In this latest round of distribution news, we check in with Lo Siento, Never Say Die Bourbon and Diageo’s Mr Black Coffee Liqueur.
Mr Black Expands Nationwide, Targets Winning The Espresso Martini
After Diageo acquired premium cold brew coffee liqueur brand Mr Black last year, the brand is now revving up for nationwide distribution.
Based in Australia, Mr Black was created by designer Tom Baker and distiller Philip Moore and is sold in more than 22 countries, including the U.K. and the U.S., the brand’s largest market with a presence across 19 states.
Fueled by Diageo’s infrastructure and the founders’ drive to win the espresso martini occasion across the U.S., Mr Black is recommitting to on-premise as a key part of its business by expanding its brand ambassador program and offering an in-bar education program, said Baker.
“We currently only have a fraction of distribution in bars and restaurants compared to other cocktail-leading on-premise brands, like Ketel One Vodka, but the opportunities are endless for the brand to grow with our on-prem customers,” he said.
Baker added it’s easy to go national too early, “but with each new state comes a distribution partner who we need to make fall in love with Mr Black, local bar scenes we need to understand, and tens of thousands of consumers who need to try the product.”
Joining Diageo when it had 26 full-time employees, Mr Black certainly has more capacity to take on that challenge now.
“Diageo has something like 27,000 employees,” said Baker. “So the family is a bit bigger than it used to be, and it’s great to have such a vast network and access to more resources to help further our mission of bringing coffee culture into the night.”
The founder said that the “investment has also stepped up a bit,” giving the brand the ability to go further and faster.
Lo Siento Moves into SoCal Pavilions
A tequila brand with hubs in Tennessee and California has now moved into all Pavilions across the Southern California region.
The announcement follows news earlier this year that Lo Siento was moving into the same territory via Total Wine & More. The chain retail push comes after the brand has spent the first two years of its business building a presence on-premise.
After putting “liquid to lips” at events and cocktail hours, Ryan Tierney, Lo Siento founder and CEO, said they’ll continue building on-premise channels but will be adding demos each week at chains, in addition to targeted digital spends around retailers where the product is being sold.
The brand has built its distribution strategy around two pillars, including its leveraged position as one of the few spirit companies in the portfolio of a traditional beer distributor. Instead of competing with other agave spirits at a larger distributor, Lo Siento has opted to offer product from a leading spirit category to craft beer suppliers like Scout Distribution.
“As one of the few tequila brands in their portfolios, it has helped us have a much deeper alignment with distributors,” he said.
Despite its Los Angeles headquarters, Lo Siento has also aimed to get a foothold in a fast-growing market by making Tennessee a brand hub. Tierney described the city as the “Scottsdale of the South,” with visitors from the region helping to bolster awareness elsewhere (Lo Siento will launch in Atlanta in January).
“We’ve been watching tequila transform every market, so the idea was maybe getting ahead of some of these other states right before tequila takes over,” he said.
Ocean-Aged Bourbon Heads Back to Kentucky
After launching in the UK, one small batch whiskey brand is now headed back across the pond to make its debut in the U.S. Never Say Die has blazed an interesting trail as the first Kentucky Bourbon to be ocean-aged on a six-week trip across the Atlantic, then further matured in barrels in England.
The brand launched in the UK in September 2022 by replicating the journey of its namesake racehorse’s hoofsteps: from Kentucky where it was born to England where it raced to victory at the 1954 Epsom Derby. The founders centered its debut around last year’s Epsom Derby, appealing to a very specific niche – English horse racing fans – and selling primarily through online whiskey sites.
After the several-month process to get bottled products back across the Atlantic Ocean, inroads into the U.S. will primarily be made through craft spirit site Seelbach because of its reputation as “a premium sales channel for people who love bourbon,” according to co-founder Brian Luftman. The brand is also launching on the ground in Kentucky, and plans future expansion into Florida and then to California, Nevada and Arizona.
“However, American Bourbon fans are going to have to be patient because our process requires two separate ocean voyages, and we’re already having a hard time keeping up with the surprisingly strong reception to our new product,” said Luftman.