US Dark Spirits Market Report 2025
"Highlighting the versatility of dark spirits, offering small-format bottles, and innovation in production and flavor is essential to ensuring their continued consumption."
Candace Baldassarre, Senior Analyst
US Dark Spirits Industry – Trends and Insights
- Dark spirits in the US are an exciting category, driven by their association with sophistication, premium quality, and versatility. American whiskey leads the category, while dark rum offers untapped potential for premiumization.
- At-home consumption dominates, with mixed drinks, on the rocks, and neat serving as the top modes of enjoyment.
- Cost remains a barrier, with many consumers viewing dark spirits as too expensive for regular use. Furthermore, tariffs represent a major hurdle that has the potential to upend the market as we know it.
- Younger drinkers are inspired by social media and cultural references, while older demographics lean toward tradition. Brands must balance affordability with exclusivity to capture diverse audiences.
This Report Looks at the Following Areas:
- Impact of tariffs on consumer behavior
- Dark spirits consumption and purchase
- Reasons for drinking spirits more and less often
- Perceptions of dark spirits
- Influence of social media on dark spirits consumption
- At-home vs out-of-home dark spirits consumption
Collapse All
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- What you need to know
- Market size & forecast
- Market predictions
- What consumers want & why
- Opportunities
- From classic to cool: the versatility of dark spirits
- Stars, stripes, and spirits: the allure of American-made
- Cocktails on the go: piggybacking on the RTD revolution
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MARKET DYNAMICS
- Market context
- Market drivers
- Ready-to-drink’s growth far outpaces all other categories
- Ready-to-drink growth far outpaces all other categories
- Appealing to more frequent drinkers
- Graph 1: frequency of alcoholic beverage consumption, 2025
- THC may become a more mainstream competitor
- Climate change challenges the whiskey industry
- Market size and forecast
- Tariffs are treacherous territory
- The spirits market stagnates
- Sales and forecast of spirits
- Graph 2: total market size and forecast of spirits, at current prices, 2019-30
- Sales and forecast of spirits
- Market segmentation
- Sales of dark spirits, by segment
- Graph 3: volume sales and forecast of dark spirits, 9-liter cases (000), by segment, 2019-27
- Sales of dark spirits, by segment
- Straight whiskey is the exception to a faltering dark spirits market
- Graph 4: volume sales and forecast of dark spirits, 9-liter cases (000), by segment, 2019-27
- Market share/brand share
- Straight whiskey’s growth is steady, but stayed
- Sales of straight whiskey, by company
- Blended whiskey sales are in the red
- Sales of blended whiskey, by company
- Canadian whisky market consolidates further
- Sales of Canadian whisky, by company
- Scotch faces a challenging future in America
- Sales of Scotch whiskey, by company
- Jameson’s stronghold on the Irish whiskey category is unshakeable
- Sales of Irish whiskey, by company
- Brandy and Cognac’s detrimental decline
- Sales of brandy and Cognac, by company
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CONSUMER INSIGHTS
- Consumer fast facts
- Dark spirits drinker
- Dark spirits consumption still trails behind that of wine, beer, and white spirits
- Graph 5: alcoholic beverage consumption, 2025
- Dark spirits’ stagnation: negligible changes in dark spirits consumption since 2024
- Graph 6: most often or also drinks dark spirits, 2024-25
- Most drinkers are creatures of habit
- Graph 7: repertoire of number of types of alcohol consumed, 2025
- Age and gender immensely impact consumption
- Graph 8: any dark spirit consumption (NET), by age and gender, 2025
- Income’s impact on spirit choice is undeniable
- Graph 9: any dark or white spirits consumption (NET), by household financial situation, 2025
- Dark spirits purchase
- American whiskey is the preferred purchase
- Graph 10: purchase of dark spirits in past six months, 2025
- Whiskey purchases are promising, but bourbon purchases decidedly decline
- Graph 11: YOY dark spirits purchase in last six months, 2022-25
- Whiskey purchases are promising, but bourbon purchases decidedly decline
- Women gravitate toward flavored whiskey
- Graph 12: purchase of flavored whiskey in past six months, by gender, 2025
- Pineapple, mango, and chocolate (flavored dark spirits), oh my!
