Brown Forman and the Growth of US Whiskey
Commercial Spirits Intelligence No.52
As people who have worked in and around the spirits industry for many years, we found that there was a lack of good, public, research on the trends in the spirits industry. Whether it’s trends in wood, or distillery capacity, or M&A activity - many of the existing research providers speak to a specific niche when we wanted a whole-market analysis. In this newsletter we leverage our experience, contacts and market intel to provide meaningful analysis that speaks to relevant issues for you. This newsletter is a collaboration between Duncan McFadzean of Noble & Co, and Martin Purvis. If you find this newsletter valuable, please consider a paid subscription.
Brown Forman and the Growth of US Whiskey
Executive Summary
Brown Forman helpfully publishes excellent volume-related data regarding its main brand's performance. This publicly available information allows us to analyse the performance of its well-known products which transcend the wider US whiskey category. The last 10 years have seen excellent growth for the business and its brands. This mirrors the wider success of the category, and the company represents a good guide as to the health of the US industry with a portfolio that is heavily skewed towards US whiskey and its derivatives (RTD). Jack Daniel’s has grown steadily over the period, peaking in FY 2023. Woodford Reserve has grown phenomenally over the same period and shows no signs of slowing down, notwithstanding the current macro-economic headwinds. Fiscal Year 2024 has seen a slowdown in depletions and more so in shipments of most of the main whiskey products. This is unsurprising given the wider global economic malaise and overstocking from 2022. Woodford and Tennessee Apple have bucked these trends. Time will tell if this is a short-term correction or a wider structural change. We watch with keen interest.
In this article, we take a deep dive into the world of Brown Forman, and particularly the Jack Daniel’s family of brands. No other business represents the bellwether of US whiskey in the same way.