Spirits sales in the US – September 2023 – data

Control States spirits sales decline 3.5% year-on-year in September

Spirits volumes in the Control States last month fall by 5.8%

Once a month, the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association releases data covering spirits sales in the Control States of the US.

Here’s a look at the numbers for September.

What looks at first glance to have been a thoroughly miserable month for spirits in the Control States markets can be explained in part by a marked decrease in the number of selling days, which were down by ten. Michigan and Utah both had six fewer days versus September last year while Pennsylvania had two more.

That said, the trends for the different segments become clearer when considering the nine months of the year so far [below]. Spirits' outliers continue to be RTDs and Tequila, both of whom have remained in growth throughout 2023. Beyond these two, the story for spirits in the US, American whiskey and vodka notwithstanding, isn't a happy one: Take a look at the combined brandy & Cognac segment for the bleakest performance, underlined by Rémy Cointreau's torrid figures, announced this week.

Scotch brand owners will also be wishing the year away, with every month bar one - May's +0.5% - delivering sales declines in the markets.

As for gin and rum, the pair are on course for low single-digit growth, at best, for the full year. And that's something Cognac brand owners would kill for right now.

The data from NABCA measures spirits sales across 17 US states [and Montgomery County in Maryland] where distribution is state-controlled. This represents around 25% of total sales in the country and covers both the on- and off-premise channels,

The Control States are: