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.
![Image: Finder Best beer brand](https://www.finder.com.au/finder-au/wp-uploads/2023/06/Finder-Award-Winner-RGB_300x300-12-1.png)
![Image: Supplied Tooheys Logo](https://www.finder.com.au/finder-au/wp-uploads/2023/06/Great-Northern-Brewing-logo_Supplied_300x300.png)
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
![Image: Finder Best-rated bourbon brand](https://www.finder.com.au/finder-au/wp-uploads/2023/06/Finder-Award-Winner-RGB_300x300-15-1.png)
![Image: Supplied Jim Beam Logo](https://www.finder.com.au/finder-au/wp-uploads/2023/06/jim-beam-logo_Supplied_300x300.png)
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
![Image: Finder Best-rated gin brand](https://www.finder.com.au/finder-au/wp-uploads/2023/06/Finder-Award-Winner-RGB_300x300-23.png)
![Image: Supplied Never Never Logo](https://www.finder.com.au/finder-au/wp-uploads/2023/06/Never-Never-gin-logo_Supplied_300x300.png)
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
![Image: Finder Best rum brand](https://www.finder.com.au/finder-au/wp-uploads/2023/06/Finder-Award-Winner-RGB_300x300-24.png)
![Image: Supplied Cubaney Logo](https://www.finder.com.au/finder-au/wp-uploads/2023/06/Cubaney-Rum-logo_Supplied_300x300.png)
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
![Image: Finder Best tequila brand](https://www.finder.com.au/finder-au/wp-uploads/2023/06/Finder-Award-Winner-RGB_300x300-25.png)
![Image: Supplied Codigo Logo](https://www.finder.com.au/finder-au/wp-uploads/2023/06/Del-Maguey-logo_Supplied_300x300.png)
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
![Image: Finder Best vodka brand](https://www.finder.com.au/finder-au/wp-uploads/2023/06/Finder-Award-Winner-RGB_300x300-26.png)
![Image: Supplied Poliakov Logo](https://www.finder.com.au/finder-au/wp-uploads/2023/06/Smirnoff-logo_Supplied_300x300.jpg)
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
![Image: Finder Best whisky brand](https://www.finder.com.au/finder-au/wp-uploads/2023/06/Finder-Award-Winner-RGB_300x300-27.png)
![Image: Supplied Archie Rose Logo](https://www.finder.com.au/finder-au/wp-uploads/2023/06/Laphroaig_Supplied_300x300.jpg)
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
![Image: Finder Best wine brand](https://www.finder.com.au/finder-au/wp-uploads/2023/06/Finder-Award-Winner-RGB_300x300-28.png)
![Image: Supplied Brown Family Logo](https://www.finder.com.au/finder-au/wp-uploads/2022/08/Brown-Family-wines_supplied_500x500.png)
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
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
![Image: Finder Susannah Binsted](https://www.finder.com.au/finder-au/wp-uploads/2020/11/Susannah-Binsted-Finder.jpg)
Susannah Binsted
Head of international PR, Finder
Susannah Binsted is the international PR manager at Finder. She leads the Finder Retail Awards for 2023.
![Image: Finder William Capada](https://www.finder.com.au/finder-au/wp-uploads/2020/11/William-Capada-Finder-1.jpg)
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.
![Image: Finder Saranga Sudarshan awards analyst](https://www.finder.com.au/finder-au/wp-uploads/2023/01/Saranga-Sudarshan-1.png)
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.
![Image: Finder Chris Jager senior editor](https://www.finder.com.au/finder-au/wp-uploads/2020/11/Chris-Jager-Finder-1.jpg)
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.
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