KLYR Rum Purchases Holy Water Distillery

Posted on May 16, 2022 by Joel Whitaker

KLYR Rum said it purchased Holy Water Distillery, a craft distillery located in Lewisberry, Pennsylvania. Launched in 2021 with Holy Water Distillery, KLYR Rum has experienced strong growth and increasing demand as the brand expands in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Florida and Las Vegas and is now the preferred rum of choice for the MLB’s Philadelphia Phillies.

Holy Water Distillery was opened by Victoria and Kevin Close in 2018. Quickly becoming a local craft favorite, their spirit brand Crostwater Distilled Spirits began raking in awards for its various offerings, such as gin, vodka, spiced rum, whiskey, bourbon, flavored whiskey and more. Their daughter, 24-year-old Master Distiller Lexi Close, now distills over 10 spirits including KLYR Rum.

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Tequila Cazadores Marks 100th Anniversary of Recipe

Posted on May 16, 2022 by Joel Whitaker

Tequila Cazadores is commemorating the 100th anniversary of its original tequila recipe, unveiling ‘#TheCaz100’ campaign to celebrate the milestone and make up for 100 celebrations tequila lovers have missed out on over the past couple of  years. As part of the campaign, consumers will enter for a chance to claim back a variety of celebrations that went uncelebrated including the following:

  • Wedding: After finally finding your person, you postponed the chance to celebrate, so we vow to make that right. Tequila Cazadores will give your wedding the full Jalisco treatment with a prize pack full of surprises. Save the date for a night your nearest, your dearest, and your third cousin Juan will never forget.
  • Birthday Bash: Birthday celebrations fall through over the past two years? Tequila Cazadores will make this year’s really sing with a personalized painting of yourself stylized like royalty. But the royal treatment won’t stop with artwork. Your friends will really flip out when you reveal that the painting swings out to reveal a secret mini bar we’ve built into your wall.
  • Office Party: Remote work has been a game-changer for many employees, but the missed happy hours and team bonding have paid a toll. Tequila Cazadores will put in overtime to give you an office fiesta that will win over even the toughest bosses – we’re talking entertainment, a bar cart, piñatas and more so you can show off those mixology skills you’ve been practicing at-home.
  • Taco Tuesday: Nothing goes together like tequila and tacos—except maybe Taco Tuesday and friends. Tequila Cazadores has cooked up the perfect accessory to help you put Taco Tuesday back on the menu: the ultimate Taco Tuesday margarita glass. These custom glasses are built to help you navigate the age-old problem of how to enjoy your margarita and taco simultaneously—by holding them both at the same time.
  • Anniversary: Did your anniversary go unnoticed the last two years? Have you and your partner fallen into a long-term relationship with your sweatpants and couch? Tequila Cazadores wants to bring the romance back by offering a couples spa package, wardrobe upgrade, and some other surprises.
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Freddie Noe 8th Master Distiller at Beam Distilling

Posted on May 15, 2022 by Joel Whitaker

Announcement of the appointment, which was made by Fred Noe, the James B. Beam Distilling Co.’s seventh generation master distiller came as Beam Distilling (Beam Suntory) celebrated the opening of the completely revamped distillery homestead and visitor experience.   Freddie will be the Master Distiller of the Fred B. Noe Distillery.  This is the first time in the history of JBBDCo that there are two family members, working alongside one another, sharing the Master Distiller title.

Fred Noe will maintain his role as Master Distiller, overseeing the James B. Beam Distilling Company’s portfolio of brands that include Jim Beam Bourbon, Knob Creek® Bourbon, Basil Hayden and others.  Freddie Noe will oversee the Fred B. Noe Distillery as Master Distiller. In this role, Freddie will experiment with new fermentation, distillation, and blending techniques to produce category-defining and boundary-pushing whiskey of the highest quality. Freddie will also lead experiential distillation sessions and seminars with hands-on activities in the blending lab.

