Back at the end of 2013 a tiny little whiskey reviewing website launched. A few hundred people signed up for our email list. You couldn’t do much with it besides look at what a handful of spirits reviewers had rated a laughably small group of whiskeys. I think when we launched, it had about 85 whiskeys reviewed. Impressive, I know. Back then you couldn’t create an account, or leave tasting notes, or rate whiskeys yourself. You couldn’t add anything to your wishlist, or keep track of your collection. Still, people liked it. It looked nice, it worked on your phone, and it showed potential. So we decided to keep going. Now three years later what used to be a tiny little whiskey reviewing website is the most downloaded and used spirits app on earth. If I didn’t need both of my hands to type this, I’d be pinching myself.
We’ve grown this much because of your interest, feedback, suggestions, and the fact that you share Distiller with your friends and family. Please keep doing it, the more we grow, the better we can make the app and website.
Now that 2016 is drawing to a close, we wanted to share some of the fun and exciting data we’ve collected over the course of the year! Let’s take a look at Distiller in 2016…
The U.S. of A.
The United States is our biggest market, and it accounts for a huge amount of our overall usage, but we knew from our data over the years that tastes and preferences vary drastically from state to state. We took a deeper dive and looked at the most viewed spirits by state in 2016!
Most Viewed Spirits By State in 2016
It would appear that it was a battle between two brand new whiskies that made their debuts in 2016 to see who could own the hearts and minds of the American public. Suntory Whisky Toki and Crown Royal Noble Collection Cornerstone Blend both dominated huge swaths of the country. It’s also really exciting to see regional spirits being so heavily favored by their home states.
Around The World
Outside of the United States, international drinkers were busy as well. Canada and Australia are huge and growing markets for us, as well as countries across Europe and Asia. Take a look at the most viewed spirits across our top 11 biggest ex-US countries!
Most Viewed Spirits By Country in 2016
Whiskey is where Distiller started, and it’s no wonder that both internationally as well as in the United States, whiskey is king.
2016 By The Numbers
Every year we’ve seen the app grow, but absolutely nothing like this year. Our monthly search totals have gone through the roof, people are viewing, rating, and leaving tasting notes more than ever, and our monthly users have increased by 150% year over year. What does that all boil down to? Well, a lot more data for one thing!
How many spirits searches? More than 7.5 Million!
How many spirits added to lists? More than 215,000!
How many Notes and Ratings added? Over 130,000!
But what about the top spirits of the year? The ones that Distiller users from almost every country on earth were looking at (seriously, why isn’t anybody using Distiller in North Korea or Tajikistan? We’re blowing it!) Take a look at the most viewed, wished for, and collected spirits of the year!
The Most Viewed Spirits of 2016
These three spirits were viewed more than any others from users all around the world this year.
#1 – Suntory Whisky Toki
#2 – Lagavulin 16 Year
#3 – Highland Park 18 Year
The Most Wished For Spirits of 2016
These three spirits were wished for more than any others from users all around the world this year.
#1 – W.L. Weller 12 Year
#2 – Hibiki 21 Year
#3 – Elmer T. Lee Bourbon
The Most Collected Spirits of 2016
These three spirits were added to collections more than any others from users all around the world this year.
#1 – Lagavulin 16 Year
#2 – Blanton’s Original Single Barrel Bourbon
#3 – Eagle Rare 10 Year
Here’s to 2017!
And there you have it! We can’t wait to look back on 2016 a year from now when we’ve added even more spirits, more features, more users, and made Distiller even better. We couldn’t be more proud of how far we’ve come, and more excited for everything we still have to build. Keep your eyes on Distiller in 2017, we have some big things planned, and we can’t wait to share them all with you.
Mikael Mossberg is the Co-Founder & CEO of Distiller.
With Distiller, you’ll always know what’s in the bottle before you spend a cent. Rate, Review, and Discover spirits! Head on over to Distiller, or download the app for iOS and Android today!
