Lifestyle

South Africans have a taste for American whiskey

Luyolo Mkentane|Published

South Africans have a taste for American whiskey. Pexels South Africans have a taste for American whiskey. Pexels

South Africans are have the money and the taste for American whiskey.

The Business Report, reports that US whiskey imports to the country grew to over US $10 m (R137 million) last year.

The imports surged by more than 17 percent in 2016, from US $8.9m 

Christine LoCascio is the senior vice president for international issues and trade at the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, and says: “International adult consumers are exploring more expensive US spirits, driven by their fascination with American whiskey’s heritage and its versatility in cocktails.”

A bottle of whiskey is photographed at Firestone & Robertson in Forth Worth, Texas

South Africans have always had a taste for whisky as is evident in the popularity of the annual Whisky Live event.

Ahead of the event last month, Whisky Live spokesperson, Charlotte Kearsey said: "Support from the whisky industry is unparalleled (for the event) in enabling the team to deliver the world’s biggest festival of its kind and it’s the focus on whisky education and quality of the event that keeps 20 000 South African’s flocking to the events annually."

Around the world there is a growing market for the American spirit.

The top five markets for US spirits: 

- United Kingdom

- Germany

- Brazil

- France 

- Spain

*Business Report