Market Watch May 2023

Whether it’s acting, producing, music, or modeling, Mark Wahlberg has succeeded at just about everything he’s tried. On the acting side, this A-list star has done it all, from drama to action to comedy. Wahlberg has that rare ability to excel at playing many different roles—and he’s had staying power, having made his screen debut all the way back in 1994. Along the way he’s received multiple honors, including two Academy Award nominations (for “The Departed” and “The Fighter”), a Bafta Award, three Golden Globe Awards, nine Primetime Emmy Awards, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. He’s also a keen businessman who knows how to pick a winner, having made investments in a variety of successful enterprises. Now Wahlberg has turned his attention to the Tequila space—but not simply to…

Campari Group Launches New Tequila….Campari Group is bolstering its agave portfolio with the launch of Mayenda, a new high-end Tequila offering. Created by maestro tequilero Jesus Susunaga and his team at Casa San Nicolás distillery, Mayenda’s name pays homage to Mayahuel, the Aztec goddess of agave. The brand is debuting with a Blanco expression ($70 a 750-ml.). This sipping Tequila is made with two additional steps to the production process that Campari says enhances its flavor: steeping the roasted piñas in the base distillate and blending with agave miel, the “honey” from the agave cooking. Raul Gonzalez, Campari’s global managing director for spirits, calls Mayenda a “truly differentiated Tequila,” and one that will “meet and exceed the expectations of an increasingly knowledgeable consumer.” Mayenda joins Espolòn and Cabo Wabo in…

Diageo has announced that Sir Ivan Menezes will retire as CEO and depart from the Diageo board on June 30, after leading the drinks giant for a decade. Debra Crew, currently COO, will be appointed CEO and join the Diageo board, effective July 1. Appointed COO in October 2022, Crew was previously president at Diageo North America and Global Supply. She’s credited with leading Diageo’s largest market to 14% sales growth in fiscal 2022, after driving 20% organic growth the prior year. She originally joined the Diageo board as a non-executive director in April 2019, before stepping down from the board when she was named president of Diageo North America in July 2020. Crew is a former president and CEO of Reynolds American Inc., and also spent time with PepsiCo,…

NYC: Italian Influences Shine Through At Manhattan Seafood Venue Manhattan-based Chef Abram Bissell, whose restaurant resume includes The Modern, Eleven Madison Park, and The NoMad, has partnered with Bleecker Street Hospitality Group founder Robert Goldman to unveil the Italian-influenced restaurant Principe in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood. The new concept opened in March with a menu that highlights seafood and pasta dishes, as well as Italian cocktails, spirits, and wines. The drinks program offers specialty Spritzes ($17) like the Pink Peppercorn & Bay Leaf, a blend of Method Spirits dry vermouth, house-made pink peppercorn and bay leaf cordial, and soda water, and several Negroni variations ($20), such as the Ambrato, made with Old Forester 86 proof Bourbon, Martini & Rossi Riserva Speciale Ambrato vermouth, and Meletti amaro. A roster of…

Glen Grant 21-Year-Old Glen Grant, part of the Campari portfolio, is introducing a new 21-year-old single malt Scotch whisky, marking the oldest expression in its permanent range. The 46% abv newcomer ($360 a 750-ml.) is a blend of whiskies from Oloroso Sherry butts, hogshead, and ex-Bourbon barrels from Glen Grant’s Warehouse No. 4. It joins 10-, 12-, 15-, and 18-year-old whiskies in the Glen Grant range. For more information, visit Glengrant.com. Glenfiddich Grand Yozakura William Grant & Sons has announced Glenfiddich Grand Yozakura, the latest single malt in the brand’s Grand Series. The 45.1% abv whisky ($1,999 a 750-ml.) is 29 years old and finished in Japanese Awamori barrels—Japan’s oldest spirit made from distilled Indica rice—before bottling. The whisky is in extremely limited quantities in retailers across the U.S. Beyond…

While force carbonation is nothing new in the mixology world, it has yet to catch on in a big way. The tools required to properly carbonate drinks can be costly and time consuming to use, which is a drawback for sure, but bartenders who play with the technique tout a variety of benefits, too. “It gives another dimension to your cocktail,” says Ross Simon, owner and proprietor of Bitter & Twisted Cocktail Parlour in Phoenix, Arizona. “Instead of just adding a mixer or club soda, which dilutes the carbonation when you add it, the entire cocktail is carbonated. It makes the drink feel more alive and a little brighter, and it adds more dimension on the palate.” Bitter & Twisted uses the Perlini carbonation system, which allows it to carbonate…