Every year, Market Watch sister publication Impact Newsletter recognizes the best-performing brands across the industry with its “Hot Brand” awards. This year, the Hot Brands roster includes 45 fast-growing brands from the wine, spirits, and RTD categories. There are three different ways to qualify as an Impact Hot Brand: A contender must have shown double-digit growth in each year from 2022-2024, or be an established player with at least 15% growth in 2024, or be a top ten brand with at least 5% growth in 2024 and 15% growth since 2021. The minimum volume requirement for spirits and imported wines is 200,000 cases, while domestic wines and RTDs must meet a threshold of 250,000 cases.
Tequila Leads The Way
While 2024 was a challenging year industry-wide, 11 large and dynamic spirits brands bucked the downward trends, earning Impact Hot Brand awards for their continued success. Six of the 11 winners come from Tequila, one of the few powerhouses of the American spirits market to find substantial success in 2024. Outside of Tequila, vodkas and whiskies each notched two Hot Brand winners, and a lone liqueur rounds out the list.
These 11 brands depleted 11.2 million cases in 2024, with an average growth rate of 32.6%. The fastest growing brand, Diageo’s Crown Royal Blackberry, registered exponential growth, moving more than 600,000 cases in its first year on the market. “Our insights tools pointed to Blackberry as an emerging flavor trend, and we quickly activated our supply organization to launch a limited edition—creating fantastic consumer demand, and then we grew it into a permanent listing,” Diageo North America president Sally Grimes recently told analysts. “Critically, Crown Royal Blackberry is recruiting—28% of consumers are new to whisk(e)y.”
The largest of this year’s Hot Brands winners is another Diageo brand, Don Julio. Last year, the brand took a great leap forward, growing 39.5% to 3.35 million cases. Despite its considerable size, Don Julio has shown impressive percentage gains in recent years. Since 2021, the brand has added just over 1 million cases in volume, with growth accelerating from a base of 12.5% in 2021/2022. “We identified that Don Julio Reposado was delivering for consumers eager to explore Tequila,” says Grimes. “We rapidly reallocated spending to launch dedicated advertising—with fiscal first half sales of Don Julio Reposado up 150%, the brand captured more share of the spirits market than any other in the industry.”
In addition to supporting the brand’s core expressions, in 2024 Diageo made luxury tier Don Julio 1942 available in 375-ml. and 50-ml. formats, aiming to increase consumer exposure to luxury Tequila. “We’ve seen investment in media for Don Julio 1942 has a halo effect on brand sales as seen in the U.S.,” says Diageo CEO Debra Crew. “Specifically, when Don Julio 1942 featured in an advertisement, over 85% of the incremental volume in the measured period came from core variants.”
Behind Don Julio is Espolòn, Campari’s Tequila juggernaut. Priced in Tequila’s competitive super-premium tier, the brand was up 15% last year to 1.6 million cases. The brand has been a growth engine for Campari, adding roughly 600,000 cases since 2021. Espolòn has maintained double-digit growth for years, with gains peaking at 23.2% in 2023.
Last year, Campari upped its investment in the brand, launching the “To the Bone” campaign, the first global marketing push for Espolòn. Beyond the marketing push Campari offered new expressions including a limited edition 25th anniversary bottling plus Flor de Oro, a marigold-infused Reposado Tequila. For its full fiscal year, Campari reported that Espolòn was up 12%, helping drive an overall positive year for Campari. “We are very confident in our ability to deliver long-term sustainable outperformance by leveraging our powerful brand portfolio,” Campari Group CEO Simon Hunt says.
This year’s second-largest Hot Brand is Heaven Hill-owned Tequila brand Lunazul. The brand has shown some of the strongest growth among Hot Brands, rising 37.7% to 1.74 million cases in 2024. While all of the leading Hot Brand Tequilas have shown tremendous growth, Lunazul’s rise has been especially rapid. In 2021, the brand was at just over 600,000 cases, and it had nearly tripled by 2024.
As the brand has grown, Heaven Hill has expanded Lunazul’s portfolio while maintaining a focus on its affordable price point. Last year, the brand added three new expressions: a Cristalino, an Extra Añejo, and a smoked Tequila. While retailing above the brand’s flagship, Heaven Hill showed its commitment to keeping the brand in the realm of affordable luxury.
Teremana, the Tequila from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and handled by Mast-Jägermeister, recorded another year of double-digit growth, landing the brand back among Impact’s Hot Brands winners. Last year, Teremana was up 10.5% to 1.1 million cases. Similar to Lunazul, Teremana’s ascent has been rapid, with the celebrity-backed super-premium Tequila nearly doubling since 2021 and adding more than 100,000 cases each year.
