Riding Single Malt Boom, Glenfiddich Mounts Innovation Push

With single malt far outpacing overall Scotch sales—up 9% in the U.S. last year, compared with a 0.4% decline for the total category, according to Impact Databank—William Grant & Sons’ Glenfiddich has been among the key growth drivers. The U.S. market’s third-largest single malt Scotch after The Glenlivet and The Macallan, Glenfiddich rose 3.7% in 2014 and saw 16.4% growth last year, reaching more than 160,000 cases. This year, the brand is on track for another year of double-digit growth.

Led by its flagship 12-year-old, Glenfiddich’s portfolio also includes a 15-year-old, 18-year-old, 21-year-old and Excellence 26-year-old. Late last year, Glenfiddich added to its core range with Bourbon Barrel Reserve 14-year-old, aged in American oak ex-Bourbon casks. Retailing at $50 a 750-ml., the extension taps into a growing trend toward Bourbon-influenced Scotch whisky innovations in the U.S.

“Innovation is key in the whisk(e)y category, even more so today, as new drinkers who are driving the category’s growth are eager to explore unique and diverse expressions,” says Glenfiddich senior brand manager Michael Giardina.

This year, Glenfiddich has doubled down on new product development, recently unveiling the first two products in the brand’s new Experimental Series. The two new entries include Project XX, which draws from casks selected by 20 Glenfiddich brand ambassadors and blended by malt master Brian Kinsman, and Glenfiddich India Pale Ale Cask Finish, a collaboration with Scotland’s Speyside Malt Brewery. India Pale Ale Cask Finish, which is rolling out this fall at around $70 a bottle, looks to draw aficionados of the popular IPA beer style into the Scotch category.

Constellation Puts Canadian Wine Business On Block, Eyeing More Than $1 Billion

Constellation Brands has put its Canadian wine business on the block, and it’s likely to fetch more than $1 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal, which added that Constellation had already received several offers for the business. The Journal reported that the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and a potential buyer from the drinks industry are among the suitors.

Earlier this year, Constellation said it planned to explore an initial public offering for the Canadian business, which it added a decade ago by acquiring Vincor International—Canada’s biggest wine player—for around $1.1 billion. However, the IPO plans were scrapped after Constellation received bids for the business.

Constellation’s Canadian wine business includes wineries such as Jackson-Triggs and Inniskillin, along with a half-dozen others. It accounts for roughly 10% of the company’s overall sales—just over $650 million. The Vincor deal also included assets like Kim Crawford—the fast-rising New Zealand wine brand—and California’s Toasted Head. Neither of those brands are part of this sale.

With its beer business—led by Corona and Modelo Especial—booming over the past few years, the Victor, New York-based Constellation has made a concerted effort to bolster its U.S. presence while streamlining operations elsewhere. Over the past 18 months, Constellation has spent more than $1.5 billion to acquire Meiomi, The Prisoner Wine Co. and craft brewer Ballast Point. In 2010, Constellation shed its Australian and U.K. wine business (much of which was acquired via the Vincor deal), selling it to Australian private equity firm CHAMP for nearly $300 million.

Wine Spectator: Lumber Liquidators Founder Looks to Bordeaux, Purchasing Château du Parc

An American businessman has purchased a Bordeaux château and is in negotiations to acquire four others. It’s an ambitious project, but local real estate executives say it’s part of a new wave of interest from foreign buyers who are targeting lesser-known properties that will allow them to tap a growing demand for value-priced Bordeaux. Tom Sullivan, the chairman of Lumber Liquidators and Cabinets to Go, purchased the 12.7-acre Château du Parc in St.-Emilion from Alain Raynaud for an undisclosed sum earlier this month. He says it’s just the first of five Right Bank estates he is hoping to acquire. Wine Spectator has more.

News Briefs:

•Pernod Ricard has sold Frïs Vodka to Sazerac Co. for an undisclosed sum. Bottled at Pernod’s Fort Smith, Arkansas plant, Frïs retails for around $15 a 750-ml. It sells about 250,000 cases annually in the U.S. Pernod added Frïs (originally produced in Denmark) when it acquired Sweden’s V&S in 2008. That blockbuster deal brought Absolut into the Pernod fold.

•Pernod Ricard’s The Glenlivet has released Vintage 1966, the second edition in its ultra-premium The Glenlivet Winchester Collection. Limited to 100 bottles, Vintage 1966 is a 50-year-old single malt matured in Sherry casks and retails at $25,000 a bottle. Vintage 1966’s rollout follows the release of The Glenlivet’s inaugural Winchester Collection offering—Vintage 1964—in 2014. The leading single malt Scotch brand in the U.S., The Glenlivet was up 8.3% to 418,000 cases last year, according to Impact Databank.

Craft Brewing and Distilling News:

•Pennsylvania-based Boardroom Spirits has launched B, a 90-proof clear spirit distilled from beets. Retailing at $30 a 375-ml. bottle, B joins Boardroom’s vodka ($20 a 750-ml.), cranberry-flavored vodka ($25 a 750-ml.) and gin ($27 a 750-ml.) in the company’s lineup. Currently, Boardroom Spirits products are distributed in Pennsylvania, with expansion to New Jersey and New York expected by year-end.

•Fireman’s Brew, a Los Angeles-based craft beer maker founded by two firefighters, is releasing its first India Pale Ale. It’s been available at Dodger Stadium during baseball games and next week will roll out in 16-ounce cans, in four-packs retail-priced at $8.99, to the Total Wine & More chain, followed by a wider roll-out to 16 states by winter. Containing a blend of Cascade, Columbus, Chinook and Galena hops, it’s brewed to 6.5% abv. The IPA joins a lineup that includes the Fireman’s Blonde, a pilsner-style lager; the Brunette, a German-style double bock; and the Fireman’s Redhead, an amber ale. A portion of all sales is donated back to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

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