Whiskey or Vodka Most Popular Liquor in 33 States
Whiskey or vodka is the most popular liquor in 33 different states. That's according to an analysis of Google Trends data by Upgraded Points, which also found that staple liquors like gin and rum aren’t the most popular in more than a single state.
Broken down by region, whiskey is popular in the West (Colorado, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming), in the South (Alabama, Arkansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia), and in the Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota), while vodka dominates the Northeast (Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island).
Zoom in on specific liquor brands, however, the popularity of various types of liquor begins to change. Rum is most popular in Hawaii, but the coconut rum Malibu is the most popular brand of liquor in most states. But the discrepancy between the popular types of liquor and the popular brands of liquor doesn’t stop there. Of the other most popular liquor brands, Appleton Estate is a rum, Hennessy is a cognac, and Jose Cuervo is a tequila — only Ciroc fits in the whiskey/vodka category.
The tides turn in favor of whiskey and vodka when we look at celebrity liquor brands, however, as UFC fighter Conor McGregor’s Proper No. Twelve Triple Distilled Irish Whiskey and Dan Aykroyd and John Alexander’s Crystal Head Vodka are the most popular celebrity liquor brands on a state-by-state basis.
In California, while tequila won as the most popular liquor type, Elon Musk’s Tesla Tequila also reigned supreme, according to Upgraded Points. (An aside: If anyone doubted that Musk is a master marketer, not merely a visionary, the mere fact he has a Tesla Tequila, reinforcing the Tesla brand albeit in a different category, should answer that.) On the other hand, gin and Ryan Reynold’s Aviation Gin both ranked #1 for search volume in Washington, D.C.
New Yorkers also showed loyalty to DeLeón Tequila, the brand of Harlem native and rapper P. Diddy. Likewise, Tennessee was true to Knoxville-native Kenny Chesney, with Blue Chair Bay Rum reigning supreme in the country star’s home state.
Out of the 14 different types of liquor we ran a keyword search for, 11 are the most popular type of liquor in at least 1 state. This even includes less common liquors like Nevada’s most popular liquor, absinthe, and Utah’s most popular liquor, vermouth.
While a lot of different liquors are the most popular in at least 1 state, for many of the staple liquors, one state is as far as things go. For example, gin is only the most popular liquor in Washington, D.C., rum is only the most popular liquor in Hawaii, brandy is only the most popular liquor in Wisconsin, and bourbon is the most popular liquor only in Kentucky .