Whisky in numbers
Aggregate statistics computed from the full WhiskyDB snapshot: 3,093 bottlings, 2,720 producers and brands, and 7,315 monthly distillery auction benchmarks reaching back to 2005, every record traced to an open public source. Refreshed monthly. Every figure is free to cite, quote and embed with a link to this page.
- Bottlings3,093
- Producers & brands2,720
- Countries32
- Auction benchmarks7,315
- Auction history2005 to 2024
- Snapshot2026-10-02
The whisky auction price index
Across the 29 distilleries with auction results in both 2006 and 2024, the mean winning bid rose from £53 in 2006 to a peak of £263 in 2022, a 5.0x increase. It has since eased 22.4% to £204 in 2024 (Jan to Oct), still 3.86x its 2006 level. The single strongest month was 2022-05 at £370.
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<a href="https://whiskydb.dataengineered.io/stats/#fig-auction-index"><img src="https://whiskydb.dataengineered.io/stats/charts/auction-index.svg" alt="Whisky auction price index, 2006 to 2024" width="720" style="max-width:100%;height:auto"></a>
<p><small>Source: <a href="https://whiskydb.dataengineered.io/stats/">WhiskyDB whisky statistics</a> (CC BY 4.0)</small></p>| Year | Mean winning bid (GBP) | Distilleries |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | £53 | 29 |
| 2007 | £58 | 29 |
| 2008 | £80 | 29 |
| 2009 | £107 | 29 |
| 2010 | £98 | 29 |
| 2011 | £108 | 29 |
| 2012 | £109 | 29 |
| 2013 | £117 | 29 |
| 2014 | £141 | 29 |
| 2015 | £148 | 29 |
| 2016 | £165 | 29 |
| 2017 | £192 | 29 |
| 2018 | £231 | 29 |
| 2019 | £214 | 29 |
| 2020 | £215 | 29 |
| 2021 | £242 | 29 |
| 2022 | £263 | 29 |
| 2023 | £232 | 29 |
| 2024 (Jan to Oct) | £204 | 29 |
Source: WhiskyHunter open auction statistics, one distillery-level index value per month (mean winning bid at UK online whisky auctions, GBP), 2005-11-01 to 2024-10-01. Each year is the mean of the distilleries' yearly means, every distillery weighted equally. Only the 29 distilleries with data in both 2006 and 2024 are included, so the index compares like with like; 2005 is dropped as a partial year and 2024 covers 10 months. This is a market-level index, never a bottle-specific price. Distilleries: Aberlour, Ardbeg, Balvenie, Bowmore, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Bushmills, Caol Ila, Cardhu, Cragganmore, Glen Grant, Glen Moray, Glendronach, Glendullan, Glenfarclas, Glenfiddich, Glenkinchie, Glenmorangie, Highland Park, Jack Daniel's, Knockando, Lagavulin, Laphroaig, Oban, Scapa, Talisker, Tamdhu, Woodford Reserve, Yamazaki.
Which distilleries command the highest prices
Yamazaki tops the 2024 index at £678 per lot, ahead of Glenfarclas (£404) and Bowmore (£389). Over the last ten years Woodford Reserve gained the most, +253.8% from £37 to £130, while Oban moved -7.0%.
