Global market for $100-plus spirits fell 10% in 2025

The global market for high-end spirits fell again in 2025 as weaker consumer confidence, trade tensions and geopolitical instability pushed buyers to be more selective, according to a new study from IWSR, the beverage alcohol data and insights group.

IWSR said the value of the global status spirits market, excluding baijiu, declined by -10% in 2025, marking a second straight year of contraction. The study defines status spirits as products with a globally weighted average retail price of $100 or more per bottle.

The report said the downturn came as macroeconomic pressure continued to weigh on luxury spending and as U.S. tariffs that began to take effect during 2025 added to uncertainty. IWSR also said the situation has been worsened by conflict involving Iran, which it said contributed to a broader sense of instability and further limited spending.

The sharpest weakness came from China, long one of the most important markets for premium alcohol. IWSR said China’s status spirits market fell by -25% in value terms in 2025. The U.S. declined by -6%, while duty free sales fell by -3%, results the firm described as more resilient than China’s. Smaller and less mature markets gained share, the study said, as some demand shifted away from traditional luxury centers.

Performance also varied sharply by category. Cognac posted a -17% drop in value, driven mainly by weakness in China, according to the report. Scotch fell by -9% but held its overall share of the status spirits segment. Agave spirits were the only category to post growth, rising by 2%, while Japanese whisky also showed areas of strength in travel retail and in less established markets.

Guy Wolfe, senior insights manager for status spirits at IWSR, said the decline does not mean affluent consumers have abandoned the category. Instead, he said, buyers have become more demanding and more focused on clear evidence that a high price is justified.

“Buyers aren’t walking away from status spirits, but they are becoming more discerning,” Wolfe said in the report. “Even at the top of the market, ‘spending smart’ has become a virtue, rather than a compromise.”

IWSR said that shift is changing what works for producers and brand owners trying to sell bottles at $100 and above. The study identified four broad patterns in buyer behavior for 2026, all centered on verification, transparency and direct access rather than image alone.

One of the clearest changes is a growing skepticism toward what the report called manufactured scarcity. IWSR said consumers are less willing to pay a premium for limited editions created mainly for marketing purposes and are placing more value on bottles that can show genuine rarity, strong liquid quality and clear provenance. That has supported demand for private casks, bespoke offerings and other products that are harder to replicate and easier to verify.

The report pointed to Sotheby’s Distillers One of One charity whisky auction as an example of continued demand for rare products. The auction, which consists of one-off bottlings, raised $3.1 million across 39 lots last year, beating expectations even as the broader market softened.

Another pattern is the renewed importance of age statements. IWSR said value-conscious buyers, including those at lower status price tiers, are looking for concrete quality signals they can trust. In that environment, age has become an important marker because it is simple to understand and easier to verify than broader claims about exclusivity.

The study said this trend is visible in Scotch. Over the past two years, the number of status Scotch releases without an age statement has fallen, while launches with age statements of 18 years or less have risen sharply. At the same time, distillers at the top of the market have expanded permanent ranges of older expressions as more mature whisky stocks have become available.

Wolfe said the trend should not be read as a return to tradition for its own sake. He said it reflects the need for proof in a market where buyers are more cautious about scarcity claims and more careful about where they spend.

The study also said experience is becoming as important as the bottle itself. Status spirits buyers are increasingly looking for access to distilleries, tastings, cask-owner networks and peer communities built around auctions and private events. IWSR said this part of the market is now one of the fastest moving in terms of innovation, with producers broadening what they offer beyond the physical product.

That trend fits a wider shift in luxury spending, where consumers are often willing to spend on access, connection and community even when they are more hesitant about goods alone. For spirits brands, that means the sale increasingly includes a relationship with the producer, not just a transaction at retail.

The study said the buyer base is also becoming more diverse. Wolfe said brand owners are reporting more interest from Millennial and Gen Z consumers, especially in Asia. He also said there are growing groups of newly wealthy buyers in Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

That changing audience is helping producers outside the traditional whisky powerhouses gain ground. IWSR said status-level whisky is no longer defined only by Scotland, the U.S., Ireland and Japan. Producers in India, Taiwan, China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Israel and Denmark are increasingly able to sell bottles above the $100 mark despite lacking the long heritage associated with older whisky regions.

According to the report, those brands are using different tools to justify premium prices. They include hyper-local stories about climate and maturation, the use of indigenous cask types, scores and awards from international competitions, and tightly controlled scarcity. IWSR said packaging is also changing, with more brands using local materials, regional design and craftsmanship to reinforce identity and place of origin.

Wolfe said this is another example of buyers responding to signals that can be checked independently. In markets where brands do not have centuries of history behind them, producers are relying more on awards, production details and place-based narratives that are tied to a real location.

The study said the central challenge for producers in 2026 is not simply how to maintain a luxury image, but how to give consumers a precise reason to pay elevated prices in a tougher market. That pressure applies across price tiers, from buyers trading down because of weaker disposable income to wealthy consumers who remain willing to spend but want more evidence before they do so.

IWSR’s findings suggest that the high-end spirits market is still attracting interest, but that demand is becoming more conditional. For producers, that means a bottle’s price and reputation may no longer be enough on their own, especially in markets where spending has slowed and consumers are comparing products more carefully before they buy.