News Briefs for February 9, 2023
February 9, 2023•William Grant & Sons has extended Batch and Bottle, its line of ready-to-serve cocktails, with a new Margarita made with Milagro Tequila. The 26% abv cocktail will launch on February 22, National Margarita Day, and will retail for a suggested price of $17 a 375-ml. Batch and Bottle’s Milagro Margarita is the fifth release for the brand following the initial lineup of The Monkey Shoulder Lazy Old Fashioned, Reyka Rhubarb Cosmopolitan, Glenfiddich Scotch Manhattan, and Hendrick’s Gin Martini.
•NFL star Travis Kelce of the Super Bowl-bound Kansas City Chiefs has joined Tequila-based RTD brand Casa Azul as an investor. Casa Azul founder Lance Collins said Kelce’s investment will help introduce the brand to new audiences. The spirits-based RTD label comes in Lime Margarita, Strawberry Margarita, Peach Mango, and Watermelon flavors, all at 5% abv with 100 calories per can. Casa Azul is currently available in California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Colorado, Arizona, and Louisiana.
•Heaven Hill Heritage Collection 20 year old, Westland Garryana (7th Edition), and newcomers from WhistlePig and Watershed are among the offerings featured in Whisky Advocate’s latest weekly roundup. Click here for all the details.
•Limestone Branch Distillery has announced Yellowstone American Single Malt Whiskey as the newest full-time member of the Yellowstone brand family. Set to hit retail shelves in the coming months, it’s aged four years and bottled at 54% abv. Yellowstone American Single Malt Whiskey will be available nationwide starting in March at a suggested retail price of $55. Limestone Branch is part of the MGP-owned Luxco portfolio.
•Wine-based RTD brand Spritz Society has entered the Texas market, appearing on shelves in over 180 HEB locations across the state. The move brings Spritz Society’s line of 6% abv fruit flavored RTDs to the second-largest spirits market in the U.S. and brings their total number of states to eight, including California, New York, Florida, Alabama, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Georgia.
•Rhode Island-based importer Spiribam America is adding Hardy Cognac to its portfolio. Hardy’s offerings include VSOP, VSOP Organic, XO Rare, and 1863 Legend. Hardy will join Rhum Clément & Rhum J.M from Martinique, Admiral Rodney Rum, Bounty Rum, Chairman’s Reserve Rum, and Marigot Bay Rum Creams from Saint Lucia, as well as Joseph Cartron liqueurs from Burgundy in the Spiribam portfolio. Fifth-generation family member Bénédicte Hardy said the new partnership will bolster the Hardy brand’s distribution throughout the U.S.
•San Francisco, California-based distiller and importer Hotaling & Co. has appointed Shane Carpenter vice president of national accounts & retail chains, tasked with leading growth in both on- and off-premise chains. An 18-year industry veteran, Carpenter was most recently director of national accounts off-premise for WhistlePig and previously was director of supplier business development at RNDC. Hotaling also promoted John Martin to national retail chain manager for the central region. Hotaling recently expanded its partnership with Southern Glazer’s to cover 43 markets in the U.S. The portfolio includes Nikka Whisky, Junipero Gin, and Hine Cognac, among others.
Subscribe to Shanken News Daily’s Email Newsletter, delivered to your inbox each morning.
