Appleton Estate Jamaica Rum Marks Master Blender’s 4 Decades at Distillery

Posted on January 11, 2022 by Joel Whitaker

Appleton Estate, a global leader in premium aged rums, launched the Ruby Anniversary Edition, a limited-edition release celebrating Master Blender Joy Spence‘s 40 years of craftsmanship with the distillery. Ruby Anniversary Edition is an exclusive release unlike any before it in the brand’s 270-year history: it is a blend of 5 exceptionally rare Jamaica rums, aged for a minimum of 35 tropical years, and including rums as old as 45 years, resulting in a complex sipping rum.

With only 500 bottles available, this offer is a luxurious gem for rum lovers, a commemorative release for the first female Master Blender in the spirits industry, and a taste of decades of craftsmanship and dedication.

“Forty years ago, I had the opportunity to channel my passion, talent, and knowledge into a role at Appleton Estate,” recalls Spence. “I was honored to join one of the most revered world-class brands, in the place I call home. Forty years later,” Spence continues, “from luxury editions to permanent expressions, I am still immensely proud to continue to innovate and produce luxurious aged rums at the highest quality standards, suited for every occasion. Since 1981, my goal has been to create the world’s most exquisite, refined aged rums and to share them with the world. This special edition marks a milestone for me and was created using some of the finest stock in our over 200,000 barrels.”

Produced at the oldest continuously-operating rum distillery in Jamaica, Ruby Anniversary Edition is a blend of five hand-selected column and pot-still rums, crafted with Jamaican limestone-filtered water, with no added flavors, and aged in Jamaica – a taste of the excellence of the land and its people.

Aged a minimum of 35 years, each bottle contains liquid as old as 45 years and as young as 35 – a luxurious time capsule to taste the flavor of decades in the tropics. Due to Jamaica’s climate, Appleton Estate rums age nearly three times more quickly than spirits aged in cooler climates, allowing for richer, fuller flavors to develop in a shorter period of time – meaning that the minimum age of 35 years in the tropical climate of Jamaica is equivalent to over 100 years of ageing in a cooler climate, thanks to the significant loss of liquid by evaporation. “Heaven’s envy” is captured in the very limited quantity of liquid bottled for this release.

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Frozen Cocktail Pop Producer Registers as Winery

Posted on January 11, 2022 by Joel Whitaker

21 Holdings LLC (21H), a wholly owned subsidiary of Jel Sert Co. (Jel Sert)said it registered as a winery, making it a fully licensed and bonded distillery, winery, and brewery that specializes in ideating, developing, and manufacturing alcoholic freezable novelties. This includes its own brand, SLIQ Spirited Ice (SLIQ), a diversified line of frozen cocktail pops that are crafted with elevated flavors to inspire good times only, in addition to those made on behalf of contract manufacturing, retailer, and licensing partners.

Since launching in 2021, 21H has established itself as the preeminent source for high quality and high-volume ready-to-freeze products. The quality standards established mirror those that support Jel Sert’s best-in-class status as a provider of food and beverages, with an SQF Edition 9.0 Excellent Rating (98%). With capacity equal to over 150 million freezer pops per week and billions per year, 21H’s facilities and scale are unmatched in the alcoholic ready-to-freeze industry.

Having worked with some of the world’s largest food and pharmaceutical companies for their contract manufacturing needs, 21H’s staff is uniquely positioned to service any business partners’ product line in the category. The award-winning R&D department assists in developing new and innovative products, offering a high-level attention to detail and quick turnaround times.

“The ready-to-freeze category is approaching an inflection point,” says Matt Ingemi, CSO/VP-Business Development for Jel Sert and its subsidiary, 21 Holdings LLC. “Many fringe brands and startups will begin to fall by the wayside as distributors and retailers optimize their sets with suppliers and brands that can consistently deliver high-quality, high-value products at scale. With our registration as a winery, we can apply our infrastructure, quality and scale to whatever base alcohol is needed for our branded business and for all our external customers.”

21H is poised to help strategic business partners grow the emerging alcoholic ready-to-freeze category in 2022 and beyond. Its own brand SLIQ launched in 2021 in 22 states alongside strong programs with retail giants Walmart & Albertsons, with plans to expand nationwide in 2022. The SLIQ brand leads a new frontier of alcohol that plays at the intersection of nostalgic classics and the modern, ready-to-drink cocktail & hard seltzer surge. With its three core variety pack offerings in Vodka, Agave, and Rum, SLIQ Spirited Ice delivers authentic, frozen cocktails infused with premium spirits and natural flavors. Each pop has fewer than 100 calories, 8% ABV, and offers just the right amount of sweetness in a portion-controlled & conveniently portable package.

