Did you know that the biggest consumers of American whiskey (per capita) are not Americans?
It’s the Australians! It is very close, as they only really beat us in the consumption of our own product by a hair. Bourbon accounts for about half of the U.S. whiskey market. The leader in American whiskey exports is Brown-Forman(Jack Daniels) followed by Beam Suntory(Jim Beam).
The top whisky drinkers in the world, when we include all world whiskies, are from India. Roughly half of the world’s whisky is drunk in India. If we look at the amount of whisky being consumed in the world, the top five countries in order are: India, the United States, France, Japan and the United Kingdom (including Scotland, of course).
I find it more interesting to think of whisky consumption on a personal basis. If we look at the amount of whisky being consumed around the world on a per capita basis, we find a different line up. The leaders in order are:
1. France
With a population of about 66 billion, the people of France drink about 2 liters of whiskey per person.
2. Uruguay
With a population around 3 1/2 million, they drink about 1 3/4 liters per person!
3.. The United States
Our population here is about 320 million today. We like our whiskey and consume 1 1/2 liters per person. We are still, by far, the largest importer of Scotch whisky.
4. Australia
The Australian continent has about 24 million citizens and they just edge out Spain in whiskey consumption at 1.4 liters per person.
5. Spain
Spain has 46 million citizens and drinks 1 1/3 liters per person.