Current Market Baseline for American Brandy and Rum
Understanding the Market. Identifying the Opportunity.
American Brandy and American Rum are part of the United States’ distilling heritage. Both have been produced in America for centuries, yet publicly available industry data does not consistently identify the size, production volume, or economic contribution of these domestically produced spirits separately from broader categories that include imports.
This distinction matters for producers, policymakers, distributors, researchers, and communities seeking to understand the position of American-made brandy and rum within the national and international spirits markets.
The AMBRu Campaign examines published market research, international trade statistics, federal production data, and craft distilling research to establish what is documented, identify gaps in available information, and explore opportunities for greater recognition of American Brandy and American Rum.
The central finding: In 2025, the United States imported approximately $1.01 billion in brandy and rum while exporting approximately $125 million, resulting in a combined trade-value gap of roughly $887 million.
This imbalance provides an economic starting point for AMBRu’s proposed national recognition initiative. It does not represent lost domestic sales, a forecast of recoverable revenue, or evidence that recognition alone would change trade flows.
The campaign’s strategic framework is presented in Recognition to Revenue (September 2026), authored by AMBRu co-founder Caroline Porsiel.
The $887 Million U.S. Brandy and Rum Trade Gap
A Documented Trade Imbalance. A Market Opportunity Worth Investigating.
In 2025, the United States imported substantially more brandy and rum by value than it exported.
Published trade statistics from the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) show the following approximate values:
| Category | 2025 Imports | 2025 Exports | Trade-Value Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brandy | $839.7 million | $35.3 million | $804.4 million |
| Rum | $172.1 million | $89.5 million | $82.6 million |
| Combined | $1,011.8 million | $124.9 million | $886.9 million |
Note: Individual figures are rounded. Differences calculated from displayed figures may vary slightly from the differences calculated using underlying source data.
The combined gap of approximately $887 million reflects the difference between reported U.S. import and export values for these two spirits categories.
It is not a measure of domestic production, industry profitability, or revenue that U.S. distillers could automatically capture. Import and export statistics also use different trade valuation conventions and must be interpreted accordingly.
What the Trade Gap Reveals
American producers already manufacture and export both brandy and rum. However, their presence in international trade is substantially smaller in value than the corresponding flow of imported products into the United States.
These figures raise important questions for the American spirits industry:
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Could stronger national product recognition help American Brandy and American Rum establish more distinctive market positions?
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Could increased producer visibility support distribution, consumer awareness, and export development?
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What barriers prevent domestic producers from reaching additional markets?
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Could shared historical identity and coordinated tourism initiatives contribute to new commercial opportunities?
Trade data alone cannot answer these questions. It provides a measurable baseline from which they can be investigated.
AMBRu’s Proposed Response
The AMBRu Campaign advocates greater recognition of American Brandy and American Rum as distinctive products of the United States, supported by producer collaboration, historical research, market visibility, and a proposed national trail.
The Recognition to Revenue working paper outlines this framework and identifies possible pathways from greater product recognition to economic opportunity.
The initiative is a proposal for industry discussion and further research. It does not claim that recognition alone will close the trade gap, replace imported products, or guarantee economic growth.
Sources:
Published Market Size and Growth Outlook
Independent market research documents substantial global and U.S. markets for brandy and rum. These published estimates provide economic context for AMBRu’s work but do not measure the market share of American-produced brandy or rum.
Global Brandy Market
Grand View Research valued the global brandy market at $22.12 billion in 2023, with a projected value of $35.16 billion by 2030 and a compound annual growth rate of 6.8% from 2024 to 2030.
Source: Grand View Research — Global Brandy Market
Global Rum Market
Grand View Research estimated the global rum market at $18.2 billion in 2025, with a forecast of $29.6 billion by 2033, representing a projected compound annual growth rate of 6.4% from 2026 to 2033.
These estimates cover the worldwide rum industry, including products manufactured outside the United States.
Source: Grand View Research — Global Rum Market
U.S. Rum Market
The U.S. rum market was estimated at $2.91 billion in 2024, with a projected compound annual growth rate of 4.9% from 2025 to 2030.
This represents the overall U.S. rum market, including imported products. It does not measure American Rum as a separately recognized national product identity.
Source: Grand View Research — U.S. Rum Market
Global Craft Rum Market
Grand View Research valued the global craft rum market at approximately $1.4 billion in 2025, projecting growth to approximately $2.2 billion by 2033, at a compound annual growth rate of 5.9% from 2026 to 2033.
This global category includes craft producers in multiple countries and should not be interpreted as the size of the U.S. domestic craft rum industry.
Source: Grand View Research — Craft Rum Market
What These Figures Mean for AMBRu
The global brandy and rum industries already represent substantial commercial markets. However, existing research does not consistently isolate the economic contribution or market position of American-produced brandy and rum.
AMBRu’s objective is not to claim a share of these published market forecasts. It is to strengthen recognition, improve visibility, and encourage better measurement of American Brandy and American Rum within established spirits markets.
