Interview: Jonathan Yusen On William Grant & Sons’ Super-Premium Success

William Grant & Sons has enjoyed consistent double-digit growth in the U.S. market in recent years, thanks in part to the upscale, craft-like positioning of its spirits portfolio. Standout brands include Glenfiddich single malt Scotch, Tullamore Dew Irish whiskey, Milagro Tequila and Hendrick’s gin, all of which showed combined growth of nearly 150,000 cases in the U.S. market last year, according to Impact Databank. SND associate editor Christina Jelski recently caught up with Jonathan Yusen, William Grant & Sons’ president and managing director for North America, to discuss the portfolio and plans for the coming year.

SND: How are William Grant & Sons’ whiskies performing?

Yusen: Glenfiddich’s growth is running at about 13% annually. Much of the excitement last year was around our 14-year Bourbon Barrel Reserve, which will exceed 20,000 cases this year, and this year we’ve recently launched our Glenfiddich IPA Finish. Meanwhile, Tullamore Dew will surpass 200,000 cases this year. Irish whiskey has evolved from being a one-brand story into a full category, and Tullamore Dew is now in the second spot in the U.S. market. When we acquired it in 2010, Tullamore Dew was at 64,000 cases and needed a complete refresh—new packaging, new positioning and recommitment to the liquid. We invested in all that, and we’re now seeing the results. Elsewhere in the portfolio, Monkey Shoulder (a blended malt Scotch whisky) is a recent success. It’s on pace to surpass 50,000 cases next year, and it’s in high demand. We focus on Monkey Shoulder’s versatility. It makes exceptional cocktails. We’re looking to ignite the on-trade in a Scotch category that, frankly, has been better known for retail consumption. In doing that, we’re bringing new consumers into the category.

SND: How is Hendrick’s (+20% to 294,000 cases last year) achieving such solid progress in a gin category that’s long been struggling?

Yusen: Hundreds of new competitors have emerged in the premium and super-premium gin category, so it’s now highly competitive. That’s been driven by the craft movement and the resurgence of the high-end gin segment, and Hendrick’s has played a large role there. Our focus is around the brand’s quirky and unusual branding, but it’s more about ensuring that people are familiar with the quality and uniqueness of the liquid. For 2016, we’ve continued to see growth that’s similar to the trends of recent years.

SND: Milagro (+20% to 190,000 cases last year) has emerged as one of the fastest-growing Tequila brands in the U.S. What’s propelling it?

Yusen: Milagro benefits from playing at a few different price points. We operate in premium Tequila with the core brand, and also in ultra-premium Tequila with Milagro Select Barrel Reserve. We’ve seen consumers drawn to both directions of the price spectrum. Our Reposado is seeing exceptional growth in 2016, indicating that consumers and the trade are becoming more educated about the Tequila category, just as has occurred with brown spirits.

News Briefs:

•Federal agents arrested a former Napa winemaker November 2 on federal charges of fraud. Jeffry Hill, 38, of Clovis, California, was indicted by a federal grand jury in a San Francisco court for mail and wire fraud. Hill is accused of misrepresenting the geographic origin and grape variety of wines and wine products sold by his bankrupt winery, Hill Wine Company. According to the indictment, unsealed the morning of the arrest, Hill allegedly sold bulk grape juice, bulk wine and bottled wine labeled as products of the Napa Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA), even though the grapes came from other areas. Wine Spectator has the full story. 

•Maison Ferrand has extended its Plantation rum range with the launch of Plantation O.F.T.D. Overproof rum. Featuring a blend of rums from Guyana, Jamaica and Barbados, the 69%-abv high-proof offering is intended for use in cocktails and punches. Plantation O.F.T.D—which stands for “Old Fashioned Traditional Dark”—is rolling out nationwide this month, retailing at $31.99 a 1-liter bottle. The new expression joins Plantation Pineapple Stiggins’ Fancy, 3 Stars White, Original Dark, Grande Reserve 5-year-old, 20th Anniversary XO and a collection of single-country vintage-dated rums in the existing Plantation stable.

•Napa Valley’s Cuvaison Estate Wines is launching a limited-edition Andy Warhol by Cuvaison Collection ahead of the holiday season. The first of three installments in Cuvaison’s Warhol series includes a 2014 red Bordeaux blend from Mount Veeder and a 2014 Chardonnay from Carneros, packed in a box set featuring screen prints commissioned by the winery from Andy Warhol in the early 1980s. The new Cuvaison-Warhol box set is launching at select retailers nationwide, priced at around $250.

Craft Brewing And Distilling News:

•Paso Robles, California’s Firestone Walker Brewing Co. has opened a new pilot brewhouse in Venice, California that will be used to develop experimental beers. The Propagator brewhouse, which will be helmed by brewer Ben Maushardt, will also offer one-off beers available exclusively at the site. The Propagator features a $1 million small-scale Kaspar Schulz brewhouse from Germany. Firestone Walker merged with Duvel Moortgat USA in 2015 to form a combined entity with volume of around 500,000 barrels.

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