Like many of its closest competitors, Teremana bolstered brand growth and consumer engagement through a national marketing campaign. In a twist from the typical summer-centric Tequila marketing, Teremana launched a holiday campaign starring Johnson and featuring digital greeting cards.
Rounding out the top five Hot Brands is the fifth Tequila to make the grade, Bacardi’s Cazadores. Last year the brand was up 11% to 924,000 cases. The super-premium stalwart was a steady contender until this decade when growth accelerated. Bacardi, in a move to jumpstart its entire portfolio of agave spirits, recently named Roberto Ramirez Laverde as global senior vice president of Patrón and agaves. “Tequila and mezcal are at the top of consumer interest, with 72% and 66% of consumers, respectively, saying they’re drawn to these spirits,” notes Bacardi global advocacy director Jacob Briars.
While growing from a smaller base than the top five Tequilas, Constellation’s Mi Campo earned its first Hot Brand award after reaching 212,000 cases on 31% growth in 2024. Among this year’s winning brands that existed in 2021, Mi Campo was by far the smallest at 57,000 cases. Since then the brand has quadrupled in size with yearly growth consistently above 50% per year.
Following the opening quintet of agave spirits is Campari’s Aperol, the only liqueur to earn Hot Brands honors this year. In 2024, the cocktail staple grew 10.4% to 604,000 cases, showing that Americans’ appetites for Spritzes and lightly bitter cocktails is still growing. Since 2021, the brand has doubled in size, with growth averaging roughly 30% over that period. “Our leadership position in aperitifs presents an ever-growing opportunity given the evolving consumer trends,” says Hunt.
Rounding out this year’s Hot Brands winners are a Bourbon and two vodkas. The Bourbon, Sazerac’s Buffalo Trace, grew 17.5% to 600,000 cases. This returning Hot Brand has nearly doubled in size since 2021 and has benefited from Sazerac’s efforts to expand production and ease allocation for its highly popular whiskeys. Sazerac’s second Hot Brand winner is Wheatley, this year’s smallest winner at 210,000 cases. Last year, the vodka grew 35.5%, showing growth that has accelerated each year since 2020. Finally, William Grant & Sons’ Reyka is the second Hot Brand winning vodka of the year. The Icelandic brand jumped up 18% last year to reach 231,000 cases.
Standout Wines Earn Honors
A total of 17 brands from the wine category earned Hot Brand honors for their 2024 performances, led by a bevy of California table wine labels along with several sparklers both imported and domestic and even a non-alcohol wine brand. Overall, 12 domestic wines made the grade, joined by five imported entries.
Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits’ Josh Cellars is the largest wine Hot Brand, soaring past 6 million cases on 11% growth last year, excluding its Reserve and Prosecco bottlings. Most recently, Josh extended with a new non-alcohol sparkler selling alongside the Prosecco expression at $17 a 750-ml. Josh Prosecco earned a Hot Brand award of its own after rising 17% to 286,000 cases last year.
Deutsch is welcoming a new president, veteran sports executive Mike Dee. “Mike brings a diverse background as a catalyst for unlocking growth in areas that perhaps we may not have explored before,” Deutsch Family CEO Peter Deutsch told Impact. “And in an industry with headwinds, I think it’s that kind of innovation and bold thinking that will keep us ahead in a competitive market.”
Bread & Butter, from WX Brands, is the second-largest Hot Brand wine this year, after rising 12% to 1.7 million cases in 2024. Last year Bread & Butter introduced a Sliced offshoot in the better-for-you wine category, retailing at $16 a 750-ml. and carrying an abv of 9%.
Delicato Family Wines saw its Bota Box Breeze and Bota Box Minis each return to the list this year, with the duo combining for 1.8 million cases. “We’re seeing continued growth of small formats across the alcoholic beverage category,” Delicato chief marketing officer Jon Guggino says, noting the rise of the Bota Box Mini label. “Benefits around convenience, moderation, and value are all driving consumers towards the 500-ml. premium wine category.”
Meanwhile, Bota Box Breeze continues to pace the better-for-you segment. “Bota Box Breeze is driving growth for the light wine category overall,” says Guggino. “In fact, Bota Box Breeze represents one in every four servings of light wine consumed in the U.S. today. We introduced Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio into the Bota Breeze Mini lineup in 2024, and just extended the Bota franchise with the launch of Bota Breeze Mini Chardonnay.”
