The ten biggest-selling spirits brands that report their volumes, ranked by millions of 9-litre cases sold in 2024, led by South Korean soju and Indian whisky.
Jinro is the best-selling spirits brand in the world, with 96.8 million 9-litre cases sold in 2024. McDowell's whisky is second at 32.2 million and Royal Stag third at 31.0 million. The ranking covers brands whose owners report volumes to The Spirits Business Brand Champions 2025 report, using its 2024 figures; ready-to-drink brands are excluded.
This list ranks the world's biggest spirits brands by annual sales volume, measured in 9-litre cases (the industry standard, equal to 12 bottles of 750ml). Every figure comes from one edition of one report: The Spirits Business Brand Champions 2025, which publishes 2024 volumes for brands that sell more than a million cases a year. The top of the table is Asian. Korean soju holds two places, with Jinro selling roughly three times as much as any other brand, and Indian whiskies hold four. Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker and Bacardi are the only Western brands in the ten. Some very large brands are missing because their owners do not supply figures to the report; the methodology lists them.
Jinro, owned by HiteJinro, sold 96.8 million cases in 2024, about three times as much as any other brand in the report. Its volume dipped slightly from 97.4 million in 2023, and nearly all of it is sold in South Korea.
McDowell's, from Diageo's Indian arm United Spirits, was the world's best-selling whisky in 2024 with 32.2 million cases, up from 31.4 million in 2023.
Pernod Ricard's Royal Stag sold 31.0 million cases in 2024, up 11.1% and its fifth straight year of growth, leaving it just behind McDowell's.
Lotte's Chum Churum is the second-biggest soju brand and sold 27.5 million cases in 2024, up 1.6%. That puts it ahead of every vodka, rum and Scotch brand in the report.
Smirnoff is the world's best-selling vodka, with 24.4 million cases in 2024, more than double the next vodka. Its volume still fell 6.1% during the year.
The Philippines' Tanduay is the world's best-selling rum, with 23.8 million cases in 2024, up 1.9%. It was also named the report's rum Brand Champion.
Imperial Blue, an Indian whisky owned by Pernod Ricard in 2024, sold 22.9 million cases that year, a 0.4% gain. It slipped one place in the Indian whisky table.
Diageo's Johnnie Walker is by far the biggest Scotch whisky, with 21.6 million cases in 2024, more than double the next Scotch, Ballantine's (9.3 million). It was down from 22.1 million in 2023.
Allied Blenders and Distillers' Officer's Choice, once the world's biggest-selling whisky, sold 21.3 million cases in 2024, down 9% from 23.4 million in 2023.
Bacardi is the second-biggest rum brand behind Tanduay, with 19.7 million cases in 2024, down 4.2%.
| # | Name | Category | Country | Owner | Change vs 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jinro | Soju | South Korea | HiteJinro | -0.6% |
| 2 | McDowell's | Indian whisky | India | United Spirits (Diageo) | +2.5% |
| 3 | Royal Stag | Indian whisky | India | Pernod Ricard | +11.1% |
| 4 | Chum Churum | Soju | South Korea | Lotte | +1.6% |
| 5 | Smirnoff | Vodka | Global (Diageo) | Diageo | -6.1% |
| 6 | Tanduay | Rum | Philippines | Tanduay Distillers | +1.9% |
| 7 | Imperial Blue | Indian whisky | India | Pernod Ricard (in 2024) | +0.4% |
| 8 | Johnnie Walker | Scotch whisky | Scotland | Diageo | -2.3% |
| 9 | Officer's Choice | Indian whisky | India | Allied Blenders and Distillers | -9.0% |
| 10 | Bacardi | Rum | Global (Bacardi Limited) | Bacardi Limited | -4.2% |
Brands are ranked by global sales volume in calendar year 2024, in millions of 9-litre cases, exactly as published in The Spirits Business Brand Champions 2025 report (published June-July 2025). Figures from other editions (such as Brand Champions 2026, which restates some 2024 numbers) or from other publishers (such as Drinks International's Millionaires' Club) are not mixed in. Inclusion rules: (1) Distilled spirits only. Soju counts as a spirit, because the report itself ranks it in its local spirits category, so Jinro and Chum Churum are included. (2) Ready-to-drink and hard seltzer brands (for example White Claw, High Noon, Suntory -196 and Suntory Lemon Sour) are excluded, even though the report's own overall top 10 includes some of them. (3) Only brands whose owners supply figures to the report can be ranked. Emperador brandy, Ginebra San Miguel gin and Chinese baijiu brands such as Moutai and Wuliangye do not publish comparable figures there, so they are not ranked, and some of them would likely place in a complete ranking. Each brand is counted as a whole (all expressions and flavours combined). Percentage changes compare 2024 with 2023 as reported in the same edition.
It is the industry's standard unit for spirits sales volume: 9 litres of product, the same as 12 bottles of 750ml. Using it lets brands sold in different bottle sizes be compared directly.
Yes. The Spirits Business ranks soju in its local spirits category, so this list counts it. That is why Jinro (96.8 million cases) and Chum Churum (27.5 million) appear. If soju were excluded, McDowell's would be number one.
Their owners do not supply comparable figures to The Spirits Business Brand Champions report, and this list does not mix in numbers from other publishers. Some of these brands sell very large volumes and would likely rank in a complete league table.
They are ready-to-drink products, not bottled spirits. The report's own overall top 10 includes some ready-to-drink brands, but this list ranks spirits only.
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