MILLENIAL REVIVAL FOR COGNAC WILL SHORT COGNAC STOCKS

Cognac Sales

Cognac shortage deepens as crops destroyed

Source:

http://www.drinksbulletin.com.au/

Alana House

June 04, 2018

A little more than six months after Hennessy announced "constrained" supplies of Cognac, the industry has been plunged into crisis following devastating hailstorms in France.

More than 10,000 hectares of vineyards were damaged in late May, as pebble-sized hail stones pelted the region. Around 14% of the brandy-producing vines of Cognac were affected, with many vineyard owners saying that they had lost all hope of harvesting any grapes.

The storm hit areas not affected by this type of weather damage for more than 40 years, with just under 1000 farms suffering the ravages of the hail.

The Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC) the Cognac interprofessional organisation that acts on behalf of all Cognac growers and firms of the region said in a statement on May 26: "Our vineyards were again hit by a violent episode of hail.

"In this difficult moment, the BNIC, its elected officials and its teams express their greatest support to the winegrowers of Charente-Maritime and Charente whose vines were destroyed or damaged.

"Our services are currently in the field to evaluate the precise impact of this episode on our vineyards."

The president of the General Union of Cognac Winemakers, Christophe Véral added that it had been a "catastrophe" and a crisis meeting was likely to take place.

Two years ago, the Cognac region was also hit by hail storms. The extent of the economic impact of poor weather in Cognac for three straight years is not yet known, but is expected to be crippling.

It comes as Cognac is having a millenial-fuelled revival.

BNIC reports that cognac's three largest markets are the United States (78.7 million bottles), Singapore (23.6 million bottles) and China (22.6 million bottles).

As a large proportion of Singapore's imports are shipped on to China, it's likely that China is now the world's largest market for cognac by revenue.

According to Reuters, Hennessy owns around half of the global Cognac market.

However, the category's booming growth was already under strain due to the lack of supply Hennessy has in reserve.

In January, the wine & spirits arm of LVMH, Moet Hennessy, announced a solid jump in 2017 sales, with strong volumes growth for Hennessy Cognac (+8%), which came despite supply constraints that Moet Hennessy said slowed growth in the second half of the year.

It said supply issues, which the company highlighted throughout last year, were likely to continue in 2018, with supplies remaining "relatively constrained".

Hennessy has been planting more vines, but new vineyards will take up to six years to start producing usable grapes - even Hennessy's youngest Cognac is aged between two and eight years.

It's expected the shortage will really begin to bite in late 2019 to early 2020. Experts are suggesting that Cognac lovers stock up on more expensive bottles of Hennessy, such as the V.S.O.P., the X.O. and Hennessy Black.

TRANSPARENCY AND THE SECRET WORLD OF PRIVATE LABELS IN THE CRAFT SPIRITS

Big Data Logo

The Spirits Business talks about a very sensitive subject, they are brave!!

Distilling under contract is a mysterious, but vital, part of the spirits industry. The Spirits Business lifts the lid on the operations and strategies of leading third-party producers, and explains why many so-called craft brands wouldn't be without them.

The production stories behind hundreds - perhaps thousands - of small, independent spirit brands are often left untold. As the craft renaissance grips the industry, romantic narratives of heritage and provenance are positioned front and centre on spirit labels, while the large-scale companies that actually distil or source the liquid in the bottle stay in the shadows.

Industry members and consumers are now becoming more aware of third-party producers, but their emergence into the public consciousness hasn't exactly been smooth. In recent years, some brands that use contract distillers have come under fire for what has been seen as a lack of transparency. The criticism has stretched from gin to American whiskey and beyond, but whiskey producers from the US have borne the brunt of the backlash.

Undoubtedly, third-party producers and suppliers enable fledgling spirits to hasten their launch date and dedicate valuable resources to their brand and market strategies. But it's not only 'craft' brands that benefit from the service; international drinks groups will often purchase sourced spirits to increase and accelerate their production.
Third-party production is even more pervasive when one considers that it also includes neutral grain spirit (NGS), which is used as the base for countless brand leaders in the white spirits world.

The Spirits Business offers 5 examples of bulk suppliers.

1) MGP Ingredients(USA)
One of the most prominent third -party spirits manufacturers in the world is MGP Ingredients. The company was formed in 1941 as an industrial distiller for the war effort, before moving into beverage alcohol some years later. It now owns two distilleries: one that creates vodka, gin and industrial alcohol, which is based in Atchison, Kansas; and another that distils whiskey, based in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.

2) Sasma (Netherlands)
Sasma is a supplier of base spirits and ready- to- bottle products such as Scotch, Bourbon, cachaça and Tequila for the beverage- alcohol industry. Representing a further aspect of third -party spirits, Sasma does not distil, but instead acts solely as a supplier, sourcing liquid from distilleries, traders and agents.

