Pernod Ricard is honing in on its American whiskey ambitions with a new U.S.-based subsidiary, North American Distillers (NADL), responsible for global operations for all of its American whiskey portfolio brands.
The group’s American whiskey interests were previously housed in its Pernod Ricard USA division where it had operated as an independent business unit. The new company will handle global marketing and manufacturing for its portfolio.
Pernod Ricard has been extending its interests into American whiskies for several years, launching The American Whiskey Collective in 2022 and building a portfolio of owned and investment brands such as Jefferson’s, Rabbit Hole, Smooth Ambler, TX Whiskeys and most recently, as of last year, peanut butter flavored whiskey startup Skrewball.
NADL will be run by Richard Black, a longtime Pernod executive who over two decades oversaw departments such as Pernod’s Scotch portfolio unit, Chivas Brothers, and most recently served as global marketing director for Paris-based Martell Cognac.
“American whiskey is a dynamic spirits category, and our portfolio shows immense potential for future growth,” Black said in a statement. “My mission is to harness this potential and drive a singular focus on these brands and our operations, driving us towards our goals and creating a top-tier marketing and sustainable operations team on the back of our peoples’ deep-rooted expertise.”
According to a press release, NADL’s team also features other in-house recruitments, including current Pernod Ricard North America SVP of operations Pierre Joncourt, who will helm operations, and Rabbit Hole Whiskey founder Kaveh Zamanian “who will move to a new role, guiding the liquid strategy for the full North American whiskey portfolio.”
“NADL’s focus will be on developing the marketing assets for the full brand portfolio while ensuring product quality, operational excellence, safety and sustainability,” said Pernod Ricard North America chairman and CEO Conor McQuaid on LinkedIn. “We are ready to set new industry standards; Cheers to a future filled with growth, creativity, innovation, and exceptional whiskey!”
The new company is also set to oversee the in-development Jefferson’s distillery currently under construction in Kentucky, the release noted. That facility was announced in 2022 and is expected to cost around $250 million over five years for a distillery and bourbon warehouses located in Lebanon, Kentucky.
NADL provides Pernod with a separate subsidiary similar to its approach towards Irish whiskeys, which are housed in its Irish Distillers business, and Scotch whiskey, under Chivas Brothers.
Pernod’s interest in American whiskies stems back at least eight years, when it acquired West Virginia-based distiller Smooth Ambler Spirits Co. in 2016 and TX Whiskeys in 2019. Last year, it acquired a majority stake in flavored whiskey brand Skrewball, giving the conglomerate a claim in the fast-growing flavored segment that at the time was outpacing unflavored whiskies, up by 14.6% over two years between 2020 and 2022, compared to unflavored at 8.4%, according to Nielsen IQ from October 2022.
American whiskey was one of the bright spots for spirit sales in 2023 and made up the fourth fastest-growing segment, up +3.8% into $5.3 billion (+$192 million).