Kimo Sabe mezcal said it is launching “Step Up to the New Taste of Agave,” a 100,000 person, 10-city national consumer taste-test challenge –kicking off in Las Vegas in June.
The challenge will pit Kimo Sabe, The New Taste of Mezcal against the best-selling ultra-premium tequila and a smoky ‘Oaxacan style’ mezcal.
“We’re kicking off our challenge in Las Vegas, the party capital of the world, where visitors are looking to have fun, celebrate with their favorite spirit and are open to new experiences,” said Jim Walsh, co-founder and CEO of Kimo Sabe. “Our goal for the 10 city challenge is to create 100,000 Kimo Sabe brand ambassadors, because once sampled, agave spirit fans will make Kimo Sabe their new top shelf choice.”
Other cities selected for the taste-test challenge are Los Angeles, Dallas, Austin, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Miami, and Minneapolis. 10,000 consumers will be targeted in each market.
“Everyone who loves agave spirits will appreciate this opportunity to take our challenge and experience for themselves how Kimo Sabe is evolving the industry. Tasting is truly believing,” said Ashley Kvamme, Co-founder of Kimo Sabe.
“Our rapid growth is creating opportunities for hundreds of agave growers in Mexico, who we are assisting in creating sustainable, organic, agave ecosystems that will last for generations. We proudly call this strategy Building Bridges – as it connects the Mexican agave growers to a generation of US consumers seeking their own defining liquor category,”
Veteran agri-business flavor specialists Jim Walsh and Ashley Walsh Kvamme, who come from the premium chocolate business, started Kimo Sabe in 2014 with the goal to create high quality, artisan distiller flavor experiences of the agave plant at a price point for everyone to enjoy.
The Company has grown by 500% over the last two years and is outpacing sales growth of the leading brands in all agave categories. The Company expects its sales to double the entire mezcal category within 24 months.
“We aim to educate consumers through a direct taste experience of the full continuum of flavors across ultra-premium agave categories,” says Jim Walsh. “Most consumers have a sense of tequila flavors, and some have experienced smoky mezcal’s, but few have ever experienced the elegance, complexity and beauty of the literally hundreds of flavors of agave. Agave spirits have the potential to be truly memorable, where single flavors, when blended artfully, combine to create never before tasted harmonic accords or ineffable notes of magic. Kimo Sabe does for agave what Johnny Walker does for Scotch, as it gives the consumer a range of the special notes available in the category all in one product. This is the embodiment of the art of blending and distilling. We are excited to be expanding the agave industry and by doing so helping hundreds of Mexican agave growers prosper sustainably.”
There are 42 varieties of mezcal, each of which has its own distinct flavor. This gives mezcal producers a greater ability to create their own unique spirit.