can be of any race.

Broadcast ads mentioned in the Marketing Strategies section of this report include links to the ads on YouTube. These videos are sourced from brand-specific channels, but can be removed or changed by the channels’ owners following publication. Due to the age restrictions for the alcoholic beverage subject matter, accessing these videos requires a YouTube log-in and consent to any potentially mature content of the videos.

The following is a list of abbreviations used in this report:

Whiskey: Used for whiskey made in the US or Ireland. In this report, whiskey will be used as the general term for the segment.

Whisky: Used for Scotch and/or Canadian whisky as well as liquor made in the Scotch tradition. The term will be used in this report as it is applied to specific origin and/or products.

Generations are discussed within this report, and they are defined as:

* also known as Generation Y or Echo Boomers

In order to provide an inflation-adjusted price value for markets, Mintel uses the CPI to deflate current prices. The CPI is defined as follows: