Stoli Group
has announced that it will release its super premium US bourbon brand, Kentucky
Owl (‘The Wise Man’s Bourbon’), into the global travel retail market this year.
Listings
with selected duty free operators are soon to be announced and bottles of the
bourbon will be on show at several upcoming travel retail shows. These include
the Viking Line Whisky Fair in February, The Summit of Americas (Orlando) in
March and the TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition & Conference in May.
Stoli
Group’s parent company, SPI Group, bought Kentucky Owl in January 2017 from its
owner, Dixon Dedman, and he has been retained by SPI Group as Master Blender of
the brand.
Kentucky Owl was founded
in 1879 by Dixon’s great great grandfather, C.M. Dedman. Unfortunately,
Prohibition in the US led to the bourbon’s mysterious disappearance more than
100 years ago (see back story at the end
of this release). Dixon began working on the brand’s second iteration in
2008 and released his first batch in September 2014.
Every batch
of Kentucky Owl is one-of-a-kind with a blend of high-quality, different aged
bourbons, that Dixon made his own. His process involves re-charring,
re-barrelling, tasting and experimenting with the various bourbons until he has
discovered the next Kentucky Owl release.
Stoli Group
is the exclusive distributor, marketer and seller of the bourbons and now rye
whiskies, of which Dixon has produced two.
Stoli
released the first batch of Kentucky Owl produced under SPI Group’s ownership –
11 year old Rye Whiskey – in September 2017. It had an 55.3% ABV and sold into
27 markets with an SRP of US$130. A number of other batches followed during
2018.
The first
release of Kentucky Owl attracted a top rating of 95 points by Whiskey Advocate, the respected US
whiskey industry magazine. The publication’s journalist Fred Minnick, who is
also San Francisco World Spirits Competition
judge, said:
“Just beautiful, long rounded notes of caramel, cinnamon roll, butterscotch,
brisket burnt ends, nutmeg… if it sounds complex, it’s because it is and the
finish just doesn't quit, giving you a lingering taste of every note.”
Commenting
on the Kentucky Owl’s entry into GTR, Stoli Group Global DF/TR Director Jean-Philippe Aucher said: “Kentucky Owl is without
doubt one of our most exciting releases into global travel retail. It is
produced in relatively small batches, using Dixon Dedman’s ground-breaking
methods, and therefore we
will be carefully selecting operators who understand and prioritise craft
bourbons and ryes.”
He added:
“Kentucky Owl will have a highly visible presence at upcoming travel retail
industry shows, and we look forward to entering discussions with duty free
operators who fit this bill.”
The American
Bourbon & Whiskey category currently represents US$3 billion in annual
sales and had a +6% CAGR from 2010-2016. The strongest growth within the
category is in super premium small batch bourbon – the sub-category which
includes Kentucky Owl – and has +20% CAGR over the same period.
The Kentucky Owl back story
Dixon Dedman
is the great great grandson of C.M. Dedman, who founded the Kentucky Owl
Distillery in 1979.
The
distillery flourished over 37 years, until Prohibition put an end to the
business. In 1916, as Prohibition loomed, 250,000 gallons of Kentucky Owl
Bourbon was confiscated by the US Government and shipped up the river by barge
to the state capital in Frankfort for “safekeeping” in a warehouse.
One dark
night, so the story goes, that warehouse full of Kentucky Owl mysteriously
burned to the ground. The mysterious part is that the warehouse burned down in
just a few hours when a warehouse full of whiskey should have burned for days.
It is
rumoured that Kentucky Owl did not burn at all, but was spirited away by Al
Capone or other interests to fuel demand for good bourbon in late night
speakeasies.
The value of
the bourbon lost today would today be valued at around US$40 million.
About
Stoli Group®
Part
of SPI Group – one of the world's leading
premium spirits businesses – Stoli Group was established in 2013 as the
division responsible for the management, distribution and marketing of SPI's
global spirit portfolio.
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