Market Watch June 2023

When people think of Heaven Hill Brands, they see a traditional, family-owned company with strong ties to the Bourbon culture of its Bardstown, Kentucky home. While that part of the story is certainly true, there is far more here than meets the eye. As an independent player, the company does not have legions of investor relations professionals and quarterly profit worries of bigger, publicly traded companies. Heaven Hill goes at its own pace, like a distance runner calibrated to win the long race. And here it is, nearly 90 years since the founding, as diversified as a spirits company would want to be, with the third generation of leadership firmly in place. Amid the storms of industry consolidation over the decades, Heaven Hill might once have been considered a worthy…

Gallo Bolsters RTD Stable…. Spirit of Gallo is adding to its RTD portfolio, announcing a deal to acquire Fishers Island Lemonade for an undisclosed sum. The 9% abv canned cocktail brand is made with barrel-aged whiskey and vodka and retails at $16 a 4-pack of 12-ounce cans. In addition to the flagship hard lemonade, its offerings include Fishers Island Half and Half and Fishers Island Pink Flamingo, both at 7% abv. The Fishers Island brand was founded by Bronya Shillo, whose family owned and operated The Pequot Inn on Fishers Island, New York. Fishers Island Lemonade is inspired by the signature house cocktail, the “FIL,” served for decades at The Pequot. The brand earned an Impact “Hot Prospect” award last year after climbing past 171,000 cases in 2021. “In the…

Former MARKET WATCH LEADERS Retailer of the Year Christian Navarro is leaving upscale retailer and restaurant Wally’s Wine & Spirits after a decades-long run to design high-end culinary experiences with the Oak View Group, a global sports and entertainment company. Navarro joined Wally’s in the early 1990s and eventually became president and principal, expanding the store from a neighborhood wine shop in Los Angeles into a three-unit hybrid retail and on-premise concept with $60 million in revenue across its locations in Santa Monica and Beverly Hills, California and Las Vegas. With the Oak View Group, Navarro plans to up the ante on hospitality at top arenas and festivals around the world with a focus on curated menus featuring gourmet cuisine and fine wines and spirits. “I couldn’t feel more bullish…

NYC: Superbueno Brings Upscale Mexican-American Drinks To Manhattan Greg Boehm’s Cocktail Kingdom Hospitality Group and bar veteran Ignacio “Nacho” Jimenez debuted their high-end Mexican-American cocktail bar Superbueno in April in Manhattan’s East Village neighborhood. The venue features cocktails that aim to push the boundaries and expectations of Mexican cocktail culture while highlighting Mexican ingredients. Along with a mezcal-based Negroni and Margarita, specialty drinks include the Nogada Fizz, made with poblano pepper-infused Fords gin, Luxardo Maraschino liqueur, lemon juice, egg white, soda water, and a house-made green apple-parsley-poblano pepper sherbet, and the Adobada Bam Bam, a slushy cocktail comprising grilled pineapple-infused Ilegal Joven mezcal, house-made chili falernum and pineapple shrub, adobada spices, and pineapple and lemon juices (specialty drinks are $18). The bar offers one large-format drink too: the Tepache, mixing…

Diageo Distillers Edition 2023 Diageo has unveiled the 2023 Distillers Edition of single malt Scotch whiskies finished in a variety of barrels for secondary maturation. This year’s collection of six whiskies is sourced from the Lagavulin, Talisker, Cragganmore, Oban, Dalwhinnie, and Glenkinchie distilleries. The Lagavulin release ($125 a 750-ml.) is finished in Pedro Ximénez-seasoned casks and bottled at 43% abv. Oban’s entry ($95) is finished in Montilla Fino-seasoned casks and bottled at 43% abv. Talisker’s whisky ($85) is finished in Amoroso-seasoned casks before bottling at 45.8% abv. The Cragganmore release ($85) comes in at 40% abv and is finished in Port-seasoned casks. The final two whiskies, from Dalwhinnie ($90) and Glenkinchie ($85), are both bottled at 43% abv, with the former finished in Oloroso-seasoned casks and the latter in Amontillado-seasoned…

At fine dining restaurant Providence in Los Angeles, environmental awareness is important throughout the menu. Sustainably sourced ingredients are paramount for the venue, and its bar is no exception. Providence bar director Kim Stodel works closely with the kitchen to incorporate items trimmed from the plate into the glass. “This way of working not only helps reduce food waste, it’s also economical and creates opportunities to come up with creative solutions for ‘undesirable’ parts of ingredients,” Stodel says. “This encourages a symbiotic relationship between the kitchen and bar. I make choices when it comes to spirit selection or style of beverage, but I like to leave the fruit and vegetable aspect up to the kitchen.” Providence routinely lists at least four drinks on its cocktail menu that include a sustainable…