Johnnie Walker is no longer the World’s best selling whisky. It has been knocked off the top spot by Indian Whisky McDowell’s, according to The Millionaires’ Club 2013 report published by Drinks International.
Despite sales volumes of Diageo’s flagship Scotch climbing 5% last year to 18.8m 9-litre cases, its Indian adversary – and soon-to-be stable mate – reached 19.5m cases, piling on 21% growth.
A spokesperson for Intellima, the research agency that compiled The Millionaires’ Club 2013, said, “The upper reaches of the whisky sector remain a battle between two seemingly unstoppable forces – the global might of Johnnie Walker and the domestic market-driven volume increases of Indian brands selling to a growing moneyed middle class. But now Johnnie Walker has been knocked off its perch by United Spirits’ McDowell’s No 1.” The overall picture is one of Indian whisky dominance with eight of the world’s top ten whiskies based in India. The Millionaires’ Club is now available to download from drinksint.com.