U.S. Brandy and Rum Exports — 2024 and 2025
American distillers already export brandy and rum to international markets.
According to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), total U.S. distilled spirits exports were approximately $2.37 billion in 2025. American whiskey remained the leading export category.
Brandy and rum exports increased in value between 2024 and 2025.
| Category | 2024 Exports | 2025 Exports |
|---|---|---|
| Brandy | $22.6 million | $35.3 million |
| Rum | $86.4 million | $89.5 million |
| Combined | $109.0 million | $124.9 million |
Combined U.S. brandy and rum export values rose approximately 14.5% in 2025, despite a decline in overall American distilled spirits exports.
This growth demonstrates that American brandy and rum already participate in international trade. It does not establish that the AMBRu Campaign caused the increase or that export growth will continue at the same rate.
The opportunity AMBRu seeks to explore is whether greater national product recognition, coordinated promotion, and stronger producer visibility could support long-term market development.
Source: DISCUS — Distilled Spirits Exports by Value, December 2025 (PDF)
Domestic Production Volume — What Is Known and What Remains Unmeasured
The United States produces both brandy and rum, but the publicly available statistics examined for this baseline do not establish a comprehensive, comparable 2025 production total for these two domestic categories.
Industry data measures several different activities:
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Production: Spirits manufactured by domestic distillers.
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Consumption and sales: Spirits sold or consumed in the United States, including imported products.
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Imports: Spirits entering the United States from foreign markets.
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Exports: Spirits shipped from the United States to international markets.
These measures cannot be substituted for one another.
American Brandy Production
American producers manufacture grape brandy and brandies derived from other fruits. Domestic production includes established commercial producers and smaller independent distilleries.
However, market-wide consumption estimates include imported products, and published import figures do not directly establish domestic production volume.
The AMBRu Campaign therefore does not publish an unsupported national production estimate for American Brandy.
American Rum Production
Rum is produced in multiple U.S. states, including by craft distilleries and larger commercial producers.
The total number of participating producers and the quantity manufactured cannot reliably be calculated by subtracting estimated imports from modeled domestic consumption.
AMBRu therefore does not assign a speculative 2025 domestic production volume to American Rum.
Building a Reliable Production Baseline
A comprehensive assessment would require comparable information on domestic production, imports, exports, inventories, producer participation, and product classifications.
Federal distilled spirits statistics provide an important starting point, but category definitions and reporting methods must be reconciled before attributing production volumes to distinctive American Brandy and American Rum categories.
The absence of a verified national baseline is a research challenge — not evidence that domestic production is absent or economically insignificant.
Source: U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau — Distilled Spirits Statistics
Number of Distilleries Producing American Brandy and Rum
American brandy and rum are produced by distilleries across the United States, but there is no consistently verified public count of all producers actively manufacturing either spirit.
The distinction matters because many distilleries produce multiple spirits, including whiskey, gin, vodka, brandy, and rum. Counting a facility does not establish its production volume, commercial scale, or participation in a particular product category.
The U.S. Craft Distilling Industry
According to the American Craft Spirits Association (ACSA) and Park Street’s 2026 Craft Spirits Data Project:
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2,131 active craft distillers were counted as of August 2026.
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This represented a 6.6% decline from 2,282 active craft distillers in August 2025.
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The report documents continuing market-access challenges facing independent American producers.
These figures describe the broader craft spirits industry, not the number of American Brandy or American Rum distilleries.
Identifying Brandy and Rum Producers
Existing producer directories, federal licensing data, trade associations, and industry maps offer useful starting points for identifying distilleries producing brandy or rum.
However, a comprehensive count must account for:
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Producers manufacturing brandy, rum, or both.
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Distilleries producing several different spirits.
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Active production versus licensing or historical listings.
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Commercial production versus experimental or limited releases.
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Producers that have closed, suspended production, or changed product categories.
AMBRu’s Contribution
The American Brandy & Rum Trail is being developed as a discovery resource connecting producers, historic locations, and tourism destinations.
The trail is not a production census, a certification program, or an indication of industry-wide participation.
A reliable producer baseline will require independent verification and continued industry research.
Sources:
U.S. Brandy and Rum Imports — 2025
According to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), the United States imported approximately $1.012 billion in brandy and rum combined in 2025.
The reported category values were:
| Category | 2025 U.S. Imports |
|---|---|
| Brandy | $839.7 million |
| Rum | $172.1 million |
| Combined | $1,011.8 million |
Brandy represented approximately 83% of the combined import value, with rum accounting for the remaining 17%.
These figures measure the reported import values of brandy and rum entering the United States. They do not represent domestic retail spending, U.S. production, or the potential revenue available to American distillers.
Why Import Data Matters
The United States is an established market for internationally produced brandy and rum.
For American producers, the relevant business question is whether stronger product recognition, differentiated positioning, distribution access, and consumer awareness could improve their competitive opportunities.