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A-B Slips Golden Cans into Packs for Million-Dollar Prize

Posted on January 11, 2022 by Joel Whitaker

Anheuser Busch is placing 10,000 golden cans of beer instead of tickets in specially marked packs across the United States. Everyone who finds a golden can, or makes one, will be eligible to win the million-dollar grand prize if they post the image correctly.

Yes, there are actually two ways to enter this sweepstakes. Consumers can randomly find a golden Budweiser can, which would be really cool, and snap a photo. Or  simply go to the brewer’s website and print a golden can. Wrap the image around a can and take a picture.

Fans must post a picture of the can to social media correctly to enter. Tag @budweiserusa if you’re posting it to Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter and use the hashtags #LiveLikeAKing & #Sweepstakes. Fans can enter until Feb. 20.

The winner will be notified after a random drawing of the entries on February 21, 2022. The odds of winning depend on the number of entries received.

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What We’re Reading —

Posted on January 11, 2022 by Joel Whitaker

How C-stores Are Raising the Bar in Alcoholic Beverages

The channel is embracing wine and liquor more as sales rise due to the pandemic. (Convenience Store News).

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Omicron Hits On-Premise: BeerBoard’s Open Rate Below 90 for 1st Time in Year

Posted on January 10, 2022 by Joel Whitaker

BeerBoard said the 89% of locations surveyed open and pouring beer fell  last weekend (jan. 5-9). It was the first time in almost a year that the open rate was below 90%.  The last time was Jan. 14-17, 2021), when it checked in at 85% for that period. The rate had consistently registered at 90% or above since late January 2021.

After six consecutive reports of 20 taps per location nationally, Average Number of Taps dropped to 18 per location. Florida held firm at 19 per location, while the nine other states tracked saw a decline. Tennessee (16) dropped three handles, and Illinois (16) and New York (19) lost two handles each.

The Percentage Taps Pouring continued on a downward trend, dropping to 68%. It previously fell from 75% to 74% over the period of Dec 16-19. Each of the 10 states tracked dropped over the weekend, led by Tennessee (-16.2%), Illinois
(-11.4%) and Georgia (-11.1%).

Volume fell for the second consecutive period, down -13.6% over the weekend. It was also down -5.8% for the period of Dec 16-19. Tennessee saw the biggest decline, down 33.9%, followed by Illinois (-24.3%), New York (-20.6%) and 
South Carolina -19.3%). Each of the 10 states tracked were down on the weekend.

Like Volume, Rate of Sale took a big hit on the weekend, falling -10.2%. This is the third fall in the last four reports. Tennessee (-23.7%) and New York (-14.7%) were among nine states tracked to fall on the weekend. Nevada was the only state to see an increase, albeit a nominal +0.6%.

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Omicron’s Toll on On-Premise Likely to Get Worse

Posted on January 10, 2022 by Joel Whitaker

The antialcohol Centers for Disease Control & Prevention has consistently failed in projecting how Covid will impact the U.S. economy.  Perhaps that’s because they view their job as simply collecting and reporting epidemiological data — what diseases are out there based on the symptoms people have, where those diseases are and how they have spread.  In other words, maybe CDC views its job as reporting history.

Interesting, perhaps, to scientists and academics, but useless if you’re trying to project what is likely to happen.  That’s where major media, such as The New York Times comes in.

Taking a look at data from some of the earliest-hit cities, it has a pretty good idea.  This is going to be bad, really bad. To be sure, deaths right now are slightly lower than in previous peaks.  “But because of the extraordinarily high case count, even a proportionally lower death toll from the current case curve in the United States could be devastating,” the Times said.

“In early-hit cities, hospitals are seeing more patients testing positive for Covid-19 than at any time last year. Because of the sheer infectiousness of the Omicron variant, many who arrive at the hospital for other ailments test positive for the coronavirus.

“The number of Covid-19 patients who need intensive care or mechanical ventilation is approaching levels not seen since last winter. And the sheer number of patients is overwhelming to hospitals, where staffing shortages are putting health care workers under immense strain.”

You can read the full report here.  If you don’t want to read the full story, at least take a look at the charts.  They aren’t pretty.

Going to Gym With Covid a Bad Idea

“Testing positive for Covid-19 means putting workouts on hold, even if you have zero or mild symptoms,” Jen Murphy writes in The Wall Street Journal.

“But sports-medicine professionals say you should put exercise on pause, even if you are asymptomatic. The American College of Sports Medicine, for example, suggests low-risk patients should rest for at least 10 days after being diagnosed with Covid-19. If asymptomatic, the rest should last seven days,” she says, adding:

“After you’ve recovered, restraint is key when resuming workouts. Jumping right back into a vigorous exercise routine could prolong the time it takes to regain fitness levels, or worse, lead to injury or relapse.”

You can read her report here.

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