Flavor Flurry Boosts Growth For Jim Beam

With the flavored whiskey category surging in the U.S. market—up 28% to about 8.6 million cases in 2015, according to Impact Databank—several top brands are making rapid gains with a variety of offerings. Among them, Beam Suntory-owned Jim Beam has been especially active on the flavor front. Jim Beam’s flavor portfolio now accounts for 20% of the brand’s overall volume, and last year it contributed the majority of its growth.

Last August, Beam Suntory introduced Jim Beam Apple (35% abv, $16), and by the end of the year it had reached 140,000 cases in volume, placing it among the top 10 flavored whiskies in the market. “Jim Beam Apple shipments and depletions are on track to double those of our next most successful flavor launch, Red Stag,” says Gigi DaDan, senior director, U.S. for Jim Beam. “And apple whiskey as a flavor segment is on pace to surpass honey as the second-largest flavor in the category.”

Jim Beam Honey, meanwhile, grew nearly 17% to 210,000 cases last year, helping to offset a decline for Red Stag, which slipped 6% to 345,000 cases. So far this year, Jim Beam’s flavored business as a whole is showing solid progress. In NABCA channels in the year-to-date through May, the brand’s flavored lineup is up 50% to 77,000 cases, with declining volume for Jim Beam Maple and Kentucky Fire offset by the strength of Honey and Apple.

While flavor extensions have tended to experience an accelerated life cycle compared with their parent brands—rocketing to big gains in the early years but often flaming out relatively quickly—DaDan says Jim Beam’s flavor stable has expanded the brand’s consumer base. “We’re seeing interest among female consumers, especially those who hadn’t previously tried whiskey, as well as the Hispanic community,” she says.

Deutsch Expands Redemption Whiskey With Three New Barrel-Proof Bottlings

Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits is set to roll out a trio of new barrel-proof whiskies under its Redemption brand. Redemption’s new limited Aged Barrel Proof Collection includes an eight-year-old Straight Rye Whiskey at 122.2 proof, a nine-year-old High Rye Bourbon at 109.2 proof, and a nine-year-old Bourbon at 110.6 proof. All three Indiana-distilled whiskies will hit top U.S. markets, retailing at $100 a bottle. Founded by industry veterans Dave Schmier and Michael Kanbar, Redemption was acquired by Deutsch a year ago, and has been ramping up production to expand availability across the U.S. market.

News Briefs:

•Westland Distillery, marketed by Anchor Distilling, has unveiled the inaugural whiskey in its new limited-edition Native Oak Series. Rolling out nationwide this month, Westland’s Garryana American single malt whiskey is matured in Quercus garryana wood, a rare species of white oak found in the Pacific Northwest. The 56.2%-abv entry is limited to 2,500 bottles, retailing at $125 each. Westland, which specializes in American single malts, expects to release more whiskies to its Native Oak series next year.

•Illinois-based Winesellers Ltd. has added Portugal’s Faisão to its import portfolio. The brand’s U.S. offerings include a white and rosé sourced from Portugal’s Vinho Verde DOC, as well as the Faisão Dão Tinto red blend, mixing Tinto Roriz, Alfrocheiro and Touriga National grapes from the Dão DOC. The three wines retail at around $8 a 750-ml. Faisão joins Quinta de la Rosa in Winesellers’ Portuguese wine stable.

•Diageo group strategy director Anna Manz is leaving after a 17-year tenure. Manz, who has led Diageo’s group strategy since 2013, will become group finance director at sustainable technology firm Johnson Matthey. Her successor will be the subject of a future announcement, Diageo said.

Craft Brewing and Distilling News:

•Bloomington, Illinois-based Destihl Brewery has launched its Synchopathic dry-hopped sour ale in cans. Originally released under the brewer’s Wild Sour Series as a draft-only entry, Synchopathic will now be available in four-packs of 12-ounce cans. The Wild Sour Series—which also includes the Here Gose Nothin’, Counter ClockWeisse, Flanders Red and Lynnbrook Raspberry Sour Ale—currently accounts for the majority of Destihl’s sales volume. In order to keep pace with demand for the lineup, Destihl broke ground on a new 47,000-square-foot production facility in Normal, Illinois earlier this summer, which will feature a 240-barrel sour kettle brewhouse and is slated to open by early 2017. In other company news, Destihl Brewery recently partnered with Bevolution Distribution to enter Missouri, bringing the brewer’s footprint to 17 states.

•Virginia’s Devils Backbone Brewing, recently acquired by AB InBev, has entered the Pennsylvania and Delaware markets. In Pennsylvania, Devils Backbone has partnered with wholesalers Penn Distributing, Gretz Beer Company, and Allentown Beverage Company, while in Delaware it has linked with NKS Distributors. Devils Backbone is also present in Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Maryland and Washington D.C. The company’s Outpost brewery in Lexington, Virginia was recently expanded to reach a capacity of 250,000 barrels.

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