News Briefs for November 8, 2023

•Southern Glazer’s has launched a new subsidiary, Ankaa Global Logistics. The new initiative will offer wine and spirits suppliers inventory storage, including temperature-controlled rooms in secured facilities for both short- and long-term, value-add packaging capabilities, such as repacks, labeling, and lot-tracking, and also storage of raw materials, barrels, and finished goods. Ankaa is open to all wine and spirits suppliers, regardless of their relationship with Southern Glazer’s. Ankaa has current operations in Shepherdsville, KY and Fairfield, CA, and a location in Florida is opening in 2024.

•Heaven’s Door Spirits, the brand founded by Bob Dylan, is launching its Bootleg Series Volume V release for 2023: an 18-year-old straight Bourbon whiskey finished in Spanish vermouth rouge casks. Overseen by Heaven’s Door master distiller Ken Pierce and master blender Alex Moore, each bottle of Volume V features one of Dylan’s original paintings on a ceramic bottle and is presented in a bespoke leather journal. It’s bottled at 114 proof and retails at $599 a bottle.

•Tres Generaciones Tequila, part of the Beam Suntory portfolio, unveiled a 50th Anniversary Añejo, the third bottling in the brand’s Legacy Edition Series. The new liquid is an homage to Don Francisco Javier Sauza’s original recipe and is packaged in a limited edition green ceramic bottle inspired by the Don’s original 1973 decanter. It’s aged 14 months in seven-year-old American white oak barrels that are treated with an in-house charring process and bottled at 45% abv. Tres Generaciones 50th Anniversary Añejo is debuting nationwide in limited quantities retailing at $199 a 750-ml. Tres Generaciones grew 23% to 91,000 cases in the U.S. last year, according to Impact Databank.

•Rémy Cointreau’s Louis XIII Cognac is debuting a limited-edition pop-up experience at The Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas from today through November 28. The pop-up will feature a range of offerings from the ultra-luxury brand, including the Louis XIII Classic Decanter, The Magnum Decanter, The Drop Collection, and Rare Cask 42.1, as well as branded accessories like glasses, spears, and others. Visitors to the pop-up will be able to access limited edition products, customization options, and premium delivery services. The initiative coincides with the Concours d’Elegance and Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend in Las Vegas.

•El Tequileño Tequila is introducing a new ultra-premium Extra Añejo. Made with Tequila aged for three to four years in American Oak and new French Oak, the new entry is bottled at 40% abv and is encased in a custom-made crystal Bastiaan Decanter by Pavisa Group. El Tequileño Extra Añejo is available in select national and local retailers at a suggested price of $800 a bottle. El Tequileño is produced at La Guarreña distillery in Jalisco.

•The Nearest & Jack Advancement Initiative, the partnership between Uncle Nearest and Jack Daniel’s aimed at supporting BIPOC and underrepresented spirits industry entrepreneurs, has added two new brands to its incubation program. They include Blackleaf Organic vodka, founded by entrepreneur Kevin Larkai and Monté Burrow, a former operations and marketing leader for Diageo; and Mission Craft Cocktails, created by Amit Singh and Marcin Malyszko, which offers a ready-to-pour Margarita, Mai Tai, Cosmopolitan, Manhattan, and Old Fashioned in 375-ml. bottles.

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