The headline information for this 12 months’s Manufacturers Report is the success of Fords gin. By no means earlier than has a model debuted in Bartenders’ Selection on the prime of the rating. Regardless of being made in south London, the model is flourishing within the US below the management of Brown-Forman, however this newest achievement will be attributed to its current engagement in Europe – together with the opening of a branded Martini bar at its personal Thames Distillery.
It’s essential to notice that the Bartenders’ Selection part is opinion based mostly reasonably than knowledge led. We merely ask every collaborating bar to record three manufacturers they’ve loved working with essentially the most over the earlier 12 months. Of the bars polled, Fords was declared a top-three favorite by 16%, simply forward of normal member Tanqueray.
Diageo’s flagship gin has topped the Bartenders’ Selection league in exactly 50% of the 17 Manufacturers Report editions, whereas Michter’s, Ocho, Fortaleza, Boatyard, Hendrick’s and Johnnie Walker have all been regulars. Other than Fords, the opposite standouts had been the debut inclusions of Italian vodka Altamura and mezcal The Misplaced Explorer, two manufacturers which have constantly engaged with the highest finish of the bar commerce for the previous few years.
The important thing statement from final 12 months’s version was the dominance of gin and agave in Bartenders’ Selection. This theme continues into 2026, with the highest three dominated by gin manufacturers and the mixed classes making up seven of the highest 10. As soon as once more, there’s no room for rum, a sector which as soon as frequented this rating.
How we did it
The Manufacturers Report has been launched each January for the previous 16 years and goals to supply knowledge analytics into the shopping for habits of customers on the planet’s finest bars.
To gather the information, we first curate a pattern of industry-acclaimed bars from a mix of The World’s 50 Greatest Bars and its regional North America and Asia lists.
As a way to guarantee the perfect international protection, about 5% of the ballot had been ‘editor’s picks’ – extremely rated bars in areas much less represented to guarantee a very international knowledge pool reflective of the present bar {industry}. Every year the panel rotates to make sure a good and correct set of outcomes.
As a part of the survey, we ask every bar proprietor or head bartender to dig out their gross sales spreadsheets and rank the three bestselling merchandise in every spirits class, in addition to beer, champagne and mixers. The bestselling record is predicated on exhausting knowledge, whereas prime trending is extra subjective – the model which isn’t essentially shifting large volumes however is seen as in vogue by every bar. Typically, the manufacturers that determine extremely within the trending record transfer on to the bestselling record the next 12 months, as curiosity and pleasure transition to weight of gross sales.
We additionally ask our ballot to declare the home pour in among the world’s bestselling traditional cocktails. The drinks are chosen to particularly characterize main spirits classes and are typically large hitters within the Cocktail Report’s record of the 50 bestselling traditional cocktails, as a result of launch in spring.
To view the page-turner version of the Manufacturers Report click on right here.
The Manufacturers Report might be serialised on drinksint.com all through January.
