An analysis of GlobalData’s Spirits Influencer Platform has revealed Steve Rush, a spirits writer with specialisation in whiskey, as the top spirits influencer during the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2020.

Steve Rush is also the founding editor at both The Whisky Wire and The Whisky Business.

The Spirits Influencer Platform tracks more than 700 leading industry experts and their discussions on the emerging trends, pain areas, new fields of innovation and other popular areas on Twitter,

Spirits blogger Inka Larissa was the next top influencer among the discussions on spirits, gaining an influencer score of 70. Larissa shares tips and tricks for hosting parties besides drink-related city guides. This blogger is followed by Maccocktail, a spirits and food consultant with an influencer score of 59.

The most mentioned trends among spirits influencer discussions on Twitter during the period were whiskey, cocktails and scotch.

GlobalData influencer analyst Smitarani Tripathy said: “The discussions around whiskey were related to different recipes to make whiskey at home with three key ingredients, water, yeast and barley. People are still avoiding social gathering due to Covid-19 pandemic; hence these recipes are largely discussed.

“Cocktails emerged as another top trend, led by the conversations related to cocktails sweeteners, which is essential not only to enhance the flavor of the drink but also to balance the bitterness or acidity and add texture.”

The most mentioned companies among spirits influencer discussions on Twitter during Q4 2020 were Diageo plc (Diageo), Beam Suntory and Chivas Brothers.

The discussions associated to Diageo grew when it announced the launch of a new Johnnie Walker blended Scotch whisky in December 2020.

Diageo launched in small number of pilot cities, such as Monterey, Curitiba, Bangkok, Sofia and Houston.

Beam Suntory was another most mentioned firm, led by surge in talks when the firm announced the roll out of the third release in its Booker’s Bourbon 2020 Collection in December 2020.