Market Watch July/August 2023

What were the words used to describe Ivan Menezes by the many people who knew and admired him? Kind, caring, brilliant. As CEO of Diageo from 2013 until his recent passing, Ivan guided the company with quiet, superb determination. He was relentlessly focused on winning, and he frequently used that verb when laying out his strategies for Diageo’s future. While he left us at the far-too-young age of 63, Ivan Menezes did win at the game of life, and Diageo benefited enormously from having him. It wasn’t always easy. Before being named Diageo’s chief executive in 2012, Ivan ran Diageo North America for eight years. There was a lot to manage in those days: The merger that formed Diageo in 1998 was followed by the acquisition of key brands from…

Foley’s Spirits Move….Bill Foley is expanding into the spirits category, announcing a deal to acquire the former Bently distillery in Minden, Nevada for an undisclosed sum. Foley Family Wines plans to produce spirits from local grains at the distillery, selling through both wholesale and DTC channels, with operations to begin immediately. Annual production capacity is currently about six thousand barrels and will be expanded moving forward. The Minden facility includes an American whiskey and white spirits distillery housed in a 100-year-old creamery, as well as an American single malt distillery based in a 100-year-old flour mill. Both buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places. The flour mill includes multiple tasting areas and will serve as a guest experience center. Also included in the deal is existing inventory of…

Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits president Sheldon “Shelly” Stein has retired. A key player in the 2016 creation of Southern Glazer’s via the merger of Southern Wine & Spirits and Glazer’s Distributors, Stein has since served as president of the combined company, which has projected revenue of $25.2 billion this year, according to Market Watch sister publication Impact Newsletter, and an estimated 34% share of the total wholesale market for wine and spirits in the U.S. “Shelly has been a transformative leader at Southern Glazer’s, leading the integration that made it possible for us to become the first truly cross-continental wholesaler,” says Souther Glazer’s CEO Wayne Chaplin. “With his contributions, we established a structure that enables us to deliver the best portfolio of products across North America. We thank him…

In 1997, Guinness and Grand Metropolitan, the two largest spirits multinationals at the time, announced plans to merge. It was the biggest corporate merger in UK history, and the news dominated the country’s financial headlines. Earlier in that same year, young executive Ivan Menezes arrived on the scene, entering Guinness as strategy director for its spirits arm United Distillers, purveyors of Johnnie Walker and numerous other brands. Still only in his late thirties, Menezes was tapped to help integrate the newly merged company, which eventually would be named Diageo. He went on to serve in a number of key roles during those early post-merger days, including global marketing director and head of Diageo’s emerging markets division. In 2004, Menezes was tapped to become president of Diageo North America, the company’s…

Miami: Cocktails And Cigars Shine At Ariete Hospitality’s El Vecino Florida-based Ariete Hospitality Group unveiled its third concept in Miami in May with the debut of El Vecino at Miami Worldcenter. A cigar and cocktail bar, El Vecino is a haven for drinks and cigar enthusiasts, as it boasts a lengthy menu of specialty drinks and wines, as well as myriad smokes. Brown spirits feature heavily on the drinks menu, as the cocktail list includes offerings like the Peaty’s Pepino, made with Laphroaig 10-year-old Single Malt Scotch, Pierre Ferrand 1840 Original Formula Cognac, Nardini amaro, and Chareau Aloe liqueur, garnished with cucumber, and the Martillito, a blend of Old Forester 86 proof Bourbon, Quinquina aperitif, Suze liqueur, Lillet Blanc, and Fee Brothers Orange bitters (signature drinks are $19-$26). These are…

Benriach The Forty Speyside-based Scotch whisky distillery Benriach, part of the Brown-Forman portfolio, is introducing peated single malt Benriach The Forty to its U.S. range. The Forty ($4,500 a 750-ml.) was previously available last fall as part of a luxury bespoke NFT on Blockbar, but this marks the first time consumers will be able to purchase physical bottles in stores. The 43.5% abv offering was matured in Bourbon and Port casks, and is available as a limited release to specialty retailers in select U.S. markets. For more information, visit Benriachdistillery.com. Aberfeldy 15-Year-Old Finished in Napa Valley Wine Casks Bacardi has released the latest limited edition for single malt Scotch brand Aberfeldy. The new release ($70 a 750-ml.) is a 15-year-old malt finished in Cabernet Sauvignon barrels sourced from Napa, California.…