News Briefs for February 15, 2023

•Moët Hennessy has purchased a majority stake in Provençal winery Minuty in a deal that will leave the winery’s current proprietors at the helm. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but Moët Hennessy chairman and CEO Philippe Schaus said that this deal was years in the making and started with MH handling distribution for Minuty in the Asia-Pacific region. The acquisition is aimed at further developing Minuty’s place in the international market. In the U.S., the brand has been at around 45,000 cases in recent years, handled by Vintus

•Pernod Ricard has kicked off a new ad campaign for Jameson featuring actress Regina Hall and centered around taking St. Patrick’s Day off from work. The campaign features a minute-long ad showing Hall using a Jameson Desk Decoy—a cardboard cutout featuring her face—to get out of work to celebrate the day. In addition to the ad, Jameson will sell Desk Decoys through JamesonSPTO.com with all proceeds going to the Restaurant Workers’ Community Fund. The Decoy sale goes through March 10, with Pernod Ricard donating an additional $25,000 on top of the proceeds.

•Cenote Tequila, part of Stoli Group, has announced Ahumado, a new small batch offering made using mezcal-inspired production methods. The Reposado release is bottled at 40% abv and distilled from agave piñas over a wood fire before maturing for two months. Cenote Ahumado is now available across the U.S. for a suggested price of $76 a 750-ml. This new release joins Blanco, Reposado, Añejo, Cristalino, and Cenote Green Orange liqueur in the lineup.

•Barrell Craft Spirits has released Batch 034, the latest cask strength offering in the bottler’s flagship line of whiskies. Batch 034 comes in at 57.31% abv and blends barrels of whiskies from Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee aged six, eight, 10, and 15 years. The whiskey carries a suggested price of $90 and 33,000 bottles have been released.

•Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits is launching Incubator Academy, a virtual series of classes directed at minority and female entrepreneurs in the wine, spirits, CBD, and non-alc beverage industries. The program provides free access to business lessons like creating a sales pitch and the fundamentals of on- and off-premise math, with additional courses planned to roll out over the coming months. The coursework was developed by Southern Glazer’s internal brand building experts.

Tagged : Barrell Craft Spirits, cenote, Jameson, Minuty, moet hennesy, Pernod Ricard, Southern Glazer's, Stoli

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