But over is Europe & US, blended whisky, sometimes thought of as the less-glamorous cousin of the malts and the premiums, is doing well, including standard blends, ie those under 12 years old. However, whisky consumption is facing pressure from rum.

Good ol' Scotch

Says Drinks International, the best-selling whiskies in the UK are Famous Grouse and Bells, and are considered premium brands there. Some other major Scotch markets and their top whiskies:

Scotland –     Not Chivas, not Johnnie Walker, but The Famous Grouse

US -                1. Dewar’s White Label,   2. J&B Rare / Grant’s

Spain -          1. J&B Rare,    2. Ballantine’s Finest

Greece -        1. Johnnie Walker Red Label,   2. Cutty Sark

Norway -     1. The Famous Grouse

Sweden –      1. The Famous Grouse

England  -    Bell’s

Europe -        J&B Rare

.

I’ve been liking Dewar’s and J&B lately. Pretty good stuff. Just add water.

Distillers in Scotland are facing competition for their whiskies from countries like Japan (no shit), England (first time making whisky since 1890), America, and India. Whisky authority Jim Murray named 18-year-old Sazerac Rye from Kentucky in America the finest whisky in the world.

Its top billing in Murray’s 2010 Whisky Bible pushed Ardbeg Supernova from Islay (Scotland) into second place, while there was further upset for the scotch industry with his third place choice – it went to a single malt called Amrut Fusion distilled in Bangalore, India. Haha!

Japanese producers have also been enjoying widespread acclaim for their malts, piling up awards and exporting their whiskies around the world, including onto the shelves of UK supermarkets.

In an upset, Bagpiper (India) has very recently overtaken Diageo’s legendary Johnnie Walker (Red Label) as the world’s best-selling whisky! This is due to it being cheap-ass and it’s gotta huge local market. This pushes J&B to third spot.

Haha!

I guess the only stuff we could win awards for here would be toddy & tuak. Well, maybe samsu too.

According to Drinks International, Asia is already the world’s largest spirits market, downing 47% of the world’s supply. And wine sales are predicted to rise before 2013 by 25%!

Well done people. Proud of ya!

Go Asia!

The forecast growth in wine outstrips that of North America, which is expected to grow by 7.6% while mainland Europe is expected to show negligible growth.

China, India and Japan alone account for 90% of Asia Pacific’s alcoholic drinks sales, probably due to their huge populations.

The ol skool wine-producing countries are still in charge – France, Spain and Italy are expected to continue to account for about 50% of the world’s wine.

The Japanese drink 2.3 litres of wine per head a year, Hong Kong 3.3 and Singapore 1.9, while British wine consumption has attained around 23ltr per head of population. The traditional wine producing countries, France, Spain and Italy drink approximately 40ltr per head. Winos.

No data on Malaysians specifically, but am sure we drink shitloads. Mat sallehs regularly freak out at our ‘enthusiasm’ and determination.