US Boozers Sour on Scotch

Bourbon is on the rise worldwide
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 3, 2015 5:02 AM CDT
US Boozers Sour on Scotch
Barrels wait to be filled with bourbon at the Woodford Reserve distillery in Versailles, Ky.   (AP Photo/Ed Reinke)

America's whiskey drinkers have joined the trend to buy local, which is bad news for the Scots: The latest figures show that export sales of Scotch whisky dived 7% to $5.8 billion last year, largely because of a 9% fall in sales to the US, reports the BBC. The slide in American scotch sales comes amid surging sales of American whiskeys, with bourbon and Tennessee whiskey sales up more than 7% last year, reports the Wall Street Journal. The popularity of American whiskeys—especially Jack Daniel's—is also hurting scotch sales around the world, the Journal reports, but although sales of cheaper scotches like Johnnie Walker Red Label are down, the pricier single malts are still selling pretty well. (The world's best whiskey, however, comes from Japan.)

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