Tuesday, May 23, 2017

AMERICAN BRANDY REVIVAL

American Brandy Osocalis
American Brandy Osocalis
From Shanken News

Tuesday, May 23, 2017


American Brandy Is Enjoying A Renaissance

Spurred by the craft movement, domestic brandies are starting to catch fire in the marketplace. Brandy’s rise is an extension of the surge in other brown spirits, and part of an ever-broadening repertoire of drinks being explored by today’s adventurous consumers.

The big four American brandies—E.&J., Christian Brothers, Paul Masson and Korbel—still account for 93% of the category, according to Impact Databank. But the dynamism surrounding craft brandies has the industry taking notice. Brian Bowden, senior vice president and general merchandise manager for spirits, beer, tobacco and beverages at BevMo, expects to add more artisanal brandies this year. “We’ve seen an increase in all our American brandies, from everyday labels like E.&J., Korbel and Christian Brothers to more artisanal brands like St. George and Clear Creek’s fruit brandies,” Bowden says.

American brandy has retained a solid consumer base for decades. Sales rose steadily through the 1990s and 2000s, reaching 7.23 million cases by 2010, according to Impact Databank. Last year, category volume grew an estimated 5.5% to 7.8 million cases. Category leader E.&J. rose 7.5% to 3.9 million cases last year, driven by its Peach and Apple extensions. Meanwhile, Constellation’s Paul Masson surpassed 2 million cases in 2016 on double-digit growth. Korbel, marketed by Brown-Forman, sells about 290,000 cases annually, while Heaven Hill's Christian Brothers is at roughly 1.1 million cases.

Todd Kennedy, brand director for Korbel, says that even a hefty retail price increase—from $13 to roughly $18 a 1.75-liter bottle—only temporarily destabilized the Korbel brand. “We were initially delisted by some major retailers,” Kennedy says, noting that the increase was necessary due to rising grape and production costs. “But they came back to us after four or five months.”

While American brandy’s core demographic is the baby boomer and older market, millennials are driving growth. “Brandy has shifted to younger consumers,” Bowden notes. “They’re not necessarily trading over to brandy, they’re just adding it into their cocktail choices.”

Christopher Brian, bartender at New Orleans restaurant Coquette, notes the emergence of a middle tier for brandy. “For too long, the options were either Cognac, which is upwards of $40 or $50, or the cheap stuff for $8 or $9,” he says. “There was a dearth of well-made brandies that could be put into cocktails. Now the mid-tier range—$20 to $40—is emerging.” He says offerings from regional producers—most notably Louisville, Kentucky–based Copper & Kings, whose brandies are aged in Bourbon barrels—are resonating with his customers.

When Ansley Coale began making Germain-Robin brandy in the early 1980s, the craft brand garnered praise from critics, but didn’t gain widespread consumer acceptance. That situation may be finally changing. “After 30 years in the desert, suddenly everyone is paying attention to American brandies,” says Coale, cofounder of Germain-Robin and president of Ukiah, California–based Craft Distillers. Copper & Kings founder Joe Heron agrees. “Much more adventurous consumers have been the driver,” he says, noting that they’re typically younger than traditional brandy drinkers.

Todd Randall, vice president of St. Louis-based Randall’s Wines and Spirits, says consumers who buy American craft brandies are deliberately searching for them. “Certain customers come in looking for brands like Osocalis, Leopold Bros. and Copper & Kings,” Randall says. “They’re expensive—around the same price as a high-end Scotch or Bourbon.”

CONSUMERS ARE LOOKING FOR AMERICAN BRANDY

American Brandy Osocalis
American Brandy Osocalis
From Shanken News

Tuesday, May 23, 2017


American Brandy Is Enjoying A Renaissance

Spurred by the craft movement, domestic brandies are starting to catch fire in the marketplace. Brandy’s rise is an extension of the surge in other brown spirits, and part of an ever-broadening repertoire of drinks being explored by today’s adventurous consumers.

