Philippines rum remains no. 1 for 2nd year

MANILA, Philippines — Lucio Tan-owned Tanduay rum has been named the world’s number one rum for the second straight year, Lucio “Bong” Tan Jr. announced over the weekend.

“For the second consecutive year, Tanduay has maintained its stature as the world’s number one rum, according to the Drinks International Ranking of the million-case rum brands released this month,” Tan, president and chief operating officer of Tanduay Distillers Inc., said in a press conference on Saturday.

Tanduay first achieved the accolade in 2018, beating for the first time Puerto Rican brand Bacardi, perennially the top-selling rum in the world.

With the top ranking, the 165-year-old Filipino brand means it stayed in the number one spot and outperformed other foreign rum brands in the latest report released by Drinks International.

“This is a milestone not just for Tanduay, but for the Philippines as well. This shows that Filipino craftsmanship is truly world-class,” said the younger Tan.

Drinks International is a global spirits market think tank. It released this month its Ranking of the World’s Million-Case Spirits Brands for 2019. Annually, it releases industry updates and rankings of brands that record volumes of a million nine-liter cases or above the previous year. There were 153 brands surveyed from last year.

“The two horse-race between Bacardi and Tanduay seems to be a thing of the past, with the later boasting an additional three million cases in 2019,” Drinks International said.

The think tank said the major players in the rum category do seem to be in a more powerful state than they were 12 months ago.