Dear Friend: Have you seen today's issue of Shanken News Daily? You don't want to miss this news. Read it below. Then sign up for Shanken News Daily and get the best deal available! You'll receive late-breaking news, exclusive interviews, and data you can't find anywhere else. Look for it in your inbox, first thing every weekday morning! You'll also receive Breaking News Alerts, Weekend Review and you'll have access to ShankenNewsDaily.com. Take advantage of this very special offer: Get your first 30 days for just $1! Your friends at
Shanken News Daily P.S. If you already receive Shanken News Daily, you don't have to do anything. We hope you continue to enjoy it.
Hendrick’s Leads The Way As Gin Premiumizes In The U.S. While overall volume in the U.S. gin category continues to decline, super-premium-and-above brands are having success as consumers move up the pricing ladder. Marketers are increasingly promoting higher-end brands in the category, which may point to a future of fewer cases but higher margins. The total U.S. gin market declined by 2.5% to 9.3 million cases last year, and has lost about 600,000 cases since 2013, according to Impact Databank. But that snapshot misses the improvement of the higher tiers. William Grant & Sons’ Hendrick’s is leading the charge at the $25-and-up level. In the U.S., the brand has more than tripled since 2010—when it was 110,000 cases—and last year grew 8.5% to 370,000 cases. Hendrick’s senior brand manager Paige Parness says that the label’s double-digit growth is continuing this year. Next month, Hendrick's will launch Orbium, a small-batch brand offshoot made with quinine, wormwood, and blue lotus, in the U.S. for a limited time. In October, William Grant & Sons announced that it's investing $17 million to double capacity at Hendrick’s Girvan, Scotland distillery. Diageo-owned Tanqueray, retailing in the $20-$25 range, has also been expanding in the U.S., posting growth each of the past three years to reach 1.33 million cases. Diageo recently announced a new “Unmistakably Tanqueray” global push, which will support the brand with a multi-million dollar outlay. Tanqueray is also active at the above-$25 tier with its higher-priced No. Ten label, which sells about 35,000 cases in the U.S.
 |
Bombay Sapphire, part of the Bacardi portfolio, slipped by 5% in the U.S. last year, but the brand has been on a strong run over the longer term, expanding by 44% since 2010, and is now above 900,000 cases. “Bombay Sapphire continues to see success in North America, growing market share against our key competitors and continuing to recruit new consumers to the gin category,” says Tom Spaven, Bombay Sapphire’s brand director for North America. Other brands on the rise at gin’s above-$20 level include Proximo’s Boodles, which is at around 60,000 cases—up from 13,000 cases in 2010—and Pernod Ricard’s Plymouth, which was up 8.6% to 35,000 cases last year. While Pernod’s Beefeater brand has declined by low single-digits lately, the company sees potential for its recent Beefeater Pink offshoot to gain traction with its millennial target demographic, both in the U.S. and other key markets. Meanwhile, premium gins like Martin Miller’s and Citadelle have also been rising from small bases, with both reaching 35,000 cases last year. And newer competitors, like Malfy ($30) from Biggar and Leith—which recently released a pink Gin Rosa and a blood-orange Con Arancia expression—are also targeting the category’s higher price tiers. Whisky Advocate’s Top 20 Countdown Continues Whisky Advocate’s countdown of the Top 20 Whiskies of 2018 continues today with the unveiling of the year’s No. 7, No. 6, and No. 5 whiskies—including Scotch, French, and Canadian offerings. The magazine will reveal whiskies Nos. 4, 3, and 2 on Monday, December 3, followed by the Whisky of the Year on Tuesday, December 4. The full Top 20 list will be published on December 5. French Wine Imports Up By Double-Digits Year-To-Date French still wine exports to the U.S. advanced by an impressive 12% to €836.6 million ($943m) through the first nine months of this year, according to Business France, a French government agency. Export volumes registered a solid 5.6% gain to 11.8 million 9-liter cases year-to-date. The growth in French still wine shipments to the U.S. is being led by Bordeaux, which surged 25% to €210.2 million ($237m) through the nine months, but the fastest-growing appellation by volume was Provence, up 17% to 1.9 million cases on an 18% value increase to €118 million ($133m). In recent weeks, President Trump took aim at European Union tariffs on U.S. wines, pointing out that French wines coming into the U.S. are taxed at $0.05-$0.14 a 750-ml., while U.S. wines entering Europe are levied at between $0.11 and $0.29 depending on the alcohol level.
 |
News Briefs •A new whisky record was set on November 29 at Christie’s auction house in London, when a single bottle of The Macallan Michael Dillon 1926 60-year-old sold for £1 million ($1.28m). This special one-off bottle, hand-painted by artist Michael Dillon, depicts the Easter Elchies House at the Macallan estate. With buyer’s premiums included, the price for the Michael Dillon bottle was £1.2 million ($1.5 million), a value that exceeds the previous record of £848,750 ($1.1 million)—set by The Macallan Valerio Adami 1926 60-year-old, sold at Bonhams, Edinburgh in October—by 39% in dollar terms. Whisky Advocate has the full story. •Camus Wines & Spirits is gearing up to launch a Cognac aged in maritime and tropical conditions. Last week, 10 sealed casks of what will become Camus Caribbean Expedition Cognac were launched aboard a 102-year-old sailing vessel that’s expected to reach its ultimate destination of Bridgetown, Barbados in January, where it will age for one year. The liquid has already aged four years prior to the sea journey, which is expected to contribute toward its aromatic development and add salty, sea brine notes. Following the trip, the Cognac will be shipped back to France to be bottled in a supply of 5,000 bottles, which are expected to hit the market before the end of 2020. Craft Brewing and Distilling News •Dogfish Head Distilling Co. has released Alternate Takes: Volume 1, Whiskey Finished in Rum Casks (45%-abv, $45), the first in an experimental series of spirits. Available in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, the malt whiskey was aged in new charred American oak barrels, and finished in casks that previously aged Dogfish Head’s Barrel Honey Rum. It’s billed as a medium-bodied malt whiskey. Dogfish Head is the 12th-largest craft brewer in the U.S., according to the Brewers Association. Recently in the News: | |
