Beverage Dynamics is the largest national business magazine devoted exclusively to the needs of off-premise beverage alcohol retailers, from single liquor stores to big box chains, through coverage of the latest trends in wine, beer and spirits.
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Sazerac's superpremium Canadian offerings include the single barrel Caribou Crossing, introduced in 2010, and Royal Canadian Small Batch Whisky, a recent debut. "One trend, the emerging popularity of bourbon, was part of the inspiration that led to the launch of Crown Royal Black," Briese explained. "It embodies the signa- ture smoothness of Crown Royal, but it is darker and more robust because of the bourbons in the blend." Diageo took another trend, flavored whisky, into the fold with Seagram's 7 Crown Dark Honey and Stone Cherry. "Flavored whisky is also a dynamic trend, which we have ventured into as well," Briese said. Sazerac's recent brand introductions, namely Caribou Crossing and Royal Canadian Small Batch in spring 2010, speak to the premium market with hand-selected barrels and their higher price points, $49.99 for a 750 ml bottle of Caribou Crossing and $24.99 for a 750 ml bottle of Royal Canadian. Not to exclude Canadian Club, but the brand already has six expres- sions and looks to add one more to the fold in 2012. "Touting its high quality flavor and unique blending processes, we will look to grow our whisky fan base in 2012 through strategic marketing campaigns and the launch of a new product—tactics we hope will intrigue consumers and encourage them to try Canadian Club," Gorman explained. More to the Mix I n September, Sazerac announced that it was pur- chasing 17 Corby-owned brands from the Canada-based Corby Distilleries Limited. For Sazerac, the transaction added another whisky to its portfolio, Silk Tassel Canadian Whisky, and for Corby, it offered the opportunity to target and focus more on the brands it still owned like Wiser's Canadian Whisky. "We had some brand over- lap in certain spirit categories and this transaction helps us streamline our portfolio with a more focused and targeted collection of brands, as part of our brand prioritization strategy," said Patrick O'Driscoll, Corby president and chief executive officer. Sazerac's not the only company looking to build its Canadian whisky portfolio. "While we are looking at several different directions, for the short term we are focused on building our overall Canadian portfolio," Brown-Forman's Murray said. "Part of that is getting Collingwood and Canadian Mist Black Diamond up and running while stabilizing the Canadian Mist franchise." Collingwood was first introduced in Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana and Texas, and is starting to add more market availability now. Regionalized Success W hat has always been an interesting dimension to the Canadian whisky category has been the strength some brands show in specific mar- kets. For example, Black Velvet is a top-selling spirit in Iowa, and Sazerac's Rich and Rare is the leading spirit in Washington and Alaska. For Beam Global, Windsor Supreme is ranked sixth in sales volume among all Canadians, according to the Beverage Information Group, partly due to its popularity in Minnesota and Pennsylvania. Similarly, Lord Calvert posted a strong showing in Florida to rank ninth among all Canadians. "Windsor and Lord Calvert continue to be local jewels with strong region- al strength in several markets across the U.S.," Gorman said. "Just like Canadian Club we will continue to provide high-quality products and innovate to stay ahead of a competi- tive marketplace." The Social Network While the spiced Canadian whisky Revel Stoke, from Phillips Distilling Co., was rein- troduced to the market in 2010, Diageo recently launched Seagram's 7 Dark Honey, a flavored Canadian whisky. W hether it's through educa- tion, promotions or social media, Canadian whiskies are making connections to con- sumers and influencers. "Beam has embraced the social media channels as a way to connect with a variety of Beverage Dynamics • www.beveragedynamics.com • January/February 2012 • 31