As soon as once more the established rum manufacturers have demonstrated their affect within the {industry}’s high bars. Bacardi, Havana Membership and Planteray have retained their podium spots and had been collectively the home pour in two thirds of the bars polled. Nonetheless, whereas the order of the highest three stays the identical as 2025, the hole is narrowing with only a few bars separating the manufacturers.
There’s a big drop off to Diplomático in fourth, the place competitors heats up and simply a few votes separate the Venezuelan rum and Brugal in tenth, suggesting competitors for shelf house in high bars is fierce. That is seemingly a results of the explosion of premium rum manufacturers over the previous decade mixed with a declining market, leaving the {industry}’s high bars a vital house. The one change in names for 2026 are Brugal of Dominican Republic and Takamaka of the Seychelles, each making their debut within the bestselling record.
Arguably the largest anomaly is Clairin topping the trending record. The Haitian rum has a cult following amongst bartenders, however its high-ester type doesn’t lend itself to Daiquiris or Mojitos, making its inclusion a shock. One potential rationalization is the bartender group supporting Haiti within the wake of Hurricane Melissa, gang violence and political turmoil.
How we did it
The Manufacturers Report has been launched each January for the previous 16 years and goals to offer information analytics into the shopping for habits of shoppers on the earth’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.
To be able to guarantee the most effective world protection, about 5% of the ballot had been ‘editor’s picks’ – extremely rated bars in areas much less represented to guarantee a very world information pool reflective of the present bar {industry}. Annually 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 laborious information, whereas high trending is extra subjective – the model which isn’t essentially shifting massive 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 a few of the world’s bestselling basic cocktails. The drinks are chosen to particularly symbolize main spirits classes and are usually massive hitters within the Cocktail Report’s record of the 50 bestselling basic cocktails, attributable to launch in spring.
To view the page-turner version of the Manufacturers Report click on right here.
The Manufacturers Report will likely be serialised on drinksint.com all through January.
