Brown-Forman may have built its fortunes on bourbon, but booming sales of Scotch whisky Glenglassaugh were the highlight of the company’s fiscal 2024 results, offsetting declines in Jack Daniel’s.

President and Chief Executive Officer Lawson Whiting said Glenglassaugh whisky was the third largest positive contributor to overall organic net sales for Brown-Forman as brand awareness among whiskey connoisseurs continued to grow.

Interest in the distillery had also been elevated by Glenglassaugh Sandend being named the 2023 Whiskey of the Year by Whiskey Advocate Magazine.

“And, as we’ve shared over the last couple of quarters, the brand continued to benefit from cask sales, particularly in Asia through its old and rare program,” he said.

“The growth from these brands was almost entirely offset by declines in organic net sales from Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey.”

Brown-Forman reports huge growth for Glenglassaugh whisky in first half of fiscal 2024

Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey declined 5%, which Whiting said was led by lower volumes in Japan as the company transitioned to own distribution, the United States due to slowing consumer demand and the United Arab Emirates and Sub-Saharan Africa, “both of which had strong comparisons given the significant rebuilding of inventory last year”.

Whiting said that over the last few years to meet consumer preferences, the company had purposefully premiumised the Jack Daniel’s family of brands and elevated our whiskey credentials through innovation and specialty launches.

“This allowed us to offer both long-term friends of Jack Daniel’s and new friends the opportunity to explore and discover within the Jack Daniel’s family,” he said.

“Collectively, the Jack Daniel’s super-premium expressions also delivered strong double-digit organic net sales growth in fiscal ‘24. This growth was led by Jack Daniel’s Sinatra, Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Rye, Barrel Proof and the newest member of the bonded series, Jack Daniel’s Bonded Rye. Our exclusive global travel retail offering, Jack Daniel’s American Single Malt also contributed to the strong results.”

Whiting reassured analysts during an earnings call that “despite recent short-term headwinds in our industry, we believe Jack Daniels has a significant runway for growth and are confident in achieving our long-term ambitions”.

“Jack Daniel’s remains one of the most iconic brands in the world with solid brand health and a long-term performance track record with Jack Daniel’s family of brands growing volume at a 5% compound annual growth rate over the past five, 10 and 30 year periods,” he said.

“The fact that the brand’s five year growth rate is the same as its 30-year growth rate means that it is not slowing down. That is impressive for a brand of its size.

Other bright spots for the company were Diplomático and Gin Mare, which drove Rest of Portfolio’s reported net sales growth of 61% (+15% organic).

Brown-Forman reported financial results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended April 30, 2024, earlier this month.

However, reported net sales for the company’s tequila portfolio decreased 4% (-7% organic). Herradura’s reported net sales declined 10% (-13% organic) led by lower volumes in the United States reflecting an estimated net decrease in distributor inventories. el Jimador’s reported net sales were flat (-1% organic) driven by lower volumes in Mexico and the United States offset by higher prices.

Fourth quarter reported net sales for Brown-Forman decreased 8% to $1 billion (-5% on an organic basis) compared to the same prior-year period. 

Whiting said it was a difficult period for the spirits industry, as consumers faced higher inflation and increased interest rates that made them as well as distributors and retailers reconsider when and how they made purchases.

“In this environment, our fiscal 2024 results were below our expectations with organic net sales declining 1% and organic operating income decreasing 2%,” he said.

Blip in the road for RTDs

Brown-Forman’s RTD portfolio delivered reported net sales growth of 2% (flat on an organic basis). 

“I do want to acknowledge that the impact of Jack & Coke RTD is difficult to see in our fiscal 2024 results, primarily due to the transition to Jack & Coke RTD from our pre-existing Jack and Cola RTD business,” Whiting said.

“Even so, we continue to believe Jack & Coke is an iconic brand and a fabulous product and can build a stronger and more global foundation for the Jack Daniel’s family of brands. Consider for example, the Jack & Coke RTD grew to 4.5 million nine-litre depletions in over 25 markets around the world in fiscal ’24, of which two million of the cases were incremental and leading to more than 120 million cans in consumer hands.

“Brand investment increased significantly in markets where we transitioned from Jack & Cola to Jack and Coke, with more than half of the increase contributed by Coca-Cola and very positive consumer response with greater than 86% of consumers indicating strong intent to repurchase the Jack & Coke RTD.

 “RTDs are very popular right now and Jack & Coke well, just getting started is something, we really believe in and we do have a pipeline of new thoughts on premium offerings.”

Brown-Forman’s Glenglassaugh whisky named 2023 Whisky of the Year