Trinchero Family Estates is also benefiting from the trend toward low- and no-alcohol products. Its alcohol-free brand Fre is a Hot Brand winner after accelerating on 16% growth to 439,000 cases in 2024. Last fall Fre added a Pinot Grigio varietal, marking its tenth SKU in the 750-ml. format.
The Wine Group has two Hot Brands this year, in Winemakers Selection and Silver Gate, both of which are new to the list. Winemakers Selection, a Walmart private label, surpassed 400,000 cases on 46% growth last year, while Silver Gate surged 16% to 258,000 cases. “We designed Silver Gate as this opportunity to bring high quality in-house wine for the on-premise channel,” The Wine Group CMO Helen Kurtz says. “We are constantly investing in this brand. We did a recent launch of California Rosé. We did sparkling kegs, and we did a packaging refresh.”
Higher up the price ladder, Wagner Family of Wine’s Bonanza label is likely to cruise past the half-million-case mark this year. “We’re trying to produce the best bang for the buck California Cabernet,” owner Chuck Wagner says. “I think the wine’s quality, character, and reasonable price are the basic reasons for its success.” From 2019-2024, Bonanza increased at an average rate of 75,000 cases annually, and last year it popped by 90,000 cases. It has now become the biggest-production wine in the Wagner portfolio.
U.S. wine market leader Gallo fielded six Hot Brand entries this year, including four California labels: Spring Creek, which neared 500,000 cases; California Heritage, which jumped out to 425,000 cases in its debut year; Vibe by Vendange, which more than quintupled to 650,000 cases; and Century Road, which grew 27.5% to 255,000 cases. California Heritage is an Aldi exclusive, while Vibe by Vendange is a 500-ml. Tetra Pak brand featuring fruit-flavored wines.
On the import side, Gallo’s contingent is led by La Marca Prosecco, which is now nearing 3.5 million cases, sitting atop the U.S. sparkling wine category. La Marca has lately been targeting on-premise placements—both on its own or in cocktails—as Gallo looks to continue its expansion. Gallo’s New Zealand label Whitehaven also earned honors after tacking on nearly 100,000 cases last year. This year, the brand could very well surpass the million-case mark.
The imported wine roster also includes Spanish sparkler Opera Prima from the CIV USA portfolio. The Cava brand has added nearly 200,000 cases in U.S. volume over the past three years. It’s joined by Avaline, the organic brand from Cameron Diaz and Katherine Power, which expanded by more than 70,000 cases in 2024 and is headed for the quarter-million-case threshold. With a portfolio featuring wines from Spain, France, Italy, California, and Washington, Avaline is currently relaunching its limited Italian Bianco offering, made of Falanghina.
RTDs’ Expansion
Seventeen ready-to-drink brands met the criteria for Hot Brand status this year. The list is a mix of powerhouse products and relative newcomers, with four brands joining as new additions. The cumulative case numbers of these 17 honorees tells the story of the category over the past half decade as RTDs have risen as one of the most dynamic parts of the industry. Together the Hot Brands RTDs totaled 55 million cases last year, up from 40 million the year prior and more than fourfold from only 13.6 million cases as recently as 2021, according to Impact Databank. Nine of the brands more than doubled their volume year over year, since 2022.
At the top of the list is High Noon from Spirit of Gallo. In just a few short years, the brand has grown to be the biggest spirits brand in the U.S. High Noon’s volume rose again to 24.8 million cases last year, up 13% from 21.9 million cases in 2023. The brand is now approximately three times the size it was as recently as 2021. It’s not easy to maintain that sort of pace at such scale; Gallo continued to support High Noon last year with the introduction of High Noon hard iced teas last May, joining the vodka-based original and its first line extension, High Noon Tequila Seltzer.
After becoming the largest spirits brand in the U.S., the brand team took a step back to assess future plans, Britt West, Spirit of Gallo executive vice president and general manager, says. “We put forth a lot of different ideas of everything from way far out innovation to kind of closer-in innovation,” he says. “One of the interesting things that came back was that High Noon really stands for premium in the RTD space and it stands for good times in a low-abv situation. There’s a consumer out there that is looking for non-carbonation and they often turn to tea. A lot of the other teas on the marketplace, of course, have either an artificial sweetener or they’re loaded with sugar.” Gallo also supported High Noon with an expansion of its partnership with the PGA and an ad campaign centered around “High Noon Lifestyle Guards,” who solve summer problems like an empty cooler or deflated pool toy.
