The spirit of Manitoba is whisky, StatsCan data shows

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This article was published 23/04/2019 (2379 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It may have been George Bernard Shaw who said whisky is liquid sunshine but it’s Manitobans who are the ones basking in the sun.

According to figures compiled by Statistics Canada for the control and sale of alcoholic beverages in the year ending March 31, 2018, Manitobans lead the the nation in the market share of whisky.

When Manitobans walk into a liquor store to buy spirits, more than 37 per cent of what they buy is whisky.

And according to Emory Muir, a program manager at Stats Canada, “it’s not a blip.

“Manitobans in general have been running about 35 to 36 per cent of the market share of total spirits sold for a few years. It appears to be a regional preference… there’s all kinds of regional preferences — Quebec has a preference for wine. Whatever the reason, in Manitoba it is whisky.

“But we can’t say why Manitobans are drinking more whisky than Nova Scotia or Quebec.”

Susan Harrison, a spokeswoman for Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries, said whisky has continued to lead the way in the last year and she said there are two areas fuelling whisky growth.

“Bourbon, which is up 23 per cent in dollar sales and 20 per cent in litres, and Irish whisky, up 15 per cent in dollar sales and 14 per cent in litres,” she said.

As well, Harrison said sales of its Distinctions liquor, which include a 700 mL bottle of Remy Martin Louis XIII Grande Champion Cognac for $3,100.88 and a 750 mL bottle of Appleton 50 year old Estate Rum for $4,999.99, has gone up by 119 per cent in the last year.

“Overall, we are finding that Manitobans are looking for innovations when it comes to traditional spirits,” she said.

“We have seen increased interest in new flavours of existing products, including berry, citrus flavours, salted caramel, and peach.”

As well, Harrison said liqueur sales include trends in special flavours including cinnamon, coconut and cream-based.

Harrison said sales of gin are also climbing, up eight per cent in dollars and seven per cent in litre sales.

Beer sales in Manitoba are mixed because, while beer sales are down one per cent in dollars and 2.5 per cent in litres, single-serve beer sales are up 10 per cent in dollars and eight per cent in volume, and the craft beer scene continues to grow with 13 craft breweries now open.

Harrison said sparking and soda coolers have seen growth of a whopping 450 per cent over the last year, while sales of non-alcoholic products in Liquor Marts have grown 32 per cent.

Muir said the stats show that across the country more than 3,098 million litres of alcohol is sold every year, the equivalent of every Canadian of drinking age having 507 standard drinks annually.

The report says the biggest jump in sales across the country has been seen in Nunavut, with beer sales up 76 per cent and wine up 279 per cent — but it’s not because people there are suddenly drinking more.

“These changes reflected the opening of the Iqaluit Beer and Wine Store, the first alcohol retail store in Nunavut,” the report says, noting that before the store opened most of the territory’s liquor was purchased outside of the area using import permits.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca