A Timeline of the Bar Industry’s Darling Spirits

Back bars are inadvertent storytellers. The bottles on their shelves provide a glimpse of the spirits industry’s zeitgeist, conveniently grouped by category. After a night of bar-hopping or regular visits to a few neighborhood spots, attentive bar guests can get a sense of which spirits are trendy, which have run their course, and which are eternal.

Spirits often occupy a unique space in this story. They can either play a supporting role in a cocktail or perform a liquid soliloquy as a neat pour or on the rocks. The ones that can do both — or provide other utility to a bartender — often sets them up to become industry “it” bottles in a way that others cannot. A bourbon, gin, or tequila may catch fire for its ability to elevate a mixed drink, or it could remain at the forefront because it’s something of a secret handshake among bartenders.

The last half-century has seen a host of industry darlings burn brightly for a set and occasionally intense period of time. Here, we’ve constructed a timeline of the specific spirits that captured the greatest chunk of the industry’s imagination. Some of the bottles that follow stepped aside to allow the next “it” bottle to shine, while others still command a healthy portion of the limelight among those in the know.

1970s – 1980s: Seagram’s 7 Crown

This value-priced blended whiskey was the shining mirror ball during the disco drink era. It dominated the bar scene back in the day due to the iconic, if not infamous, 7 & 7 cocktail, a simple highball consisting of Seagram’s 7 and 7Up. The drink was as ubiquitous as the brand’s groovy ad campaigns, and it helped grow Seagram’s hubris enough for them to hatch some weirdly innovative ideas.

By the late 1980s, the popularity of the drink went the way of leisure suits. But the brand never completely faded into oblivion — it remains a reliable staple in dive bars across the country. Regardless of what you think of the actual 7 & 7 drink itself, you’d have to at least begrudgingly admit a two-ingredient highball being the cocktail du jour in an era of juice from concentrate and pre-made mixers is rather impressive.

1986 – 1997: Absolut Vodka

The American vodka boom was already in its third decade when the Swedish brand Absolut hit the market in 1979. It eventually grew to become the top imported vodka thanks to a shrewd ad campaign that included the work of Andy Warhol, but it was still vodka in all of its odorless, flavorless glory. This changed in 1986 with the release of Absolut Peppar, the brand’s first flavored vodka. Its black peppery essence became a smash hit with bartenders, who used it as a hack for Bloody Marys. Other flavors would follow, and each product drop carried its own level of intrigue. They also delivered the occasional impetus for innovation: Legendary bartender Toby Cecchini used Absolut Citron to build his take on the Cosmopolitan, considered by many to be the gold standard of the cocktail.

The flavored vodka trend began cooling off by the late ’90s, but the Absolut brand is still going strong. It also hasn’t stopped experimenting with new flavor expressions: In 2026, the distillery released Absolut Tabasco, a spicy collaboration with the popular Louisiana-based hot sauce brand. Is it weird? Possibly. Is it good? Definitely.

1998 – 2005: Grey Goose Vodka

One may argue Grey Goose’s dramatic splash on the vodka scene expedited the end of flavored vodka’s darling status. Even if it didn’t, it pulled the category into a different direction. When American businessman Sidney Frank launched the brand, he immediately positioned it as an ultra-luxury spirit with an exorbitant-in-the-late-’90s price tag to match. It was a bold choice, but it worked. Grey Goose quickly became synonymous with the luxe life, and people seeking status snapped up bottles and requested it in their vodka sodas.

The party was over by the mid-2000s, as anti-vodka sentiments from the still-emerging craft cocktail scene caused the category to fizzle within the cocktail bar community. Despite this, Grey Goose’s reputation as an opulent liquid has never really faded.

Late 1990s – 2010s: Patrón Tequila

For most of the 20th century, tequila was primarily known as an unsophisticated spirit people consumed for good times and eventually bad hangovers. Patrón began changing this reputation with the release of their high-end blue agave tequila in 1989, but it wasn’t truly transformed until the brand expanded their distribution footprint several years later. By the late ’90s, the hospitality industry took notice, and with good reason. The “super-premium” juice inside the bottle wasn’t a diluted grain-infused mixto with an artificially addled golden hue. It was what agave really tasted like: earthy and slightly funky with subtle hints of citrus and a natural sweetness from the cooked agave plant. While similar bottles existed on the market, Patrón broke through to the masses, becoming a bona fide hit in nightclubs nationwide.

This widespread acceptance in the nocturnal party circuit ultimately led to the demise of its industry darling status. By the 2010s, bartenders were starting to view Patrón as primarily a luxury party beverage; eventually, other smaller production tequilas would begin currying their favor.

2005 – Present: Rittenhouse Rye

By the mid-2000s, scores of suspender-clad bartenders were furiously digging through old cocktail books in a mad scramble to revive pre-Prohibition drinks. Most would reach the same conclusion: rye whiskey — specifically, a high-proof rye — was essential to breathing new life into these neglected classics. They turned to Rittenhouse en masse because its 100 Proof, bottled-in-bond nature allowed it to effortlessly support a cocktail’s other ingredients without losing its own distinctive spicy character. It was a bit of a minor miracle the discovery happened in the first place: The brand nearly went extinct before Heaven Hill acquired it and began producing just enough juice to keep it alive. Judging by how many bars continue to use Rittenhouse as their rye of choice for well drinks, it’s safe to say the brand won’t be facing a demise any time soon.