The big four American brandies—E.&J., Christian Brothers, Paul Masson and Korbel—still account for 93% of the category, according to Impact Databank. But the dynamism surrounding craft brandies has the industry taking notice. Brian Bowden, senior vice president and general merchandise manager for spirits, beer, tobacco and beverages at BevMo, expects to add more artisanal brandies this year. “We’ve seen an increase in all our American brandies, from everyday labels like E.&J., Korbel and Christian Brothers to more artisanal brands like St. George and Clear Creek’s fruit brandies,” Bowden says.

American brandy has retained a solid consumer base for decades. Sales rose steadily through the 1990s and 2000s, reaching 7.23 million cases by 2010, according to Impact Databank. Last year, category volume grew an estimated 5.5% to 7.8 million cases. Category leader E.&J. rose 7.5% to 3.9 million cases last year, driven by its Peach and Apple extensions. Meanwhile, Constellation’s Paul Masson surpassed 2 million cases in 2016 on double-digit growth. Korbel, marketed by Brown-Forman, sells about 290,000 cases annually, while Heaven Hill's Christian Brothers is at roughly 1.1 million cases.

Todd Kennedy, brand director for Korbel, says that even a hefty retail price increase—from $13 to roughly $18 a 1.75-liter bottle—only temporarily destabilized the Korbel brand. “We were initially delisted by some major retailers,” Kennedy says, noting that the increase was necessary due to rising grape and production costs. “But they came back to us after four or five months.”

While American brandy’s core demographic is the baby boomer and older market, millennials are driving growth. “Brandy has shifted to younger consumers,” Bowden notes. “They’re not necessarily trading over to brandy, they’re just adding it into their cocktail choices.”

Christopher Brian, bartender at New Orleans restaurant Coquette, notes the emergence of a middle tier for brandy. “For too long, the options were either Cognac, which is upwards of $40 or $50, or the cheap stuff for $8 or $9,” he says. “There was a dearth of well-made brandies that could be put into cocktails. Now the mid-tier range—$20 to $40—is emerging.” He says offerings from regional producers—most notably Louisville, Kentucky–based Copper & Kings, whose brandies are aged in Bourbon barrels—are resonating with his customers.

When Ansley Coale began making Germain-Robin brandy in the early 1980s, the craft brand garnered praise from critics, but didn’t gain widespread consumer acceptance. That situation may be finally changing. “After 30 years in the desert, suddenly everyone is paying attention to American brandies,” says Coale, cofounder of Germain-Robin and president of Ukiah, California–based Craft Distillers. Copper & Kings founder Joe Heron agrees. “Much more adventurous consumers have been the driver,” he says, noting that they’re typically younger than traditional brandy drinkers.

Todd Randall, vice president of St. Louis-based Randall’s Wines and Spirits, says consumers who buy American craft brandies are deliberately searching for them. “Certain customers come in looking for brands like Osocalis, Leopold Bros. and Copper & Kings,” Randall says. “They’re expensive—around the same price as a high-end Scotch or Bourbon.”

Sunday, May 21, 2017

HOW IS COGNAC EXPANDING INTO NEW TARGETS?

Cognac Landscape
Cognac Landscape

Cognac producers are looking at cocktails, product innovations (craft cognac) and new type of consumers to expand says Reuters in this video and article.

The purpose is to widen the consumer base without alienating the current and sort of traditional cognac customers, ie, Chinese and African American.

This is a rather difficult task as one can imagine that talking about celebrity appeals such as rappers and terroirs at the same time might be rather confusing.

Source: Reuters TV

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

DETECTING CRAFT COGNAC

Comandon Vintage Single Cask 2017
Comandon Vintage Single Cask 2017

There has been a lot of discussions on what makes a spirit a craft spirit.
Perhaps its size, the volume of bottles being produced, family owned, ... etc...

However, it recently occured to me what craft may mean.

Comandon Cognac is increasingly becoming synonymous with "craft cognac" while reinventing itself. Comandon is a revived 1821 cognac brand once one of the largest producer of cognac in volume and sales that puts innovation and terroir at the heart of its process.  Much of its purpose is to question the traditional standards and to offer more innovative alternatives.

In particular, Comandon makes various cognac ranges that once drunk there is 'no more'. 

This concept of 'small batch' is common and perhaps necessary within the craft spirit category but Comandon's craft philosophy goes beyond this.

