The William Grant & Sons-owned expression saw growth accelerate from 5.24% in 2015, driven by new expressions such as the Experimental Series, said global brand director Enda O’Sullivan.

With the growth, Glenfiddich pulls ahead of Pernod Ricard’s The Glenlivet, which reported 2.83% declines and fell to 1.03 million nine-litre cases.

“We are delighted with the current performance of Glenfiddich, and rather than focus on the best-selling single malt, we are committed to leading the category through innovation and creativity,” O’Sullivan said.

Despite a flat performance, Allied Blenders’ Officer’s Choice again weighed in as the world’s best-selling whiskey brand with 32.85m case sales, retaining the title it first won in 2013.

Johnnie Walker is still the world’s largest Scotch whiskey on 17.4 million nine-litre case sales, but fell back by 1.14% and shed 200,000 cases over the year.

Brown-Forman’s Jack Daniel’s leads the world whiskey contingent, posting 2.26% gains to climb to 12.49m case sales.

For a full list of the best selling Indian, Scotch and world whiskeys of 2016, see The Brand Champions 2017 report – an in-depth ranking and analysis of the brands that sell more than 1m cases annually.

Read more at source: The Spirits Business