“There is nothing in this world that would give me more pleasure and make me prouder than seeing Freddie step into the role of Master Distiller,” said Fred Noe in an emotional toast in front of friends and family during the celebration of the reimagined James B. Beam Distilling Co. “One of my biggest regrets is to never have distilled alongside my own father, Booker, so working side-by-side with Freddie will be a dream come true. I believe that a Master Distiller should understand the craft of distilling, uphold quality, and honor tradition while spearheading innovation. Freddie embodies this wholeheartedly and I look forward to seeing Freddie lead the charge in creating the next generation of whiskeys that help to grow the American Whiskey category around the world.”

Freddie Noe previously surprised and honored Fred Noe in 2019 when he announced the name of the new distillery as the Fred B. Noe Distillery. Freddie played a pivotal role in the development of this project, leading and manifesting Fred’s vision from more than five years ago. Fred had always been inspired by his own father, Booker Noe, who created the original small-batch bourbons. Now, Freddie will continue leading this effort with some of the James B. Beam Distilling Co’s most popular super-premium whiskies such as Little Book® and Bookers®

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A-B Sponsors St Louis City SC

Posted on May 15, 2022 by Joel Whitaker

St. Louis’ Major League Soccer team named Anheuser-Busch as one of the club’s founding partners, as well as the official beer sponsor of St Louis CITY SC.

As part of the partnership, Anheuser-Busch will have naming rights of the stadium’s south bar – the Ultra Club. This iconic 14,000 square foot space – which is already sold out for the 2023 season – offers a premium experience on matchday and features floor-to-ceiling windows that serve as the “front porch” of the stadium overlooking Market Street and Downtown West. The ULTRA Club provides incredible 360-degree views of both the city and pitch with 17 fully programmable LED screens on the ceiling. Each game will feature live cooking demonstrations and tasting options by local and visiting chefs and restaurants at the two open kitchens. Additionally, the ULTRA Club aims to become one of the premier special event spaces in downtown St. Louis on non-gamedays for corporate parties, weddings, and other community events beginning in September 2022.

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What We’re Reading

Posted on May 15, 2022 by Joel Whitaker

Every Picture Tells a Story

Whiskey-making in America wasn’t fully industrialized until the final quarter of 19th century, but then it became very big very fast.  Using a photo to tell the story of the Greendale Distillery, near Lawrenceburg, Ind., when no records of the pre-Prohibition plant seem to be available.  (Chuck Cowdrey Blog)

Indiana Grown: Hopwood Cellars Winery & Distillery

“The bourbon’s delicious,” Eric Abel for Hopwood Cellars Winery & Distillery,  Zionsville, Ind., tells WISH-TV.  “There’s a 16 acre vineyard. We have 2,200 vines, barns, It’s beautiful. Well actually start doing events for the middle end of July. We’ll have music out there, we’ll do some possible movie nights, walking tours of the vines for everybody,” he says.

Raise a glass to the memory of Willow Springs Distillery in Omaha

“Willow Springs whiskey was the barrel beverage of all the saloons on the frontier in the days when the buffalo still roamed in monster herds on the western Plains,” wrote John H. Kearnes in the Omaha Daily Bee in 1918. “It was the drink of the thirsty plainsman, cowboy, sheepherder, miner, railroad laborer and the aristocracy of the old west when the saloon man and his bartenders were among the social elite of town and camp.” (Omaha World-Herald via KPVI)

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Inventory Woes Push Willamette Valley Vineyards to a Loss

Posted on May 13, 2022 by Joel Whitaker

Willamette Valley Vineyards Inc. reports a net loss in the first quarter of $98,942 on sales of $6.2 million.  The company attributed the loss to “unforeseen inventory delays”  and said it expects supply interruptions, higher supply costs and labor shortages to reduce margins and earnings in the near term,” but added “our growth initiatives are designed to produce greater profitability in the long term.”

Sales revenue for the three months ended March 31 was $6,242,318, up 8.3% from the year-earlier $5,765,338. An increase in revenues from direct sales of $651,124 was partially offset by a decrease in revenue from shipments to distributors of $174,144 from the like three-month a year earlier. The increase in direct sales to consumers was primarily the result of increased retail sales revenues from Willamette’s tasting rooms, wine club and kitchen. The decrease in revenue from the distributors was primarily attributed to the lack of available inventory to ship.

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