We produce many different 'Single Casks' which goes against the rhetoric of having a 'house style' or a 'secret blend' being repeated forever and ever, everyday with a standard consistency. The purpose of making single cask cognac is to demonstrate that there is no standard in cognac, and on the contrary to popular belief, the category has much variety to offer. Comandon provides about 50 different single casks to choose from at any time, and there seems to be at least one for everyone's taste.

Other interesting details include the filtration. It does not seem much but almost no other brand offers a selection of cognac wich are not cold filtered, also called un-chill filtered. 

Brown spirits, that is white spirits which have been aged in wood casks will eventually be filtered and most of them will be cold filtered. A cold filtration ensures that the brown spirits does not generate any sediments, deposits, crystals which to the untrained eyes looks like 'dirt'. Un-chill filtered cognac may with a brisk change of temperature create these small sediments. It is normal!

These sediments are the authentic manifestation of a cognac that was handcrafted because it was not filtered to the point of removing 'interesting' esters and oils that add to the flavors and aromas. However, most people do not know and will rightfuly assume that this is a problem.

This matter is commonly discussed in more than 100s of articles on the Internet by whisky fans, but never in the context of cognac. For 'crafted cognac' unchillfiltering will increase the likelihood of having sediments in the bottle, but if you do, you are the lucky one, meaning you are drinking crafted cognac.

Be honest! Do you want craft or not? If you do take the time to learn and understand.

Monday, May 15, 2017

WORLD BEST COGNAC FOR 2017 GOES TO CROIZET EXTRA

Cognac Croizet Extra
Cognac Croizet Extra

Today the San Francisco Spirits Competition announced the winner of the 2017 world best cognac. For the first time Cognac Croizet receives this prestigious recognition. Congrats!

The Cognac Croizet Extra (about $230) received the highest score for the 'cognac' category but also for the overall brandy category which is very impressive.

Cognac Croizet has been recently noticed for its vintage and antique cognacs fetching high prices in wine & spirit auctions.

This prize marks a milestone in the many achievements recived by the brand since its establishment in 1805.

I also noticed a number of cognac brands which I had never heard before such as Blancrux, Honor, Marquis de La Fayette, Mery-Melrose and Voltaire.

Monday, May 1, 2017

HOW IS BIG DATA GETTING INTO THE SPIRIT BUSINESS?

Big Data Logo
Big Data Logo

Big data and marketing are being used in every industry including the spirit industry now.
According to SmartBrief

"Many beverage companies connect geographical data and purchasing trends to individual stores, while others collect data on influencers and use that data to engage with them in the form of multichannel campaigns and promotions.

Data has also become a powerful tool for optimizing assortments, streamlining supply chains, analyzing trends that appear on social media and planning and executing brand campaigns...

Companies track purchasing decisions at the item level via physical, online and mobile channels, and that data can be applied to making decisions about merchandising, assortment and supply chain.

But at the end of the day, just collecting data isn’t enough. Companies have to take a step further and turn that data into a decision-making tool to help optimize their beverage business."

Source: SmartBrief

BRANDY IS COMING BACK SAYS THE NEW YORK TIMES

Fun Brandy not from main stream
Fun Brandy not from main stream

"Brandy has become a quiet giant of the liquor industry. More than 13 million cases were sold domestically in 2016, outpacing gin, Scotch and Irish whiskey, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. And most of that — eight million cases — was American brandy", says The New York Times.

Craft Whiskey and craft beer consumers are increasingly looking up for the next best thing and brandy seems to be pointed at the horizon.

There are the 'American-cognac like' brandy maker such as Germain-Robin Brandy  and Osocalis Brandy.
And then, there are the modern brandy distilleries such as Copper & Kings in the middle of Whiskey country, Louisville Kentucky, but also Charbay in wine country of northern California.

Even "Christian Brothers, owned by Heaven Hill Distilleries, recently revamped its packaging, while this week Gallo, which owns E&J, already the best-selling brandy in the country, announced a new, premium brandy line called Argonaut, along with the reactivation of 20 traditional Cognac stills", says The New York Times.

This is good luck for Monteru Brandy which is offering copper pot still brandy form estate vineyards, and other cask experimental brandy selections.