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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StateWays | www.stateways.com | November/December 2016 43 The major Cognac houses are continuing to introduce line exten- sions and innovate within their portfolios, as new brands enter the market to com- pete against the three brands with nearly 90% market share – Hennessy, Remy Martin and Courvoisier. All three in- creased sales in 2015, with Hennessy up 16.9%. For brandy, it's two different stories for domestics and im- ports. Imported brandy sales were down 3.0% for leading brands last year, with Pernod Ricard USA's Presidente the only top brand to show growth (the brand is down nearly 50% from its 2010 sales). Leading U.S. brandies outpaced their global com- petitors, rising 3.2% and led by a strong year from Constella- tion's Paul Masson. Overall, the category is still dominated by E & J and Hen- nessy, with the latter poised to overtake the former in total sales during 2016 if it continues to grow at its current pace. In 2015, Hennessy was only 140,000 cases behind E & J, but it grew by more than 400,000 cases compared to 2014 while E & J only increased by 15,000. SUPPORTING HOLIDAY SALES Following its 2012 launch, Bacardi's D'Usse Cognac introduced VSOP ($50) and XO ($230) in 2014. VSOP is a blend of Co- gnacs aged at least 4.5 years in French oak barrels in both dry and humid cellars, while XO is a blend of hand-selected eaux-de-vie aged a minimum of 10 years in French oak casks and features the Cross of Lorraine on the bottle. This year, the brand released a limited-edition box for holiday sales. The gift box doubles as a bottle glorifi er for home bars. D'Usse has also created window graphics, counter wraps and other store customization pieces for retail this year. And Bacardi's mixology team also created a number of classic winter cocktails with D'Usse as the main ingredient. EXPANDING AND UPDATING THE PORTFOLIO Louisville-based Copper & Kings American Brandy offers a full lineup of craft bandy. The company, founded by the entrepre- neurs behind Crispin Hard Cider and NutriSoda, uses copper pot stills to distill wine at a low temperature and non-chill fi lter the resulting product. The portfolio includes American Brandy ($35), Butchertown Reserve Cask Brandy ($60), Immature Brandy ($30) and Un- Aged Apple Brandy ($30). This year, Copper & Kings also re- leased Floodwall American Apple Brandy ($40 and 100 proof ). The latest line extension is a blend of distilled apple wines made from Michigan apples, aged in Bourbon barrels and sherry casks for a minimum of four years. Beam Suntory's Courvoisier also updated its offerings this year with the introduction of new bottles, labels and packaging for its portfolio just ahead of National Cognac Day in June. The new packaging is purple and gold, with newly designed labels for the VS, XO and VSOP bottles, the last of which also features a new shape as well. While the bulk of consumers' and retailers' focus is on whiskey, another brown spirit is also on the rise and poised for continued growth in the coming years. Brandy and Cognac sales were up 5.6% in 2015, with Cognacs leading the way at 13.5% growth.