Booze: Who's Drinking What Where

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But the real story in Asia is, of course, China, where Parsons has seen massive growth in the sale of blended whiskey. The numbers are barely credible—sales of Scotch in China grew tenfold from 2002 to 2007, according to IWSR, a London-based research company specializing in the global wines and spirits industry, with the most popular brand, Pernod Ricard's Chivas Regal, growing from 71,000 to 729,000 cases.

"What's interesting about China," says Diageo's Parsons, "is that when we try and go in with ultra-premium offerings in other categories they are not quite sure what to do with them. Scotch definitely rules the roost in China."

However, he anticipates this changing over time—"Ultimately this is not going to be just a Scotch market,"—and so Diageo is investing resources in their other brands, including Smirnoff, and other categories. They are positioning these in order to take advantage of the market as it evolves.

One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Cognac

The U.S., not surprisingly, drinks more bourbon than anywhere else, though American whiskey—bourbon and Tennessee—have long played catch-up with Scotch in global markets. Scotch established itself around the world in the 19th and 20th centuries thanks to the wide reach of the British Empire, while U.S. whiskey was crippled by Prohibition, but the major labels, such as Brown-Forman's (BFA) Jack Daniel's and Fortune Brands' (FO) Jim Beam, are now making a big push into the emerging markets of Eastern Europe, Russia, and China.

However, while they are showing success in terms of growth—sales of American whiskey grew by 269% in China from 2002 to 2007—they still represent only a small fraction, 5.6%, of the overall whiskey market there. In fact, one brand of Scotch, Chivas Regal, sells four times as much whisky in China as all the American whiskey brands combined.

The U.S. is also, and somewhat surprisingly, the largest market for cognac. In contrast, the French, while embracing Scotch, have fallen most decidedly out of love with their own national spirit; consumption fell by 55% from 2002 to 2007 and now is just 1/20th of that of Scotch.

Russians drink more vodka than anyone else (274 million cases), but growth is minimal, whereas cognac is up 134% in that country over the last five years, and Scotch a whopping 561%, all according to IWSR.

Big "Scotch" Drinkers

The world's largest consumer of "Scotch" is India—the word is in quotes because 99% of it there is not produced by Messrs. Walker, Haig, and their Scottish friends, but a local spirit as often as not made from molasses rather than barley.

To protect this domestic production, India imposes a controversial 52.5% tariff on imported Scotch, so the real stuff accounts for only 1% of Indian whiskey consumption.

Needless to say, the Scotch Whisky Assn. is not happy with the situation, and the lawsuits are flying. The SWA recently won a case in the Delhi High Court forbidding the locals from labeling their spirit "Scotch," but this is only the beginning of the fracas. With angry accusations of protectionism and imperialism being tossed around, it's going to be a long time before this particular liquored-up brawl is settled.

What this all amounts to is that the international premium spirits brands are becoming an increasingly successful worldwide phenomenon. In the developed world they are an affordable luxury; in the emerging markets of Eastern Europe, Russia, and China, they have become emblematic of an aspirational Western lifestyle; and for everyone, every patron of trendy cocktail bars and pulsing discos from Singapore to Seattle, they connote a self-congratulatory air of worldly sophistication.

Click here for a list of the best-selling brands in 10 of the world's biggest countries.

Nick Passmore is an independent wine writer and consultant based in New York. For five years he contributed a widely read monthly wine column to Forbes.com, in addition to which his work has appeared in such publications as Forbes, Discover, Town & Country, the Robb Report, the Wine Enthusiast, Saveur, Sky, and Golf Connoisseur. He is currently Artisanal Editor for Four Seasons magazine and contributes the Nick Passmore: Wine of the Week column to BusinessWeek.com. He is also a judge at the widely respected annual Critics' Challenge wine competition.