3) Thames Distillery(UK)
Thames Distillery was founded 21 years ago, it is one of the best-known third -party distillers in the UK, and predominantly produces gin and vodka.

4) Creamy Creation(Netherlands & USA)
Established in 1979, Creamy Creation is the market leader in emulsified beverages, supplying mixable and ready made dairy, soy and coconut -based beverages to the international drinks industry.

5) Alcohols Limited(UK)
Alcohols Limited is the owner of Langley Distillery, a prominent UK gin manufacturer that has more than 300 partners around the world. It produces about 70m bottles for the global gin market annually. The business was established in 1805, while the distillery itself dates back more than 200 years, and has been distilling gin since the early 1900s.

There is even trade shows for this industry. For instance, IBWSS gives supermarkets, retailers, restaurants, wineries, distilleries and other buyers a premier international platform to source bulk wine and spirits and meet private label suppliers. The theme of the 2018 IBWSS San Francisco conferenceis “Bulk up your bottom line”. This is your opportunity to learn all about how you can unlock new opportunities in private label, bulk and contract manufacturing.

Things get more complicated when the bulk suppliers start making their own brands too, as one may wonder about the conflict of interests and competiting against your customers.

Source: The Spirits Business

HAILSTORM IN COGNAC

Hailstones 'the size of pigeon eggs' devastate Bordeaux vineyards

Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/
David Chazan
27 MAY 2018

Hailstorms have devastated thousands of acres of prime Bordeaux vineyards, prompting the French government to promise support for winegrowers, some of whom have lost their entire crop.
Cyril Giresse, a winegrower, said hailstones "the size of pigeons' eggs" destroyed grape buds and left vines bare on Saturday.

"The storm lasted only about 15 minutes, but in some places, there's nothing left at all," said Mr Giresse, who runs the Château Gravettes Samonac in Bordeaux's Côtes de Bourg appellation. "No leaves, no grapes, just the vines stripped as if the grapes had all been picked."
Jean-Dominique Château, another claret producer, said: "I've got nothing left. I've been growing grapes for 33 years and this is the worst storm I've ever seen. Last year we lost 40 per cent of our crop to hail but this year it's going to be an even worse disaster."

Stéphane Travert, the agriculture minister, said the government was assessing the extent of losses and would aid wine producers. "We'll take the necessary measures and we're ready to meet Bordeaux winemakers," he said.

Franck Jullion, the head of the producers' association in the "Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux" appellation, said: "It's a desolate vista, as if the vines had gone back to winter. Estates hit by frost last year will not recover. We're going to need a lot of support and solidarity."
Saint-Emilion, one of the most prestigious Bordeaux appellations, was spared, but parts of Médoc were badly hit, as were Cognac brandy producers in the Charente and Charente-Maritime departments.

Didier Gontier, director of the Côtes de Bourg appellation, said: "Winegrowers say they've got no vines left for next year so this is going to affect two years of production."
Bordeaux is France's largest wine-growing area, with about 300,000 acres of vineyards producing more than 700 million bottles of claret a year, ranging from cheap table wines to some of the world's most acclaimed and expensive vintages.

French wine and spirits exports amounted to more than £11 billion last year.
Wine industry leaders have opposed moves to tighten 1991 laws restricting alcohol advertising. President Emmanuel Macron has backed them, saying he drinks wine at lunch and dinner.
He has infuriated doctors by minimising public health concerns over wine and arguing that spirits and beer pose more of a problem because they are favoured by binge-drinkers.

EX-COGNAC CASK FROM THE GLENLIVET

The Glenlivet Scotch Whisky Captain's Reserve Ex-Cognac Cask Finish

When I started making cognac finished in ex-casks in 2014, that is ex-Sauternes (Bordeaux's prestigious desert wine) and ex-Sherry casks (Spanish fortified wine from Jerez south of Spain) I was pretty much inspired by other spirits and in particular Scotch whiskies like Glendronach, Benriach or more available Glenmorangie. This was a good idea and as a matter of fact I won 'world best cognac' at San Francisco Spirits in 2016 for my vintage Oloroso Sherry cask finish.

Little did I think the scotch whisky producers would in turn use ex-cognac casks to finish their whiskies so quickly after this cask finish movement was started in the Cognac region. The Glenlivet is not the first Scotch Whisky finished in ex-cognac cask but it is the largest brand to venture into this direction which surely will get some people not feeling at ease.

This situation of finishing whiskies in ex-cognac cask is OK, but I would not suggest the opposite, i.e., finishing a cognac in ex-whisky casks. Why not? I do not think it will work out well. Perhaps a very peated whisky so as to bring some sort of smokiness to the cognac but I am not even sure that this is the way to go when working on smokey cognacs.

