1, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey
(Bacardi Brown-Forman Brands)
Less than 18 months after its UK launch, this mix of Jack Daniel’s, honey and spices takes the top spot on its Hot to Stock debut. The 35% ABV drink is technically a liqueur and was designed to attract younger drinkers and more women to the brand. Bacardi Brown-Forman Brands is hoping that the sweeter taste profile of this relatively newcomer variant will appeal to younger drinkers, who will progress on to the main Jack Daniel’s variant as their palate develops and they seek out more refined tastes.
Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey has spearheaded growth in the emerging flavoured spirits market, which now includes rival Jim Beam Honey and Red Stag (neither of which make the list this year), as well as Bacardi Oakheart and Captain Morgan’s Spiced — both make it into this year’s top 10.
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2, Grey Goose
(Bacardi Brown-Forman Brands)
Super-premium vodka Grey Goose received a £1.5m marketing push near the end of last year and set its sights on 25 to 40-year-old drinkers of fine wine, Champagne and premium spirits. Its campaign included press adverts and outdoor posters in London, Edinburgh and Manchester, together with events such as sponsorship of the London Restaurant Festival and its annual benefit, the Grey Goose Winter Ball for
the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
This year, Grey Goose premiered the UK final of The Grey Goose Le Rendez-Vous cocktail competition, in which seven of the UK’s leading bartenders created their own interpretations of a classic Grey Goose Martini. The brand has also been running its ‘Iconoclasts of Taste’ project, which champions new movements in food and drink. As part of this, Grey Goose continues to support Ento and Tasha Marks by creating bespoke cocktails that are served at Covent Garden Cocktail Club in central London and the Gilbert Scott, at London St Pancras railway station.
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3, Stella Artois Cidre (bottled)
(AB InBev)
Up one place from last year’s debut at four, this brand emerges triumphant in the cider category, ahead of the six other ciders to make the list.Tapping into a gap in the market for lager drinkers looking for a sweeter drink, the gamble by the innovation team to move into cider two years ago has clearly paid off.
It has been a storming success, not just for the company, but the cider sector as a whole — £1 in every £6 spent on Stella Artois Cidre is new to the category.
A pear variant swiftly followed last June — which has yet to make it into the Hot to Stock listing — but there has been no new product development since, despite a proliferation of fruit flavours emerging from its rivals.
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4, Bacardi Oakheart
(Bacardi)
Developed to fill a gap in the market for a spiced rum with a more “masculine edge”, Bacardi Oakheart, which was launched in 2011, is a blend of the distillery’s Superior and Gold rums, some of which are aged in Bourbon casks.It has sneaked ahead of Captain Morgan’s Spiced, at number five, which is also a new entry. It is one of four rums to make it on to the list this year.
Since its £3m launch, however, marketing activity for the brand has been much quieter, which puts its position in next year’s Hot to Stock in jeopardy.
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5, Captain Morgan’s Spiced
(Diageo)
Morgan Spiced got a promotion to Captain in 2011, in order to fall in line with the rest of the world where it was already being sold as Captain Morgan’s Spiced. The move has reaped rewards for the
brand, as the following year saw record sales growth and it became only the sixth premium spirit ever to sell 10 million cases in one year.
It is no surprise, then, that it makes its Hot to Stock debut at number five and Diageo isn’t letting up either, with a recently-announced £1.8m campaign across TV, print and digital platforms to encourage consumers to ‘Live Like the Captain’, which will kick off the next 12 months of activity for the brand.
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