BROWN SPIRITS REPORT: BROWN-FORMAN BF stays nimble with Scotch and Irish acquisitions
Last year, Brown-Forman marked its 20th anniversary in duty free and travel retail and celebrated 150 years of its hero Jack Daniel’s brand. As the company continues to grow the JD family, it also has some new potentially game-changing Scotch and Irish whisky acquisitions waiting in the wings. Charlotte Turner talks to the company’s GTR MD.
as Slane Irish whiskey for which it is building a new distillery, expected to be complete by July. The owners of the famed Slane
castle – father and son Henry and Alex Conyngham – have partnered with Brown-Forman to build the €47m ($50m) new distillery on the surrounding grounds, which should be operational by July this year. “We think it’s a brand that has
a chance to maybe follow in some similar footsteps as Woodford Reserve and it’s really exciting,” says Farrer. “It’s a triple-cask-aged Irish whiskey that has a really beautiful finish on it. “It’s based and produced in this
Above: Slane Whiskey launched in Dublin Airport in April. Below: Brown-Forman will release Woodford Reserve Rye in 2017.
I
n 20 years since Brown-Forman entered the duty free and travel retail market, the world-renowned
Jack Daniel’s trademark has moved from No. 20 to No. 2; an impressive feat considering that its competition has only intensified within the American whiskey category in that time. The company also introduced
its Woodford Reserve bourbon to the market, which now boasts an enviable position amongst some of the best-known bourbons in global travel retail. “It has experienced phenomenal
growth and is now a top four bourbon, occupying a super premium status,” Marshall Farrer, Brown-Forman’s Global Travel Retail
“Retailers are excited about us right now…they are looking for new brands and new opportunities. They want to see different takes on categories that they’re very familiar with.”
Marshall Farrer, MD, Global Travel Retail, Brown-Forman
156 TRBUSINESS
Director, told TRBusiness. However, Jack Daniel’s Old No 7
continues to be what Farrer describes affectionately as ‘the beating heart of Brown-Forman’, and nothing will stop the company from further enhancing its exposure globally by ‘growing the family’. “It’s going to be our focus and
we’re going to grow the Jack family going forward, but we’re also going to build with more whiskies around Jack Daniel’s as we feel that that this is a category that we just know so well. “We know how to build brands;
we know how to produce; we’re experts in the maturation of whiskey and so we think that these are distinct advantages that we can bring, not only to Tennessee whiskey, but also bourbon, Irish, Scotch and maybe even others.” It’s prowess and experience
in making whiskey and building successful brands has enhanced Brown-Forman’s market share and dominance in DF&TR over the last two decades, allowing it to make some acquisitions along the way. The most recent of these being three Scotch whisky brands, as well
incredible old Irish castle that boasts an incredible musical history. It has played host to iconic bands such as U2, the Rolling Stones and Guns & Roses, so there’s actually brand equity in the location; for a lot of Europeans especially. “But for us, Slane is a long build
on the premium side of the Irish category. One that we are introduced in April at Dublin Airport with ARI.” Dublin Airport is the first location to launch Slane whiskey worldwide.
Targeted Slane rollout It’s going to be a targeted and controlled introduction for Slane, beginning in Ireland, the UK and Australia, followed by ‘Irish zones’ of the United States, including the New England to Washington corridor. It will also be launched in San Francisco, LA and Chicago. In addition to Slane, BF has
purchased three single malt brands that will be launched into travel retail for the first time, led initially by three expressions from BenRiach. “We’re going to lead with Ben
Riach and three offers, two of which will be quarter-cask aged… there will be a peated and a non- peated variety. Those are non age statement varieties.”
MAY 2017
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