And most of the country is overwhelmingly Christian - so there's little religious prohibition on booze.įilipinos, in fact, consume more alcohol than anyone apart from South Koreans and Russians. Tanduay may well overtake Bacardi to become the world's number one rum Emperador is Earth's favourite brandy, and recently announced second-best-selling global spirit, and Ginebra San Miguel, although declining, is the planet's best-selling gin.Ī cluster of more than 7,000 islands, the Philippines is home to around 100 million people, making it the twelfth most populous nation in the world.
Yet these are some of the biggest-selling spirits in the world. Unless you've been to the Philippines, you've most likely never tried San Miguel gin, Tanduay rum or Emperador brandy. Intrigued to taste the most popular spirit on the planet? Exported, it only costs £4.49 from Waitrose, imported by Amathus Drinks. That said, it would have to lose half its sales to lose the crown of best-selling global spirit. At the same time all other brands on the list were increasing.
When International Wine and Spirit Research compared the volume of Jinro soju sold in 2007, 20 the rice liqueur's sales were steadily dropping, down from 72 million cases. However, perhaps the tide is turning on Jinro's domination of the world's spirits. A popular form of cocktail mixes equal measures of soju, lime juice and sour mix (citrus juice with sugar syrup normally premixed) in a Collins glass over ice, garnished with a cucumber. The spirit ranges between 10 to 25% abv, which might explain why the entire country isn't permanently drunk, and has a history dating back to at least the year 1300.Īlthough usually consumed neat, mixing soju with beer has become popular, known as a bomb shot, while those with a sweeter palate blend soju into fruit smoothies. Soju is clear-coloured and traditionally made from rice, but a lot of producers nowadays use supplements or prefer to replace rice with other starches, such as potatoes, wheat, barley, sweet potatoes or tapioca. That's more than 60 bottles per year per head of population. This goes some way to explaining the 3 billion bottles consumed there last year - made up of Jinro and other brands - for a country with a population of 49 million. The average bottle of soju costs between 1,000 to 3,000 South Korean Won, or between 58p and £1.75. So why is consumption so high? Partly it could be because of the stress of existing next to its bellicose neighbour to the north, with whom it remains officially at war, but it could also be because it's dirt cheap. Bear in mind this product has barely seen the export market. By contrast, Jinro soju sells an eye-watering 64.59 million cases. To put things in perspective, Johnnie Walker, which is the ninth best-selling brand in the world, shifts 16.39 million cases per year Bacardi rum, the seventh, sells 18.41 million cases and Smirnoff vodka, which is the third best-selling brand, sells 25.19 million cases. And not only are they the biggest drinkers but the country is also home to the top-selling alcohol brand in the world: Jinro soju. According to a World Health Organisation study, South Koreans drink more hard spirits than anywhere else per head of population. The dubious honour of the most alcohol-soaked nation on earth, despite what the press tell us about binge-drinking broken Britain, in fact goes to South Korea. However, even being the second largest brand, it's still less than half the size of Jinro. This year Emperador brandy, native to the Philippines, became the second-largest spirits brand in the world, all according to the IWSR (International Wine & Spirit Research).
It's simply staggering how much this product sells in its home land of South Korea. Taking the lead is the now-famous Jinro soju. Eight of the top 10 best-selling spirit brands are local super-giants.
It’s the Asia-Pacific region, an area of the world you may not associate with chronic alcohol consumption, that takes the title of the most booze-soaked expanse in the world.
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