News Briefs for July 15, 2024
July 16, 2024•Florida-based Shaw-Ross International is adding Dan Aykroyd’s Crystal Head vodka to its portfolio. Known for its skull-shaped bottles, Crystal Head’s range includes the original Canadian Corn Vodka ($55 a 750-ml.), Aurora English Wheat Vodka ($70), Onyx Blue Agave Vodka ($63), and canned Espresso Martini and Cosmopolitan cocktails at 20% abv and $5 a 100-ml. Shaw-Ross will handle the brand nationally. The Shaw-Ross spirits portfolio also includes Old Smuggler Scotch whisky (132,000 cases), Ron Barcelo (76,000 cases), Gaetano cordials (101,000 cases), and Pusser’s rum (42,000 cases), among other brands.
•Latitude Beverage has released a new Wheel Horse rye whiskey finished in Caribbean rum barrels. The limited release is made of 4-year-old rye distilled and aged at Kentucky’s Green River Distilling and is bottled at 50.5% abv. Wheel House’s rum barrel-finished rye uses barrels from Appleton Estate and carries a suggested price of $38 a bottle. The new whiskey is limited to 2,100 bottles.
•A bill has passed the Pennsylvania legislature allowing low abv spirits-based RTDs to be sold outside of the state-controlled liquor stores. The bill, now headed to Governor Josh Shapiro’s desk, would give retailers that already sell beer and wine the right to sell spirits-based RTDs. This move would give makers of spirits-based RTDs—like Stateside’s Surfside Iced Tea and Vodka and Spirit of Gallo’s High Noon—over 10,000 new retailers to work with in the Keystone state.
•Florida beer distributor Sunkey Beverage Holdings has acquired Texas-based Anheuser-Busch distributor Silver Eagle Beverages for an undisclosed sum. Silver Eagle’s distribution territory includes San Antonio, Bexar County and 12 additional counties in southwest Texas, with warehouses in San Antonio and Del Rio and a depot in Carrizo Springs. The Silver Eagle portfolio includes products from Anheuser-Busch, Constellation Brands, Mark Anthony Brands, Inc., along with other domestic and import beers, national and local craft beers, and several non-alcohol beverages and waters. The move expands Sunkey’s business into Texas, complementing its existing presence in Florida and Arkansas.
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