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<a href="https://whiskydb.dataengineered.io/stats/#fig-distillery-index"><img src="https://whiskydb.dataengineered.io/stats/charts/distillery-index.svg" alt="Distilleries with the highest auction index, 2024" width="720" style="max-width:100%;height:auto"></a>
<p><small>Source: <a href="https://whiskydb.dataengineered.io/stats/">WhiskyDB whisky statistics</a> (CC BY 4.0)</small></p>Embed this chart
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<a href="https://whiskydb.dataengineered.io/stats/#fig-distillery-gain"><img src="https://whiskydb.dataengineered.io/stats/charts/distillery-gain.svg" alt="Ten-year change in auction index, 2014 to 2024" width="720" style="max-width:100%;height:auto"></a>
<p><small>Source: <a href="https://whiskydb.dataengineered.io/stats/">WhiskyDB whisky statistics</a> (CC BY 4.0)</small></p>| Distillery | 2006 (GBP) | 2014 (GBP) | 2024 (GBP) | Change 2014 to 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yamazaki | £36 | £371 | £678 | +82.9% |
| Glenfarclas | £75 | £175 | £404 | +130.5% |
| Bowmore | £69 | £234 | £389 | +66.3% |
| Glen Grant | £43 | £165 | £349 | +111.5% |
| Glendronach | £52 | £137 | £312 | +127.9% |
| Balvenie | £57 | £228 | £281 | +23.5% |
| Ardbeg | £138 | £244 | £264 | +7.8% |
| Laphroaig | £89 | £200 | £260 | +29.9% |
| Talisker | £90 | £194 | £228 | +17.7% |
| Highland Park | £72 | £196 | £220 | +12.5% |
| Lagavulin | £67 | £214 | £220 | +2.9% |
| Caol Ila | £48 | £135 | £189 | +39.6% |
| Glenfiddich | £40 | £155 | £181 | +16.9% |
| Bruichladdich | £55 | £120 | £177 | +47.2% |
| Bunnahabhain | £68 | £151 | £155 | +2.8% |
| Scapa | £39 | £71 | £148 | +107.1% |
| Tamdhu | £36 | £87 | £141 | +62.1% |
| Glendullan | £45 | £124 | £137 | +10.9% |
| Oban | £80 | £147 | £137 | -7.0% |
| Woodford Reserve | £11 | £37 | £130 | +253.8% |
| Bushmills | £27 | £57 | £123 | +115.7% |
| Glenmorangie | £76 | £125 | £120 | -3.7% |
| Cragganmore | £31 | £76 | £118 | +55.4% |
| Glen Moray | £32 | £87 | £108 | +24.0% |
| Jack Daniel's | £16 | £74 | £105 | +41.3% |
| Knockando | £24 | £80 | £98 | +22.3% |
| Aberlour | £56 | £77 | £91 | +17.3% |
| Cardhu | £38 | £72 | £86 | +18.4% |
| Glenkinchie | £24 | £63 | £82 | +30.6% |
Same source and method as the index above: yearly mean of the distillery's monthly index values. 2024 covers 10 months. Percentage change compares 2024 with 2014.
What is in the catalogue
34.5% of the 3,093 bottlings are Bourbon and 18.1% are Scotch of some kind (single malt or blended); 35.8% carry only the generic class Whisky on their label filing.
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<a href="https://whiskydb.dataengineered.io/stats/#fig-spirit-types"><img src="https://whiskydb.dataengineered.io/stats/charts/spirit-types.svg" alt="What is in the catalogue" width="720" style="max-width:100%;height:auto"></a>
<p><small>Source: <a href="https://whiskydb.dataengineered.io/stats/">WhiskyDB whisky statistics</a> (CC BY 4.0)</small></p>| Spirit type | Bottlings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Whisky | 1,106 | 35.8% |
| Bourbon | 1,068 | 34.5% |
| Single Malt Scotch | 405 | 13.1% |
| Rye Whiskey | 240 | 7.8% |
| Scotch Whisky | 154 | 5.0% |
| Irish Whiskey | 69 | 2.2% |
| Canadian Whisky | 22 | 0.7% |
| Japanese Whisky | 17 | 0.5% |
| Single Malt Whisky | 11 | 0.4% |
| Single Malt Japanese | 1 | 0.0% |
Type is the class stated on the label filing or product record, normalized. The catalogue is built from US federal label approvals (TTB COLA), Open Food Facts and curated producer data, so it over-represents spirits sold in the United States.
How strong the bottlings are
Among bottlings whose ABV differs from the 40% default, the median bottling is 50.0% and 54.9% are bottled at 50% or above, cask-strength territory. The strongest on record is 70.0%. By type, Single Malt Scotch averages the highest at 51.5%.
