Liqueurs and speciality spirits remain one of the biggest drinks categories in Scottish venues, according to CGA, with sales of £138 million between June of 2023 and June of this year.
That’s an increase of £8m in the course of the year. There was also a shakeup in terms of the biggest brands in the sector.
While both Baileys and Jagermeister continued to be the biggest beasts of the category, the popularity of the Aperol Spritz has helped the Italian aperitif overtake Sourz to command third place on the liqueurs and speciality spirits table.
Disaronno retains its fifth place, with Tequila Rose now the sixth biggest liqueur/speciality brand in Scottish venues.
Malibu defended its seventh place from 2023, with Luxardo dropping to eighth place.
After Jagermeister, Sourz and Tequila Rose, the importance of shots was further underlined by the appearance of Fireball on the list, at number nine, with Southern Comfort rounding out the top ten.
Outside of the biggest brands, there’s been plenty other activity in the liqueurs and speciality space in the past year.
Scottish cream liqueur producer Magnum announced earlier in the year that it had opened a new £1m production and bottling facility in Fife, while in Glasgow another Scottish producer, Jalisgow, introduced a new coffee tequila product which, said its founders, has already been listed by several on-trade venues around the city.
While shots seem to be an increasingly important part of the liqueur and speciality spirits mix, the category has also long been associated with cocktails, and Chris Jones, managing director of Paragon Brands, the company behind liqueur brands including Licor 43 and Passini, said those two types of serve are coming together in recent popular serves such as the ‘Baby Guinness’, which combines coffee and cream liqueurs.
Paragon has created its own take on the serve, the ‘Baby Lager’, which combines Licor 43 with Baileys, in an attempt to tap into the trend.
“Bartenders are looking for something new and innovative, but they want to invest in brands that offer versatility to their drink menus,” Jones told SLTN.
“In terms of trends, we’re seeing consumers gravitate towards more immersive, experiential ways to enjoy drinks, such as ‘theatrical’ serves that appeal especially to Gen Z.”
