Whiskey, rum and vodka triumph against the odds to beat gin in consumer poll

By Jo Gilbert

Published: 27 May, 2016

Vodka, whiskey and rum have dominated a campaign to find the nation's favourite craft spirits - despite gin making up 80% of the entries.

The Twitter campaign tracked over 200 brands, but despite gin representing the majority of entries, half of the top ten winners comprised of whiskey (10%), rum (20%) or vodka (20%).

Launched in March, over 20,000 votes were cast using the #HotCraftSpirits hashtag for Twitter users to vote for their favourite small producers.

Jason Navon, co-founder of social media agency Clarity Comms, which ran the campaign, said he and the other organisers were surprised by the results.

"We expected gins to dominate given the amount of brands out there," he said. "However, we were pleasantly surprised to see half the top ten taken by vodkas, rums and whiskey.

"Jelley's vodka and Muttuga rum show there is an appetite for interesting premium spirits and that gin isn't the only player in town. We're looking forward to seeing how this develops next year."

During the campaign, which ran from March 10 to May 20, English distillers received more support from voters than other parts of the UK.

The top ten was dominated by English or Northern Irish producers with Scotland and Wales lagging behind.

The over all winner was a Northamptonshire distiller, Jelley's Vodka, gaining 5,012 votes.

Cornwall is emerging as a hot craft county with six of the top 20 producers generating 5,124 consumer votes.

Cornish producer Hicks & Healey whiskey finished 3rd with 3,176 votes.

Northern Ireland based Ruby Blue Vodka and Jawbox Gin also performed strongly finishing in 5th and 7th place respectively.

"It was interesting to see English distillers are challenging Scotland's crown," Navon added. "This is likely to increase as many of these producers will be introducing whiskies over the coming years."

HotCraftSpirits 2016 Results

1. Jelley's Vodka, Northamptonshire 5,012 votes

2. Masons Yorkshire Gin 3,200 votes

3. Hick & Healey Whiskey, Cornwall 3,170 votes

4. Wight Mermaids Gin, Isle of Wight 1,460 votes

5. Ruby Blue Vodka, Belfast 1,091 votes

6. Matugga Rum, 995 votes

7. Jawbox Gin, Belfast 865 votes

8. Revolver Rum, Cornwall 740 votes

9. Trevethan Gin, Cornwall 495 votes

10. Twisted Nose Gin, Winchester 449 votes

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