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<a href="https://whiskydb.dataengineered.io/stats/#fig-abv"><img src="https://whiskydb.dataengineered.io/stats/charts/abv.svg" alt="Bottling strength (ABV)" width="720" style="max-width:100%;height:auto"></a>
<p><small>Source: <a href="https://whiskydb.dataengineered.io/stats/">WhiskyDB whisky statistics</a> (CC BY 4.0)</small></p>| Spirit type | Bottlings with an ABV other than 40% | Mean ABV | Highest ABV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single Malt Scotch | 119 | 51.5% | 63.8% |
| Rye Whiskey | 64 | 51.5% | 70.0% |
| Bourbon | 261 | 50.7% | 70.0% |
| Whisky | 224 | 48.2% | 70.0% |
| Irish Whiskey | 10 | 46.8% | 57.7% |
| Scotch Whisky | 18 | 46.4% | 56.2% |
Only the 709 of 3,093 bottlings whose ABV differs from the documented 40% legal-minimum default are counted, all of them stated by the source (mostly US label details). In this edition a 40% stated by the source cannot be told apart from that default, so it is left out too, and these figures skew towards labels that state a non-standard strength. Types with fewer than 10 such ABVs are omitted from the table.
Where the producers and brands are
USA accounts for 47.3% of producers with a stated country, Scotland for 22.5% and England & Wales for 18.3%; 32 countries appear in total, 12 of them only on Open Food Facts records.
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<a href="https://whiskydb.dataengineered.io/stats/#fig-producers-by-country"><img src="https://whiskydb.dataengineered.io/stats/charts/producers-by-country.svg" alt="Where the producers and brands are" width="720" style="max-width:100%;height:auto"></a>
<p><small>Source: <a href="https://whiskydb.dataengineered.io/stats/">WhiskyDB whisky statistics</a> (CC BY 4.0)</small></p>| Country | Producers | Share |
|---|---|---|
| USA | 1,281 | 47.3% |
| Scotland | 609 | 22.5% |
| England & Wales | 497 | 18.3% |
| France | 64 | 2.4% |
| Ireland | 49 | 1.8% |
| Northern Ireland | 39 | 1.4% |
| Canada | 36 | 1.3% |
| India | 31 | 1.1% |
| Japan | 28 | 1.0% |
| Australia | 20 | 0.7% |
| England | 9 | 0.3% |
| Germany | 9 | 0.3% |
| Netherlands | 4 | 0.1% |
| Finland | 3 | 0.1% |
| Italy | 3 | 0.1% |
| Mexico | 3 | 0.1% |
| Belgium | 2 | 0.1% |
| China | 2 | 0.1% |
| North Macedonia | 2 | 0.1% |
| South Korea | 2 | 0.1% |
| United Kingdom | 2 | 0.1% |
| Austria | 1 | 0.0% |
| Belarus | 1 | 0.0% |
| Bolivia | 1 | 0.0% |
| Côte d'Ivoire | 1 | 0.0% |
| El Salvador | 1 | 0.0% |
| Lithuania | 1 | 0.0% |
| Nepal | 1 | 0.0% |
| New Zealand | 1 | 0.0% |
| Norway | 1 | 0.0% |
Producers are distilleries, brands, bottlers and whisky companies from label registries, corporate registries, Wikipedia lists and open product databases. The 273 protected spirit appellations of the EU GI register (Scotch Whisky, Cognac, Armagnac…) are in the dataset as places of origin, not producers, so they are left out here; 9 records whose country is Global are excluded. England & Wales and Scotland follow UK Companies House jurisdictions. The country count splits labels that name several countries, merges name variants and counts the UK once. Open Food Facts records carry the first country the product is listed as sold in, which is not necessarily where it is made.
The craft distilling boom
94.3% of producers with a known founding year were founded in 2010 or later, 656 companies in under two decades, against 5 founded before 1900.
