Despite all the evils abroad in the drinks industry at the moment, it has never been a better time to be a distiller – especially if you are distilling Bourbon.

And even more so if you are making Bourbon at the Buffalo Trace distillery, the home of a dazzling array of in-demand whiskeys.

In a year of stunning growth for spirits generally, Bourbon has been the standout, and the whiskeys emerging from the Sazerac-owned Buffalo Trace stable are massively overrepresented in our search rankings – nine out of 10 of the most popular Bourbons on the site have a connection to the distillery. It was the same story the last time we covered this, which goes to show the resilience of Sazerac's brands.

Whiskey generally has had a good year, despite the terrible trading conditions. Tariff wars, a generation of youngsters giving up drinking, and now Covid-19 have conspired to set most drinks categories reeling, but whiskey seems to be not just keeping its collective head above water, but it is making headway against some strong opposing currents.

Scotch maintains its dominance, as you'd expect, and Irish whiskey has continued its strong performance in the market, albeit off a low base. But Bourbon has ignited a fire among American consumers particularly, as they wean themselves off Scotch and return to their own particular spirit.

Certainly the Covid-19 lockdown has only emphasized Bourbon's place in the affections of American consumers – our recent story about what we're drinking in lockdown showed that the major US markets were all turning to Bourbon for comfort in their hour of need.

So let's turn to the whiskeys themselves. The list below is compiled from searches carried out on Wine-Searcher by our global audience, and the average prices quoted are global averages.

Most Wanted Bourbons on Wine-Searcher:

Blanton's The Original Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon $104

George T Stagg Straight Bourbon Whiskey $704

WL Weller 12 Year Old Kentucky Straight Wheated Bourbon $256

William Larue Weller Kentucky Straight Bourbon $1047

Stagg JR Barrel Proof Straight Bourbon Whiskey $124

Elmer T Lee Single Barrel Sour Mash Straight Bourbon $244

WL Weller Antique 107 Kentucky Straight Wheated Bourbon $138

Blanton's Gold Edition Kentucky Straight Bourbon $133

Jack Daniel's Black Label Old No.7 Brand Sour Mash Whiskey $24

WL Weller Special Reserve Kentucky Wheated Straight Bourbon $67

The obvious thing to talk about first is the continued dominance of Blanton's, a brand that has been steadily building over the past five years. It was in the top spot last year, too, but what is impressive is that it has increased its search numbers markedly, meaning it has improved its search ranking from last year's impressive 68 to this year's ranking of 38. To give some idea of how impressive that is, there are only 37 wines or spirits worldwide that attract more attention. That's dominant.

The other big winner is the Weller brand, which improved its share of the list from three last year to four this year, with the arrival of the Special Reserve. Other new entrants include the Stagg JR, Blanton's Gold Edition (which replaced another Blanton whiskey) and the Jack Daniel's. Some might argue that JD is not technically a Bourbon, but it's as near as dammit, so we classify it as such.

Possibly the oddest thing is the absence of the venerable name Van Winkle. Last year, there were two Van Winkle whiskeys on the list, but this year it's zero. The best-performing Van Winkle whiskey is the Pappy 15 Year Old, which sits – appropriately enough – in 15th spot on the most popular Bourbons list. The sought-after 23 Year Old languishes in 25th place, although "languish" is a relative verb here – all the Bourbons in the top 50 have increased their searches, showing just how much interest has increased in the top 10 whiskeys.

While wineries pull their metaphorical hair out over how to reach consumers, the Bourbon boom is growing in these locked-down days. People are getting over any qualms they might have had about self-medicating with a couple of stiff belts every now and then to draw the sting of self-isolation, which is a good thing.

After all, you are in good company with Bourbon. Beam distiller and all-round good guy Fred Noe once said that you can't drink alone with Bourbon: "Whenever you pour a glass, you're not alone. The person who made that whiskey is sittin' right there with you, I can promise you that."

Hokey old flannel, some might say, but it's a comforting thought in these unsettling times.

To view on Wine-Searcher, please click here.