Market Watch July/August 2024

Last year we saw a slight slowdown in Tequila’s red-hot run of more than a decade, but believe me, the category is just catching its breath. On a percentage rate basis, Tequila’s growth was “only” 5% to 31 million cases. The performance was better than the overall spirits market, and consider that Tequila’s volume has roughly doubled since 2015. In years past, Tequila’s sweet spot has been at the luxury tier ($40 a 750-ml. and above), but now the main action is at the super-premium tier ($25-$40), where volumes were up 13% last year. This is a good thing, as we’re seeing Tequila broaden its presence to include a wider array of options across the entire premium space. Also, new items like flavored and cask-finished Tequilas are adding even more…

DoorDash Expands Alcohol Services…. Delivery app DoorDash has expanded its alcohol delivery services, partnering with a mix of new grocery and beverage alcohol chains across the U.S. The move further solidifies the company’s position as “the category share leader for third-party liquor store delivery sales,” according to DoorDash. The new partners include Food Lion, Hannaford, Giant Food, Martin’s, Stop & Shop, Buy Rite Liquors, Big Red Liquors, Spirits Unlimited and Stew Leonard’s Wines & Spirits. The new outlets join existing DoorDash retailers like Total Wine & More; Walgreens; Spec’s Wine, Spirits & Finer Foods; ABC Fine Wine & Spirits; and Duane Reade. The app lists 100,000 alcoholic beverages across thousands of retail stores in 32 states. “In 2023, the total number of liquor stores available on DoorDash in the…

Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits chairman Harvey Chaplin, a self-made entrepreneur who turned a modest Florida spirits and wine distributorship into a national, multi-billion dollar powerhouse, passed away Sunday, June 9 of natural causes at the age of 95. “Harvey was undoubtedly one of the great pioneers and visionaries in our industry,” says Marvin R. Shanken, chairman of M. Shanken Communications and publisher of Market Watch Magazine. “He left an indelible mark on the wine and spirits business.” Chaplin began his career in 1944 while still in high school, working in the mailroom at Schenley Industries, one of the largest liquor companies of its day. He stayed at Schenley for 16 years, rising through the ranks to become assistant director of sales. In the 1960s, he moved to a Schenley…

NYC: Botanical Bar Offers Enchanting Escape In Manhattan Located under The High Line in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, Wildflower opened in June with a botanical-inspired cocktail list and a menu of New American cuisine. Wildflower was created by the team operating Midtown Manhattan cocktail bar Madam Mikette’s and it boasts a lengthy drinks list that includes both classic and signature drinks. Classics include a Fords gin-based Vesper and Zackariah Harris Bourbonbased Paper Plane, and they’re complemented by creative signatures like the Genius Genus, made with hibiscus-infused Breckenridge gin, Barsol pisco, lemon juice, honey, and egg white, and the Feel The Breeze, comprising El Dorado 3-year-old rum, Campari aperitif, house-made raspberry thyme shrub, pineapple juice, and coconut milk (cocktails are $17-$18). Wildflower also has a separate Gin & Tonic menu that spans…

Laphroaig Càirdeas 2024 Cask Favourites Suntory Global Spirits has announced the 2024 iteration of Laphroaig Càirdeas. For this year’s edition ($110 a 700-ml.), master blender Calum Fraser used 10-year-old casks, a callback to the first release, which was also 10 years old. Similar to the Càirdeas Triple Wood release in 2019, the whisky was first aged in heavily charred first- and second-fill Bourbon barrels and quarter casks before being finished in Pedro Ximénez Sherry casks, as 2021’s PX Cask release was. Cask Favourites was bottled at 52.4% abv, cask strength, as many Càirdeas whiskies are. The whisky is now available via ReserveBar. For more information, visit Laphroaig.com. Highland Park Cask Strength No. 5 Edrington’s Highland Park has released Cask Strength No. 5, the latest full proof offering from the Orkney,…

San Francisco native Nicolas Torres has been bartending in his home city for more than 15 years. “I grew up around service—when I was a child my parents owned a bakery in the Bay Area—and I got into bartending because I had service experience in mom-and-pop environments,” he says. “But I wasn’t really into cocktails until 2010, which is when I created my first menu at Zoe’s, a small cocktail bar and eatery in the Mission District. I was there for the opening, so I got to see the beginnings of a project and what to look out for.” From there, Torres bartended at different types of venues throughout the city and in 2014, he made a fortuitous connection. “I met Chef David Barzelay when I was bartending in The…