The story noted that sales of other consumer-discretionary products have been hurt by the poor economic conditions, but alcohol sales are proving to be resilient.  “Beverage alcohol continues to be pretty recession-resistant,” Richard Hurst, of AC Nielsen, told BusinessWeek.

In May, spirit sales rose by 5.4% on a dollar basis and 3.6% on a volume basis, according to Nielsen. 

A recent Nielsen study provides in-depth analysis of current trends in alcoholic beverage purchases.