According to Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America SipSource data, the spirits market will improve looking ahead. SipSource released its latest quarterly forecast on June 9 as an update for the Spirits category, projecting rolling 12-month 9-liter case depletion growth rates through Q2 2026. The newest update reveals several emerging trends that signal stabilizing negative growth rates by the end of 2025, signaling a shift away from the steep and growing decline levels seen between 2022 and 2024: Core Spirits in total are projected to bottom out at -4.56% growth by the end of 2025 before recovering slightly to -4.09% by Q2 2026. The severe downward trend and negative growth rates seen for Rum, U.S. Whiskey, Vodka and Brandy/Cognac are expected to largely flatten by the first half of 2026, albeit in negative territory. Tequila/Agave, a category that has experienced significant change in the level of increases over the past few years, is on a forecasted path to stabilization, nearing +1% rolling 12-month growth by mid-2026—buoyed especially by sustained consumer interest in premium tiers (from $20-$100). “The flattening of negative growth curves may signal an encouraging bottoming out of trends in key categories,” said SipSource analyst Danny Brager.