News Briefs for November 22, 2024
November 22, 2024•Wally’s Wine & Spirits is in expansion mode, with the retailer planning to open a new 4,000-square-foot retail and dining space in Century City, Los Angeles’s Century Plaza, which is owned by private equity and real estate firm Reuben Brothers. The new concept will be split between an interior section that covers 2,500 square feet and an outdoor terrace of 1,500 square feet. Exact details will be announced at a later date but plans call for the new Wally’s to offer a large selection of wines by-the-glass, as well as a culinary experience on par with Wally’s other locations in Beverly Hills, Las Vegas, and Santa Monica.
•William Grant & Sons has announced a new multi-year partnership between The Glenfiddich and the Aston Martin Formula One Racing Team, including a rare bottling of a 1959 vintage single malt. The announcement is timed to the Las Vegas Grand Prix and will see the brands celebrate Aston Martin’s 1959 entry into the world of F1 racing with the vintage whisky, aged in a Sherry butt. Next year, the brands’ partnership will expand to include activations themed around the sport, the cars of Aston Martin, and the whisky from Glenfiddich. Last year, Glenfiddich was at 172,000 cases in the U.S., according to Impact Databank.
•Diageo has unveiled this year’s Lunar New Year bottling of Johnnie Walker Blue, with artwork by James Jean celebrating the upcoming Year of the Snake. This is Jean’s second time creating the art for Johnnie Walker’s Lunar New Year package, following last year’s design for the Year of the Dragon. The Year of the Snake design sports a snake shedding its skin on the bottle and a trio of snakes on the cardboard box, which Jean says represent wisdom, intelligence, and intuition. The whisky inside is the traditional Johnnie Walker Blue release, bottled at 40% abv and blended from Diageo’s stocks of single malt and grain whiskies. Last year, Johnnie Walker was at 1.95 million cases in the U.S., according to Impact Databank. The brand dipped 3.3% by volume in control states in the year-to-date through September.
•The Rock N Roll Tequila brand is debuting a new look. The new cork-finished bottle is billed as being better positioned to drive growth both on- and off-premise for the 100% blue agave brand. Rock N Roll’s revamped collection includes Mango and Strawberry flavored Tequilas retailing at $40, along with a new Blanco blend priced at $50. The brand will also continue to market its guitar-shaped bottles as a special offering priced higher up the ladder. Rock N Roll Tequila is present across 35 states in the U.S., and is also launching internationally in Canada, Belize, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Aruba.
