McDowell's No.1 Celebration also known as Celebration Rum, is a

rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is often aged in barrels of oak. Rum originated in the Caribbean in the 17th century, but today it is produced i ...

manufactured by the

United Spirits Limited United Spirits Limited is an Indian alcoholic beverages company, and the world's second-largest spirits company by volume. It is a subsidiary of Diageo, and headquartered at UB Tower in Bangalore, Karnataka. USL exports its products to over 37 ...

of India. In 2009, it was among the world's top 3 best selling rum brands. In 2013 it overtook Old Monk as the largest selling rum of India. While in 2015 it also overtook

Bacardi Bacardi Limited ( , , ) is the largest privately held, family-owned spirits company in the world. Originally known for its Bacardí brand of white rum, it now has a portfolio of more than 200 brands and labels. Founded in Cuba in 1862 by Facund ...

as the world's largest selling rum brand.

History

McDowell's No.1 Celebration is one of brand under umbrella brand McDowell's No.1 which was introduced by

in 1963–64 as McDowell's No.1 Brandy. Celebration Rum was introduced in 1990–91.

Marketing

Rivalry with Old Monk

Celebration rum has been long term rival of another Indian rum Old Monk. Rise of Celebration rum is associated with decline in Old Monk. Bhaichand Patel of

Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

called it a "contest between

David and Goliath Goliath ( ) was a Philistine giant in the Book of Samuel. Descriptions of Goliath's immense stature vary among biblical sources, with texts describing him as either or tall. According to the text, Goliath issued a challenge to the Israelit ...

". Old Monk being launched in 1954 was the largest selling dark rum in the world for several decades, according to Manu Balchandran of business publication ''

Quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

'', "For years, drinking rum in India simply meant drinking Old Monk". But since 2002 Old Monk saw decline in sells. Old Monk sold 3.9 million cases in 2014 which was 54.4% less than its 2010 level while Celebration Rum sold 18.3 million cases in 2014 which was 7.3% higher than its 2010 level.

Competition with Bacardi

Celebration rum and

has been involved in close competition in terms of number of sells since 2012. In 2012 Bacardi sold 19.8 million cases while Celebration rum sold 17.8 million, In 2013 Bacardi sold 19.1 million cases while Celebration rum sold 19 million cases. Lastly in 2014 Celebration Rum marginally overtook Bacardi by selling 18.3 million cases over 18.2 million cases of Bacardi and in 2015 Celebration Rum declared as "world’s best-selling rum brand".

Awards

According to official website of

United Spirits United Spirits Limited is an Indian alcoholic beverages company, and the world's second-largest spirits company by volume. It is a subsidiary of Diageo, and headquartered at UB Tower in Bangalore, Karnataka. USL exports its products to over 37 ...

, Celebration Rum got following awards. * Silver from the

Beverage Tasting Institute The Beverage Testing Institute (BTI) is a marketing service company that provides reviews for spirits, wines, and beers. It uses numerical scores and publishes books of its test results. The company's beer marketing program, the World Beer Champion ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, United States, in 2008 * Bronze at the

Monde Selection Monde Selection is an annual non-competitive award open to food, drinks, and cosmetics products, created in 1961. It is run by the commercial company, International Institute for Quality Selections, Brussels Brussels, officially the Brusse ...

2006 * 2 Stars at the ITQI Awards 2006 * Silver at the IWSC 2005

References