Also in Gallo’s portfolio is new Hot Brand inductee VMC. Launched in the U.S. in September 2023, VMC is a Tequila-based RTD created in collaboration with boxer Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez and Casa Lumbre. The line comes in three flavors—Paloma, Margarita, and Jamaica (hibiscus)—all at 5.5% abv and made with Blanco Tequila, sparkling water, and natural flavors. The brand exploded to nearly 700,000 cases in 2024.
Sazerac received the most RTD nods, with all three of its Buzzballz variants on the list. Sazerac completed its acquisition of Buzzballz last May. Its top performer was Buzzballz Chillers, up 14% to 1.5 million cases. The Chillers are packaged in 187-ml. spherical cans at 15% abv in flavors including Pineapple Colada, Strawberry Rita, and Choco Chiller. Buzzballz Cocktails, meanwhile, were up 17.5% to 945,000 cases. The third variety in the line is Buzzballz Biggies, a range of 1.5-liter packaging in a variety of flavors. Biggies exploded in 2023, climbing to 629,000 cases from 112,000 the year before and built on that success last year to reach 830,000 cases on 32% growth.
The Finnish Long Drink continued to find new fans as well. Produced by The Long Drink Co., it grew 50% last year, reaching 2.7 million cases. The brand has been backed by multiple celebrities, first actor Miles Teller and last year Jay-Z, whose Marcy Venture Partners made an undisclosed “significant investment” in the brand. Its range includes sparkling gin- and citrus-based Traditional and Cranberry (each 5.5% abv), and Strong (8.5% abv).
Beatbox, a wine-based RTD from Future Proof Brands, saw huge gains last year, growing 79.3% to reach just over 5.4 million cases. The brand, which sells its drinks in 500-ml. resealable “juice box” packaging at 11.1% abv, last year reached an agreement with its manufacturer to add two new production lines to meet increased demand. Meanwhile, Pernod Ricard’s Absolut RTDs surged back onto the list following a wobble the year prior. The product line nearly doubled its volume; it grew 91.2%, up from 425,000 cases to 813,000 cases.
Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B InBev) produced two Hot Brands. Cutwater, the No.-4 RTD, continued to rise, up 20.5% to just shy of 4 million cases. In October the brand announced two new variety packs, featuring limited-edition cocktails as well as the permanent addition of an Espresso Martini to the brand’s portfolio. Cutwater also released a new Whiskey Sour at 8% abv in select markets. For the holiday season Cutwater added a Peppermint White Russian and a Tiki Nog Cocktail to its lineup. A-B InBev’s other winner is Nütrl, which climbed 34.5% to 2.7 million cases. The brand offers numerous fruit flavors and sells 8-packs in fruity variety, lemonade variety, and cranberry variety packs.
Elsewhere, SNFood & Beverage’s Carbliss brand had a massive year, growing from 1.6 million cases in 2023 to 2.8 million cases last year. Non-carbonated RTD brand Mom Water, whose flavors are named with common women’s names from the 1950s and 1960s like Linda, Nancy, and Susan, grew 16% to 858,000 cases. Last year it launched a variety pack called Vacation Mode that featured new flavors Kathy (blackberry lime) and Mary (apple melon), named for the mothers of the brand’s founders.
Constellation Brands was represented with its Fresca RTDs, which crossed the half-million-case mark in their third year on the market. The brand is produced in partnership with Coca-Cola, which in December appointed Diageo veteran Paula Costa to lead its RTD portfolio. The brand is partnered with television personality Andy Cohen.
The Boston Beer Co. found immediate success with its newly launched Sun Cruiser hard iced tea. The brand debuted last year to inaugural sales of 675,000 cases. Its original lineup featured Classic Iced Tea along with Lemonade, Peach, and Raspberry options, which has now been augmented with several lemonade variants. The brand was supported by an ad buy during the Super Bowl. Also, Two Chicks, a women-owned and operated brand, climbed 15.8% to 338,000 cases.
Stateside vodka was honored for both its Stateside Vodka Soda and its Surfside Iced Tea & Vodka. The Vodka Soda reached 605,000 cases in its fourth year on 47.7% growth while Surfside boomed upward, expanding nearly fourfold, climbing from 1.2 million cases in 2023 to 4.7 million cases last year. Leadership sees even more room to grow following the overwhelming success of its lemonade options. “The Lemonade Variety Pack was a big new launch last year and that took off to a degree that we didn’t foresee,” Stateside Brands CEO Clement Pappas told Impact. “We missed probably a couple hundred thousand cases if we would’ve had the inventory,” adds Matt Quigley, president and co-founder. “No one could have envisioned that the lemonade would’ve gone haywire so fast. It makes us realize that consumers are not just here for iced tea. They can identify us in a different lane as well.”