The existence of substantial imports does not mean that imported products can or should simply be replaced with domestically manufactured alternatives.
AMBRu uses these figures to identify a market-development question — not to promise that imports will be replaced or that the trade gap can be eliminated.
Source: DISCUS — Distilled Spirits Imports by Value, December 2025 (PDF)
The State of American Craft Distilling — 2025–2026
A Changing Industry Facing New Economic Pressures
The American craft distilling industry has entered a period of contraction following years of expansion.
According to the American Craft Spirits Association (ACSA) and Park Street’s 2026 Craft Spirits Data Project, released October 7, 2026, several industry indicators declined during 2025.
Key Industry Findings
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11.7 million 9-liter cases sold in 2025, down 8% from 2024.
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$7.3 billion in craft spirits sales, a decline of 3.7%.
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2,131 active craft distillers as of August 2026, down 6.6% from the previous year.
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21,285 full-time domestic jobs, down 25.6%.
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123,000 9-liter cases exported, a decline of 13.4%.
These figures cover the overall American craft spirits industry, not brandy and rum specifically.
Why This Matters
Independent distillers face challenges involving distribution access, retail visibility, consumer demand, operating costs, and competition from established brands.
The ACSA findings also highlight the importance of direct sales at distillery locations. In 2025, 26% of craft spirits sales occurred directly at distilleries, compared with 14% in 2015.
This reinforces the importance of distillery visits and direct consumer engagement for many small producers.
Relevance to American Brandy and American Rum
American brandy and rum producers operate within this broader competitive environment.
Although product recognition cannot resolve every challenge facing craft distillers, a stronger shared identity, industry collaboration, and tourism connections could provide additional opportunities worth investigating.
The AMBRu Campaign’s proposed American Brandy & Rum Trail is designed as a discovery initiative linking producers, historical sites, and communities.
The objective is to help make America’s brandy and rum heritage more visible while encouraging discussion about practical market-development opportunities.
Recognition alone does not create revenue. But recognition, combined with viable products, distribution access, and consumer demand, may contribute to new commercial opportunities.
Source:
American Craft Spirits Association — 2026 Craft Spirits Data Project Results
Sources, Definitions and Methodology
Last updated: October 21, 2026
This market baseline is an AMBRu Campaign research resource intended to distinguish published industry statistics from proposed opportunities for American Brandy and American Rum.
Principal Sources
Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS)
Annual category-level U.S. distilled spirits import and export values, including brandy and rum.
https://distilledspirits.org/distilled-spirits-import-and-export-data/
American Craft Spirits Association (ACSA) / Park Street
2026 Craft Spirits Data Project, documenting craft industry sales, employment, active distillers, exports, and market challenges.
U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB)
Federal distilled spirits production and operations statistics.
https://www.ttb.gov/regulated-commodities/beverage-alcohol/distilled-spirits/statistics
Grand View Research
Independent market research covering global brandy, global rum, U.S. rum, and global craft rum markets.
https://www.grandviewresearch.com/
Important Definitions
Market size: An estimate of the monetary value of sales within a defined market. Market research reports may use different methodologies, distribution channels, and valuation bases.
Domestic production: The quantity of spirits manufactured within the United States during a specified period.
Imports: Products brought into the United States from international markets.
Exports: Products shipped from the United States to foreign markets.
Trade-value gap: The arithmetic difference between published import and export values for specified categories. It is not a projection of available domestic revenue.
Craft distillery: A producer classified according to the definition and methodology used by the relevant industry research organization.
Limitations
The figures on this page originate from different research methodologies and should not be combined without accounting for differences in classification, valuation, reporting period, and measurement units.
In particular:
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Retail market values are not equivalent to customs trade values.
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Import and export values do not establish domestic production volume.
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Counts of active craft distilleries do not establish the number of producers manufacturing brandy or rum.
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Global category forecasts do not measure the future value of American Brandy or American Rum as distinctive national product identities.
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The 2025 trade-value gap is not an estimate of recoverable domestic sales.
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Publicly released TTB data may be revised; certain taxable-removals figures for July 2025 through March 2026 are currently under review.
About AMBRu
The AMBRu Campaign advocates increased recognition of American Brandy and American Rum and promotes discussion about their historic identity, producer visibility, and economic development.
Its Recognition to Revenue paper is a working proposal, not an industry certification, federal regulatory standard, or TTB petition. The campaign does not claim to represent all American brandy and rum producers.
The AMBRu Campaign was co-founded in 2020 by Caroline Porsiel and Christopher Brooks. Caroline Porsiel authored the Recognition to Revenue framework.
For further information:
https://ambru.org/recognition-to-revenue/
From Recognition to Revenue.
Author: caro
Caroline Porsiel is co-founder of the AMBRu Campaign and author of the Recognition to Revenue framework, working to advance recognition of American Brandy and American Rum and build a national American Brandy & Rum Trail.