As evidence that Diageo’s push behind its Bulleit brand is yielding positive results, GuestMetric’s data indicates the brand has entered the ranks of the fastest growing spirits brands in the on-premise space:

Ø  Consistent with the commentary provided by Diageo management recently, Bulleit’s volumes have grown 71 percent (consumer take away) in the on-premise space over the course of 2013 through November 3rd compared to the same period in the prior year (slightly more modest than the depletion figures provided by management recently which likely includes inventory building at new on-premise locations).  Furthermore, the brand has been picking up momentum, growing 69 percent in 1Q, 72 percent in 2Q, and 73 percent in the most recent quarter.

Ø  Of the several thousand spirits brand families we track in our system, Bulleit has achieved the 5th largest gain in share of the overall spirits category in 3Q, only behind Fireball, Tito’s, Jameson, and Don Julio (which we wrote about recently).

Ø  Bulleit is among the top year over year gainers in both distribution and velocity, which suggests the brand still has decent runway for future growth.  Looking at the largest 100 spirits brand families in the on-premise space, thus far in 2013, Bulleit has achieved the 4th largest year over year gain in distribution (with particularly strong gains in the Chicago and New York markets), and the 8th largest year over year gain in sales per point of distribution (with particularly strong gains in the Austin and LA markets).