News Briefs for December 5, 2024
December 5, 2024•Suntory Global Spirits has released Booker’s Bourbon “Jimmy’s Batch,” the fourth and final bottling from the brand for 2024. This bottling is at 62.9% abv and is blended from whiskies selected from four of the company’s warehouses and carries an age statement of seven years, nine months, and 19 days. “Jimmy’s Batch” is named for long time Wild Turkey and Russell’s Reserve distiller Jimmy Russel, a friend and peer of Booker’s namesake Booker Noe. Booker’s Bourbon “Jimmy’s Batch” carries a suggested price of $100 a bottle and is now available in limited quantities across the U.S.
•Paul John has announced the 2024 release in the distiller’s yearly Christmas series of Indian Single Malts. The brand’s 2024 Christmas Edition Indian Single Malt Whisky is bottled at 46% abv and blends unpeated malts finished in rum casks and matured in new oak. The whisky, the seventh release in the Christmas series, carries a suggested price of $80 to $85 a 750-ml., with 7,000 bottles available in the U.S. Sazerac is Paul John’s importer in the U.S.
•J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines has announced new packaging and design for its Ariel line of alcohol-free wines. The new design features lighter-weight bottles and a screwcap along with a new label with drawn flowers, butterflies, and other botanically inspired motifs. Ariel’s new labels will roll out during the first quarter of 2025. Last year, Ariel was at 74,000 cases, according to Impact Databank. For the 52 weeks through October 6, 2024, the brand was up 13% in IRI/Circana channels.
•Cantera Negra Tequila, part of the Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits portfolio, has launched a new ad campaign. Starring Luciìa Goìmez-Robledo, the “Cantera Country” campaign includes three video spots targeting the ultra-premium Tequila consumer and highlighting the brand’s terroir in the volcanic soil of Jalisco, Mexico. Cantera Negra’s new spots are running across social and digital channels, with a focus on Texas, New York, and New Jersey.
•Champagne Bruno Paillard has announced the U.S. release for Cuvée 72, the independent maison’s premiere release. The wine’s name is taken from its 72 month maturation period, with three years spent on the lees and a further three years in Paillard’s cellar. The Champagne is a blend of 45% Pinot Noir, 33% Chardonnay, and 22% Pinot Meunier with a dosage of less than 6 grams of sugar per liter. In addition to using younger wines in Cuvée 72, Paillard also blends reserve wines dating back to the 1985 vintage. Cuvée 72 is imported by Massanois Fine Wines & Craft Spirits and carries a suggested price of $99 a 750-ml.
•Pottsville, Pennsylvania’s D.G. Yuengling & Son has announced an expansion into Illinois, with the company’s brews set to hit shelves and taps in early 2025. The expansion will begin with Yuengling’s draft beers and, over the first few months of 2025, will see draft, bottled, and canned versions of Yuengling’s beers spread through the state. The move follows considerable western expansion for the brewer in 2023, when Yuengling added Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Yuengling is currently available in 26 markets in the U.S.
Tagged : Ariel, Booker's, Bruno Paillard, Cantera Negra, Deutsch, J. Lohr, Massanois Fine Wines * Craft Spirits, Paul John, Suntory Global Spirits, Yuengling
