Readings from the field.
Category analysis built on data we've read ourselves, with a source under every number.
When a paper puts a number on the future, the next one grades it.
The 2028 wave
Spirits is sitting in a gap between Millennials and Gen Z. Relief starts when the largest cohort in US history turns 21 in 2028. Their money arrives on a different schedule.
The state of tequila
Record units behind falling prices. In the same year, Americans paid less per drink and bought more drinks. Plus a six-move playbook for craft operators.
High proof: growth analysis and mid-year scorecard
The category's fastest-growing niche hits its first real test. We graded our own March forecast line by line, including a number the earlier edition got wrong.
The additive-free endgame
A fifth of the super-premium shelf, holding a $42 ring while everything under it gets cheaper. Then the regulator came for the claim, and demand kept going anyway.
The innovation freeze
479 new tequilas launched in 2022. Nine launched last quarter, and the shelf never got smaller. Whiskey ran this arc first, so it shows what comes next.
The allocation thaw
For a decade the most hunted bourbons lived on lottery lists. That era is ending, and the shelf is where the glut is paying out. Availability up, price holding.
The rest of the 2026 library
The $30 ceiling. The premium unwind. The hundred-proof turn. The age-statement dividend. The mini economy. The flavor treadmill. Plus full category reviews for both categories.
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