The best alcohol brands in the 2023 Finder Retail Awards

Australia's favourite alcohol brands for 2023, as determined by real Aussies.

Chris Jager's headshot

By

Chris Jager

Edited by

Jason Loewenthal

Updated

The Finder Retail Awards recognises Australia's favourite brands across more than 100 retail and product categories. We surveyed thousands of real Australians to understand how they feel about their recent product purchases and used that information to reward the most popular brands.

These are the winners in the alcohol category for 2023.

Best beer brand

Best-rated beer brand: Great Northern Brewing

Australia has a great variety of strong breweries, but Great Northern Brewing has come out on top for this year's Finder Award for best beer. Great Northern Brewing outscored more than 40 other beer brands to take out the top gong with customers praising its taste and value for money. A massive 98% of surveyed Australians recommend the brand.

Finalists
  • Carlton
  • Hahn
Best-rated bourbon brand

Best-rated bourbon brand: Jim Beam

Kentucky has a long, storied history with bourbon so it's no surprise to see Jim Beam from Bullitt County taking home the Finder Award for best bourbon brand in 2023. Jim Beam beat the competition for taste and product range with 93% of surveyed customers giving it the thumbs up.

Finalists
  • Maker's Mark
  • Woodford
Best-rated gin brand

Best-rated gin brand: Never Never

In a surprise result, Australians have rated Never Never the best gin in Australia, beating out a brace of famous international brands including Hendricks, Tanqueray, Gordon's and Bombay Sapphire. Recommended by 97% of respondents and with the highest taste rating of qualified brands, Never Never was the clear winner.

Finalists
  • Bombay Sapphire
  • Darby-Norris Distillery
Best rum brand

Best-rated rum brand: Cubaney

Cubaney has been named this year's best rum brand at the 2023 Finder Retail Awards. Recommended by 88% of surveyed Aussies, Cubaney scored well across all metrics including taste, product range and value for money.

Finalists
  • Bundaberg
  • Sailor Jerry
Best tequila brand

Best-rated tequila brand: Del Maguey

For the finest tequila, look no further than Del Maguey. It won the 2023 Finder Award for best tequila brand, scoring impressively high for taste and value for money. 94% of customers we surveyed recommended this brand of tequila.

Finalists
  • Tullamore Dew
  • Patrón

See Finder's picks for the best tequila in Australia

Best vodka brand

Best-rated vodka brand: Smirnoff

Smirnoff edged out its chief competitor Absolut to claim the prize of best-rated vodka brand in Australia. It received the highest score for its extensive product range and was recommended by 91% of customers we surveyed. Salut!

Finalists
  • Absolut
  • Belvedere
Best whisky brand

Best-rated whisky brand: Laphroaig

Laphroaig received more ticks of approval than any other whisky brand in our survey, making it this year's Finder Award winner. With solid scoring across all areas and an overall recommendation rating of 94%.

Finalists
  • Chivas Regal
  • Glenfiddich
Best wine brand

Best-rated wine brand: Brown Family

Whether you want red or white, sparkling or rosé, Brown Family wines are a great choice according to 96% of surveyed customers. The brand has won the Finder Award for best wine brand, with the highest rating for taste, product range and value for money.

Finalists
  • Jansz
  • Marlborough Sounds

See Finder's picks for the best cask wine in Australia

How we chose the winners

The Finder Retail Awards recognises brand sentiment from customer feedback on different retail product categories. Finder worked with data and insights company Dynata to conduct thousands of customer interviews regarding their product purchasing history and satisfaction with their purchased products.

Disclaimer: Please refer to our methodology for more information about how we scored and judged Finder Retail Awards candidates. While we endeavour to assess the majority of product providers in the market, this is not always possible and it may be that not every brand in the market was included for judging.

Meet our experts

Susannah Binsted

Susannah Binsted


Head of international PR, Finder


Susannah Binsted is the international PR manager at Finder. She leads the Finder Retail Awards for 2023.
William Capada

William Capada


Insights support analyst, Finder Awards


William Capada is a data analyst for Finder's Customer Satisfaction Awards. He helps make sense of all the scoring.
Saranga Sudarshan awards analyst

Saranga Sudarshan


Insights analyst, Finder Awards


Saranga is responsible for gathering the data that fuels the Finder Awards. He ensures our winners are based on facts, not biases.
Chris Jager senior editor

Chris Jager


Senior editor, Finder shopping


Chris is a senior editor at Finder covering all things shopping and retail. He has been writing about consumer technology for 17 years.
Jason Loewenthal's headshot
To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by Jason Loewenthal as part of our fact-checking process.
Chris Jager's headshot
Written by

Editor

Chris Jager is the editorial lead for shopping at Finder. With over 16 years of experience as a full-time journalist, Chris has provided expertise to many leading technology publications, including PC World, Australian Gamepro, Good Gear Guide, ARN, IT News, PC Authority, CRN, GameSpy, Gizmodo, Business Insider, MSN, Kotaku, Lifehacker Australia, Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Before joining Finder, Chris was the editor of Lifehacker Australia for 5 years. He has a Bachelor of Communications in Journalism from the University of Western Sydney. Outside of Finder, you'll find him playing with retro '80s computers while juggling 3 TikTok-obsessed daughters. See full bio

Chris's expertise
Chris has written 19 Finder guides across topics including:
  • Consumer technology
  • Home entertainment
  • Online shopping
  • Video games
  • Seasonal sales events
  • Money saving hacks

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