Read more below from:  Nino Marchetti / May 23, 2018
Source: WhiskyMash

The Glenlivet distillery, based in Scotland’s Speyside region, is known for having serious heritage in the whisky world. Despite this history, those who make Scotch here are willing to follow current trends, such as the art of cask finishing, debuting recently a non-age statement bottling that’s been “selectively finished” in ex-Cognac casks.

The new The Glenlivet Captain’s Reserve, according to those behind it, will be part of the regular range of whisky from this distillery. Finished in ex-Cognac casks, it is said to be a tribute to Captain William Smith Grant, great-grandson of George Smith, founder of The Glenlivet. The Captain not only fought in the First World War in France, but later reportedly went on to guide the brand through the difficult Prohibition years.

“We know that Single Malt consumers are becoming increasingly adventurous and are seeking to explore new flavour profiles and finishes in the category,” said Alan Winchester, The Glenlivet master distiller, in a prepared statement. “Research shows that the global consumption of Cognac is expected to increase by some 2m cases by 2021. By introducing the Cognac casks into our maturation process, we are able to capitalise on the popularity of this flavour and add another dimension to our world-renowned portfolio. The Cognac casks’ influence will bring a real richness to the smooth and fruity style of The Glenlivet, which we’re confident new and existing Single Malt Scotch enthusiasts will enjoy.”

Plans call for Captain’s Reserve to price at a minimum of £45, or about $60 USD. You’ll find official tasting notes from The Glenlivet below for your consideration.

• NOSE:Bursting with sweet and fruity aromas. Rich in honey and apricot jam, with notes of sweet cinnamon bread and a subtle sensation of spicy liquorice.
• TASTE:Succulent flavours of mandarins in syrup, ripe poached pears and chocolate-dipped raisins.
• FINISH:Incredibly smooth and luscious.

Source: WhiskyMash

CIROC NEW PRODUCT: A CIROC BRANDY VS PROMOTED BY PUFF DADDY

CIROC BRANDY VS MADE IN THE COGNAC REGION, BUT THIS NOT A COGNAC

CIROC, the vodka made famous by the rapper Puff Daddy or Diddy, is launching a CIROC Brandy VS to answer its consumers' interest for brown spirits. Essentially, CIROC VODKA is made from local Cognac's region Mauzac Blanc and Ugni Blanc grapes. One of the earlier grape-based vodka

CIROC has often been accused of making a grappa or a brandy more than a traditional vodka.
Now it is clear with this version of CIROC BRANDY VS, it is a Brandy. Let's hope people get more into knowing what they drink than follow the trend - wishful thinking!

I have often heard people telling me that either they preferred clear spirits because they were 'clear' and therefore being clear did not give them headaches, or I have heard people prefer brown spirits because they ARE SOOO SMOOOTH!!! CIROC has both.
I am guessing soon we should see a Cognac from 50 cents!

Source: Sud Ouest

INDIAN WHISKIES MADE BY PERNOD RICARD

Pernod Ricard Indian Whisky Blenders Pride

Pernod - the maker of premium spirits brands, including Chivas Regal and Absolut - has around 1,100 employees in India.
Pernod, which follows a July-June calendar year, reported 9% sales growth in India between July and December 2017.

Pernod Ricard Indian Whisky Imperial Blue

Pernod, which is only behind Britain's Diageo, reported a 14% increase in sales for the first nine months of its fiscal, compared with just 1% in the year-ago period. Pernod's growth in India has been driven by its focus on premium and midpriced whiskies, helping it maintain a lead over Diageo, which has been also shifting its focus on similar categories due to meatier margins.
Pernod Ricard India sold 43 million cases last year, including Imperial Blue (18 million), Royal Stag (16 million) and Blenders Pride (6.2 million).

Pernod Ricard Indian Whisky Royal Stag

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
Avik Das and John Sarkar
May 22, 2018

CELEBRITIES ENDORSING OR OWNING SPIRIT BRANDS: HOW AND WHY?

Celebrity Fame and Booze

Recent sale of George Clooney's Casamigos tequila to Diageo has stirred a great deal of publicity.

The spirits giant spirit company paid US$700m for Casamigos to start with, and Diageo will potentially pay an extra US$300m based on the brand’s performance over the next 10 years. And recently, Casamigos announced getting into mezcal as well.

The media entertainment does not pay as much as it used to and celebrities have to find new ways to increase their revenue besides through their original craft.

Thus, using their fame they make appearances, endorsements, more concerts, ... etc... anything they can leverage their brand with. Now, because of social media growth as a mean of communication, people are more influenced than ever by publicity celebrities make or just simply generate. No need to buy tabloid magazines anymore. Just follow them on Twitter!

Consequently, endorsing or owning part of a wine/beer/spirit brand has become a recourse to increase revenue for celebrities.

Read about 21 celebrities with their own alcohol brand here.

Reference: Ranker News