Bubbly And Spirited: 2016's Alcohol Review Overflowing With Good News

Trevor Stirling of Bernstein detailed in a research report on Wednesday an overview of the U.S. spirits and alcohol market throughout 2016.

Highlights From 2016

Here are some of the highlights:

• Industry volume growth rose 2.4 percent, fell short of the pre-recession average of 3.3 percent.
• Irish whiskey was the fastest growing category by volume, followed by tequila and bourbon.
• Volume of rum and scotch fell throughout the year.
• The price-mix rose 2.1 percent in 2016, which marked an improvement from 2015 but short of the analyst's long-term estimate of 2.5 percent.
• Price contributed 0.3 percent of value growth versus approximately 1.8 percent for mix.
• In terms of mix, premium volumes grew at 5.5 percent and super-premium volumes rose 11 percent.
• By volume, beer accounted for a 47.3 percent share, spirits accounted for 34.6 percent and wine accounted for 18.2 percent.
• Compared to 2006's volume, beer accounted for 53.0 percent, spirits accounted for 30.8 percent and wine accounted for 16.2 percent.
• By value, beer accounted for a 47.0 percent share, spirits accounted for 35.9 percent and wine accounted for 17.1 percent.
• Compared to 2006's value, beer accounted for a 50.5 percent share, spirits accounted for 33.0 percent and wine accounted for 16.5 percent.

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• Vodka was the largest category in volume with a 32 percent market share.
• Vodka also makes up 24 percent of total spirits revenue given the abundance of bottles priced between $5 and $8.
• Whiskey is the second largest volume category at 28 percent and the largest value category at 34 percent.
• Canadian whiskey is the most popular import at 28 percent while Scotch accounted for 15 percent.
• Irish whiskey was the fastest growing category but still accounted for just 6 percent of the total whiskey volume.