ON THE STAND — JULY 2026 EDITION
Secondary floors firmed 4.7 points from June 2026. Across the 18 bottles measured in both months, average erosion moved from 41.3% to 36.6%.
The July 2026 Reading
at a glanceThe Gauge is the monthly measurement of the American whiskey market, from the publisher of the American Whiskey Industry Brief. Every figure is computed from the Brief's own daily archive — 110 consecutive issues from 2026-04-13 to 2026-07-31. The gauger measured what was really in the barrel; this page does the same for the market. It measures — it does not rate, rank, or index the category. It is free, its method is published below, and it may be cited with attribution.
Recent editions
Every edition
A new edition is published at each month’s close. Every edition is permanent and reports the record as it stood on that date — figures are added to, never rewritten. Corrections appear in corrections.
Secondary Floors
matched basket · 27 bottlesEach comparison uses only bottles measured in both months, so it reports movement rather than a change of sample. A negative figure means floors firmed.
| Period | Bottles matched | From | To | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 → May 2026 | 6 | 34.6% | 38.7% | +4.1 | weakened |
| May 2026 → June 2026 | 15 | 42.5% | 41.6% | -1.0 | firmed |
| June 2026 → July 2026 | 18 | 41.3% | 36.6% | -4.7 | firmed |
Floor erosion is the fall from a bottle's peak observed secondary price to its current floor, as a percentage. The basket currently holds 27 bottles appearing in two or more months. Vintage and age statement are part of a bottle's identity — Stagg 2024 and Stagg 2025, Pappy 15 and Pappy 23, are tracked separately.
Sample Composition
published, not hiddenFor transparency, the raw monthly spread below is not a trend measure — it reflects which bottles each month's issues featured, and its month-to-month swings are largely composition. It is published so the matched comparison above can be checked against the underlying sample.
| Month | Days measured | Floor erosion (mean) | Floor erosion (median) | Realized as % of peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 partial | 18 | 29.3% | 28.1% | 72.8% |
| May 2026 | 23 | 40.8% | 42.8% | 60.7% |
| June 2026 | 29 | 40.8% | 44.2% | 59.3% |
| July 2026 | 24 | 34.2% | 34.4% | 65.8% |
Industry Activity
confirmed and reconciledEach is a discrete action by a named company or agency — a label approval, a production decision, a leadership change, a corporate move, a distribution change.
Method
how the figures are madeEvery figure is derived from the daily brief’s own records. Four rules govern what appears here.
Months with fewer than 20 measured days are marked partial and are excluded from trend statements.
Corrections are welcomed and published — see corrections. If you hold better data on a contested figure, tell us and it will be reflected.