Tito’s Handmade Vodka dominated NC’s liquor market, yet again, with consumers buying about 300,000 bottles per month combined of the 750 milliliter and 1.75 liter options. Tito’s – the gluten-free vodka found in the brunch-favorite “Bloody Mary” – originates from the first legal distillery in Texas. It far outpaced the runner-up, Smirnoff Vodka PET 1.75 liter, which sold about 70,000 bottles per month on average.
Generally, vodka remains the most popular spirit across North Carolina, with eight of the top ten most popular liquors in the state being a vodka brand, or vodka-containing drink. While Orange County follows suit, with Tito’s ranking as its top-seller, Durham County breaks the mold with Don Julio Reposado Tequila taking the lead.
As Tito’s decade-long reign continues, a new kind of alcohol has risen in popularity: ready-to-drink cans. Tony Dubois, the Orange County ABC General Manager, said High Noon and Surfside have been recent top-selling ready-to-drink seltzers. Ready-to-drink seltzers are a relatively new addition to the liquor world, with High Noon Vodka Seltzers hitting the market in 2019 and Surfside in 2022.
High Noon presents itself as a “low-calorie, naturally-flavored, hard seltzer made with real fruit juice.” Surfside followed suit in their marketing, branding themselves as a healthier canned seltzer with “real tea, 2 grams of sugar, and 0 bubbles.” Surfside even says it is “proudly” Kosher Rabbi approved.
According to data from the NC Alcohol Beverage Commission, Stateside Surfside Cocktails 375 milliliters sales increased eightfold and High Noon Fiesta Cocktails 375 milliliters doubled from 2024 to 2025.
Despite being the best seller, Tito’s actually saw a decrease in sales from 2024 – the handle by 3% and the fifth by 9%.
“Alcohol sales overall have declined due to several factors,” Dubois said. Revenue data from the NC ABC Boards for the Fiscal Year 2025 (Jul. 1, 2024 – Jun. 30, 2025) reflects a .26% decrease in total sales. The ABC Commission posts annual revenue reports on its website dating to 2009. This is the first year that year-over-year total revenue declined.
The ABC’s profit is composed of retail and mixed beverage sales. In FY 2025, North Carolinians bought .23% less liquor for at-home consumption, which the ABC Commission calls retail sales. Mixed beverage sales – sales to bars and restaurants – increased by .63%, as part of an ongoing rebound from Covid-19. 2020 and 2021 saw a significant decline in mixed-beverage sales due to lockdown measures but a spike in retail sales because people wanted to bring alcohol home. In 2025, this trend reversed.
These big picture data are available because the state tightly controls liquor sales in the state. Profits from liquor sales are distributed to state and local governments as well as alcohol abuse prevention programs. NC ABC distributed nearly $15.2 million to law enforcement, $19.2 million to alcohol education, and $113 million to municipal counties.