StateWays is the only magazine exclusively covering the control state system within the beverage alcohol industry, with annual updates from liquor control commissions and alcohol control boards and yearly fiscal reporting from control jurisdictions
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ing quite a bit. It is different whisky, it's a little bit older….It's just a more complex whisky product." But the brand didn't stop there. In spring 2012, Sazerac plans to refresh Canadian LTD's label. "It's not a major change but just something to do to update the look of the brand," Richards said. The company is cur- rently working on a creative platform for Canadian Hunter to create more awareness among consumers. And they recently updated the label for Northern Light. "Again, it has more of an updated 2011 kind of a look," he continued. "So we're expecting really good things from those four stable Canadian whisky brands of ours." Canadian Club's wide portfolio ranges across age statements and taste characteristics. addition, other venerable brands like Canadian Club have for years presented a portfolio that includes super- premium expressions. Now, there are lots of others to choose from. The category may have been slow boarding the innovation bus, a reason behind its stagnant results of late, but that's not to say that change isn't coming. Or more of it, considering 2011 saw several initiatives. "Whether aging established brands for longer or rebranding packaging, Canadian whisky is evolving and becoming a 'cooler' spirit which competes with top U.S. brands," says Bob Gorman, director of brand marketing for Canadian Club. Take Constellation Brands' Black Velvet. In terms of sales volume, the brand is second to Crown Royal and ranks as the 22nd best-selling spirit in the U.S. Whether it's the new packaging or revamped label, two improvements the brand took in 2011 to stay with the times, the success is show- ing. "It's just a little more simple, a little more upscale look, a little more modern look," market- ing director Huels said. "It's very core to the Black Velvet brand, black and gold, and we're still talking about being an imported product from Canada." Onward and Upward "A Collingwood, from Brown-Forman, is one of the new upscale Canadian whiskies recently introduced. s brands look to grow their customer bases, we've seen a few key trends emerge —the biggest being the shift to higher-quality, premium products," noted Gorman of Beam Global. "Over the last year, we've seen the Canadian whisky cat- egory undergo a shift to premiumization." Canadian Mist offers Canadian Mist Black Diamond, which was introduced in 2010, and retails slightly above its origina- tor ($15.99 versus $11.50). Blended at 86 proof, Black Diamond's flavor is enhanced by its higher sherry and rye content. Then there's the February 2011 introduction of Collingwood, Brown-Forman's mellowed- with-maplewood superpremium offering. It features a unique flavor and smoothness from the maplewood, the only Canadian whisky with that distinction, the company says. There's also the unique, upscale pack- aging with an over-cap, flask shaped bottle with a sleek label. Blended at 80 proof, the 750 ml bottle retails for $26.99. According to Kevin Richards at Sazerac, the value- priced brands in Sazerac's portfolio, Canadian Hunter, Rich and Rare, Northern Light, and Canadian LTD, are outpacing what they believe the category trends to be and have seen a good year volume-wise. The success of Rich and Rare led Sazerac to introduce Rich and Rare Reserve into 15-20 markets last year. "On the strength of the brand we decided to come out, within the last six months, with a line extension called Rich and Rare Reserve," Richards said. "It's a bit more of a premium version of Rich and Rare. We've dolled up the packag- StateWays s www.stateways.com s January/February 2012 Black Velvet introduced its Reserve line more than 20 years ago, seeing growing amounts pop- ularity as favor shifts toward the more premium products. As previ- ously noted, the superpremium line extension, Crown Royal Black, has shown great promise in its second year on the market. While Black Velvet sees most of its sales volume with its original expression, the higher- end Black Velvet Reserve has seen increased interest from consumers. 33