- Younger women are partial to American whiskey
- Black consumers are prioritizing dark spirits purchases
- Graph 13: purchase of dark spirits in past six months (select), overall vs Black consumers, 2025
- Not all of America purchases the same
- Graph 14: purchase of bourbon and/or Irish whiskey in past six months, by region lived, 2025
- Dark spirits purchasers are buying white spirits, too
- Graph 15: white spirits purchasing, by dark spirits buyers and white spirits buyers, 2025
- Changes in spirits consumption
- Increased spirits consumption over the years
- Graph 16: changes in spirits consumption since last year, 2023-25
- Younger (and middle-aged) men drive increased drinking
- Graph 17: drinking more spirits than a year ago, by age and gender, 2025
- Reasons for drinking spirits more often
- Relaxation trumps other reasons for increased drinking more
- Graph 18: reasons for drinking spirits more often than a year ago, 2025
- Middle-aged spirit drinkers are buying in bulk
- Graph 19: have been drinking spirits more often than a year ago due to purchasing more in bulk, by age, 2025
- Reasons for drinking spirits less often
- Changing lifestyles, trimming budgets, and increased focus on health motivate cutting back
- Graph 20: reasons for drinking spirits less often than last year, 2025
- Women’s concerns around drinking and mental health are pronounced
- Graph 21: drinking spirits less often than last year for mental health reasons, by gender, 2025
- Ways of consuming dark spirits
- Consumers are keen to mix their dark spirits
- Different strokes for different folks
- Graph 22: ways of drinking dark spirits at home, 2025
- Age-based differences emerge in modes of dark spirits consumption
- Graph 23: ways of drinking dark spirits at home (select), by age, 2025
- Black Americans gravitate toward shots
- Graph 24: ways of drinking dark spirits at home, overall vs Black consumers, 2025
- The standard classics eclipse more niche dark spirit-based cocktails
- Graph 25: cocktails consumed with dark spirits in past year, 2025
- Reinvigorating the Old Fashioned
- Graph 26: cocktails consumed with dark spirits in past year (select), by age, 2025
- Perceptions of dark spirits
- Dark spirits’ exclusivity dominates perceptions
- Not all dark spirits are perceived the same
- Graph 27: words/phrases associated with types of dark spirits, 2025
- Not all dark spirits are perceived the same
- Dark spirit brand choice factors
- The impact of flavor and price on brand choice is formidable
- Graph 28: reasons for choosing one brand over another when purchasing dark spirits, 2025
- Younger and middle-aged Americans demonstrate unwavering openness to brands
- Graph 29: reasons for choosing one brand over another when purchasing dark spirits (select), by age, 2025
- Made in the USA is a winning strategy for 22-44 year old men
- Made in the USA is a winning strategy for 22-44-year-old men
- Higher income households put more stock into positive past brand experiences
- Graph 30: positive past experience with brand is reason for choosing one brand over another when purchasing dark spirits, 2025
- Attitudes toward dark spirits
- Battling realities around costs and tariffs is an uphill battle
- In and out-of-home dark spirits drinking looks awfully the same
- Graph 31: attitudes toward dark spirits (% any agree), 2025
- Driving discovery via social media
- Small format bottles are low stakes for spirits drinkers
- Any time can be a dark spirits time
- Graph 32: attitudes toward dark spirits (% any agree), 2025
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INNOVATION AND MARKETING STRATEGIES
- Launch activity and innovation
- Dark sips are great for gifts
- Reinforcing rum as a premium option
- Wild Turkey 101 is a taste of Kentucky
- Teeling is a taste of Dublin
- Don’t underestimate the bottle itself
- Highlighting distillation processes
- Dessert or dark spirit?
- Unique locales and blends excite
- Hennessy and LeBron: two legends
- Convenient cocktails and RTDs make spirits the easier choice
- Marketing and advertising
- Pass the Courvoisier…or Hennessy
- Lisa Rinna appeals to female drinkers
- Whiskey House leverages cutting-edge tech
- Hennessy is made for more
- Johnnie Walker draws on Sabrina Carpenter’s popularity
- LeBron’s endorsement cuts through the noise
- Crown Royal re-launches its rig for football season
- Jack Daniel’s focuses on airport activations abroad
- You don’t just need to just drink dark spirits
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APPENDIX
- Market definition
- Consumer research questions
- Consumer research methodology
- Repertoire analysis methodology
- Generations
- Abbreviations and terms
- Forecast methodology
- Forecast fan chart methodology
- Market forecast, spirits, inflation-adjusted
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