2007 – 2014: Templeton Rye

Templeton Rye’s reign as an “it” spirit doubles as a cautionary tale for new and emerging distilleries. The Iowa-based brand was an instant smash when rolled out nationwide in 2007, and the high demand for the juice and its softer, more approachable rye profile occasionally made it a tough bottle to find. It wasn’t just the liquid that made it a darling: Templeton’s tale about using a Prohibition-era bootlegger recipe to produce their rye was arguably the most romantic story to emerge from the burgeoning craft spirits sector at the time.

It also turned out to be disingenuous. In 2014, Templeton admitted they sourced their juice from MGP in Indiana, who also formulated the brand’s recipe. The fallout was swift and fierce. The liquid may be just as good as it was during Templeton’s heyday, but the brand’s reputation among bartenders and drinkers has never fully recovered.

2010s – Present: Tequila Fortaleza

There’s a simple formula behind Tequila Fortaleza’s ascent to its longstanding “it bottle” status: Turn bartenders into tequila nerds. When the brand started organizing three-day bar industry trips to visit its distillery in the early 2010s, there were no discussions about highland vs. lowland tequila happening, and NOM was the sound Cookie Monster made when he scarfed down baked goods as opposed to a tequila’s production site. But the industry became increasingly obsessed with the minutiae of tequila production with each passing trip, and they gleefully shared their newfound knowledge with any willing ear as they worked behind the stick.

Some of this information stuck with guests. Fortaleza’s popularity blew up among consumers during the pandemic, a time when the money not being spent on nights out could be potentially spent on pricier bottles for a more sophisticated night in. This rabid fandom remains strong in the post-pandemic era; because Fortaleza hasn’t scaled up to meet the increased demand, bottles are also occasionally hard to find. When they are discovered, they can be pricey, compelling some to nickname Fortaleza “the Pappy Van Winkle of Tequila” (a moniker shared by the exoribantly-priced extra añejo Tears of Llorona).

2011 – 2017: Del Maguey Vida Mezcal

There are rare moments when a bottle’s darling status coincides with an entire spirits category earning similar attention. Such was the case of Del Maguey Vida Mezcal when it began popping up on back bars en masse around 2011. Mezcal had made modest inroads into the American drinker’s consciousness a few years earlier thanks to a handful of smaller brands. Vida’s broad distribution and near-instantaneous acceptance into the craft cocktail scene fast-tracked the category’s path to the public. By the time Pernod Ricard acquired Del Maguey in 2017, growing interest in newer and newer-to-American distribution mezcals began lowering Vida’s high-profile. Today, it enjoys status as a steady, reliable back bar presence from the brand that essentially launched mezcal’s bar boom.

2010s – Present: Old Grand-Dad

Some industry darlings double as redemption stories. Case in point: Old Grand-Dad. Launched in 1882, the venerable Kentucky brand enjoyed a strong reputation as a highly regarded premium bourbon for nearly a century. This changed drastically during bourbon’s late 20th century categorical nadir, when a perceived drop in quality caused sales to dry up, demoting the formerly top-tier brand to the bottom shelf. Fortunately for the brand, those shelves were at eye level for the pros involved in the still-evolving craft cocktail scene. Rather than viewing Old Grand-Dad as a once proud bottle that experienced a fall from grace, they saw it as a value-driven bottle that punched above its weight and held its own with other ingredients. It quickly gained a new lease on life as an industry workhorse, a reputation it still enjoys. And if there was a drop in quality back in the day, its deliciousness suggests any issues with its profile have been unequivocally addressed and fixed.

2012 – Present: Fords Gin

A case can be made for Fords Gin being the ultimate bar industry darling, simply because it solves a critical bartending problem. Before Simon Ford launched his eponymous brand in 2012, it was standard practice for bartenders to carry specific gins for specific gin cocktails. Then Fords came along and quickly became known for its versatility in the cocktail scene. It didn’t take all that long for any bar program needing to streamline their gin collection for their cocktail programs to place a bottle in their well. Even though industry conglomerate Brown-Forman scooped up Fords in 2019, the brand still retains darling status to this day, demonstrating that when it comes to “it” bottles, practicality can go a long way.

2016 – 2019: Balcones

In the 2010s, Texas whiskey was an uncommon, if not unusual, sight to see in bars and bottle shops. That may be the one of the reasons why bartenders initially flocked toward Balcones’ range of bottles with great fervor when the Waco-based distillery expanded its production capacity and national distribution in 2016. Yet it didn’t achieve its darling status on novelty: Unique expressions like the blue corn-based Baby Blue Bourbon and the Texas scrub oak-finished Balcones Brimstone delivered a unique — and uniquely delicious — sense of place. Bartenders embraced the bottles as fun cocktail ingredients, and arguably even more so as neat pours.

The spotlight on Balcones would start to dim a bit toward the end of the decade. However, its brightness led to big things for the brand, as international alcohol conglomerate Diageo purchased Balcones in 2022.

2024 – 2025: Wray & Nephew

Scarcity can sometimes fuel a bottle’s darling status. Such was the case for Wray & Nephew. The venerable overproof rum brand faced a sudden, unexpected shortage in the spring of 2024 due to a confluence of unusually heavy rains, equipment issues, and legal issues. The sudden lack of bottles left bartenders and enthusiasts of the classic Tiki and modern tropical cocktail scene in a panicked tizzy, particularly since it came on the heels of the infamous Chartreuse shortage. As a result, Wray & Nephew became an industry darling because it was such a precious commodity.

Production eventually returned to normal and Wray & Nephew resumed its status as a dependably accessible product. But its tale highlighted a unique element surrounding the industry’s darling spirits. Any bottle, new or old, can become an “it” spirit under the right type of circumstances.

*Image retrieved from Adam Wilson via unsplash.com

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