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<a href="https://whiskydb.dataengineered.io/stats/#fig-founded"><img src="https://whiskydb.dataengineered.io/stats/charts/founded.svg" alt="When whisky companies were founded" width="720" style="max-width:100%;height:auto"></a>
<p><small>Source: <a href="https://whiskydb.dataengineered.io/stats/">WhiskyDB whisky statistics</a> (CC BY 4.0)</small></p>| Decade | Producers founded | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 2 | 0.3% |
| 1920s | 2 | 0.3% |
| 1930s | 2 | 0.3% |
| 1940s | 1 | 0.1% |
| 1980s | 3 | 0.4% |
| 1990s | 5 | 0.7% |
| 2000s | 20 | 2.9% |
| 2010s | 374 | 53.7% |
| 2020s | 282 | 40.5% |
Founding years come from UK Companies House Corporate Registry (OGL) (690); WhiskyDB Curated Seed (producer-published) (6). Companies House supplies incorporation dates of UK whisky-related companies, so the recent decades reflect UK company formation and long-established distilleries are under-counted. Read this as a UK registration signal, not a global census.
Survival of UK whisky companies
42.5% of whisky-related companies registered in England & Wales have been dissolved, against 29.2% in Scotland.
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<a href="https://whiskydb.dataengineered.io/stats/#fig-uk-status"><img src="https://whiskydb.dataengineered.io/stats/charts/uk-status.svg" alt="UK whisky companies dissolved, by jurisdiction" width="720" style="max-width:100%;height:auto"></a>
<p><small>Source: <a href="https://whiskydb.dataengineered.io/stats/">WhiskyDB whisky statistics</a> (CC BY 4.0)</small></p>| Jurisdiction | Registrations | Active | Dissolved | Dissolved share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| England & Wales | 497 | 286 | 211 | 42.5% |
| Scotland | 154 | 109 | 45 | 29.2% |
| Northern Ireland | 39 | 27 | 12 | 30.8% |
Company status as recorded by UK Companies House (Open Government Licence) for companies whose registered name or activity is whisky-related. Jurisdiction follows the company number prefix. Statuses other than Active and Dissolved (applied, registered) are counted in the total only.
Method, reuse and citation
- Source. The full WhiskyDB snapshot of 2026-10-02, built entirely from open sources: the US TTB COLA label registry, UK Companies House, the EU eAmbrosia GI register, Open Food Facts, Wikipedia and WhiskyHunter's open auction statistics. Every row carries a provenance ledger entry; see Sources & licenses.
- Coverage is uneven by design. Open registries do not all publish every attribute. Every figure above names its denominator, so a percentage is always a share of the records that state that attribute, never of the whole catalogue. Blank fields are never guessed, and the documented 40% ABV fallback is excluded from every ABV figure.
- Producers, not appellations. The dataset also lists the 273 protected spirit appellations of the EU GI register. An appellation is a protected place of origin, not a company, so every producer figure on this page leaves them out; data.json reports them apart as totals.gi_appellations.
- The auction index is a market index. Each value is a distillery-level mean winning bid for one month, never the price of a specific bottle. Yearly figures average the distilleries equally so a distillery with many linked bottlings does not dominate.
- Refresh. The catalogue is refreshed monthly; this page and its charts are regenerated after each refresh, so figures move. Cite the snapshot date.
- Reuse. The figures and charts on this page are published under CC BY 4.0: use them in articles, slides and posts with a link to https://whiskydb.dataengineered.io/stats/. The machine-readable version is data.json. Figures derived from WhiskyHunter, Companies House and Wikipedia retain those sources' attribution terms. The underlying row-level dataset is a separate commercial product.
- Suggested citation. WhiskyDB (2026). Whisky in numbers, snapshot 2026-10-02. DataEngineered. https://whiskydb.dataengineered.io/stats/
- Questions or corrections: contact form or whiskydb@dataengineered.io.
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