JUNE 2019 | MARKETWATCHMAG.COM | MARKET WATCH 47PH
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director Tom Spaven is bullish on the label’s potential. “Gin
is experiencing a renaissance led by the premium and
super-premium segments,” he says. “We’re seeing more and
more millennials entering the gin category as they seek to
explore spirits with more flavor and character. Bombay
Sapphire continues to see success in North America, growing
market share against our key competitors.”Provenance And Production
While Pernod Ricard’s gin portfolio primarily focuses on main-
stream, volume-driven brands, the company has also been
active in craft gin through its Irish Distillers unit, which
debuted Method and Madness Irish Micro Distilled gin in
February. The release—the first offering from Irish Distillers’
newly opened micro-distillery at the Midleton Distillery in
County Cork—stems from an exploration into historic gin
recipes from 1798 that have been preserved at Midleton. Made
in Ireland’s oldest gin still, Method and Madness is a blend of
16 botanicals, with black lemon and Irish gorse leading the
flavor profile. Though the gin is currently only available over-
seas, it’s set to launch in the U.S. later this year.
A unique still is also key to Caorunn ($31-$37 a
750-ml.), a Scottish Highlands gin imported by 375 Park
Avenue Spirits. The spirit is infused with botanicals inside
two copper “berry chambers” during production. A number
of Caorunn’s 11 botanicals are foraged either on site or
within a couple miles of the Speyside-based distillery,
including rowan berry, bog myrtle, heather, Coul Blush
apple, and dandelion leaf. According to 375 Park Avenue
CEO Jason Schladenhauffen, Caorunn has grown by 30% in
each of the past three years. Later this year, the brand is
set to roll out the first permanent extension to its portfolio,
Caorunn Highland Strength, a higher-proof expression that
Schladenhauffen says will shine more strongly in classic
cocktails like the Negroni.
The 375 Park Avenue gin portfolio also includes Scape-
grace, a New Zealand gin brand from Rogue Society Distill-
ing Co. that offers two expressions: Classic ($37 a 750-ml.)
and the more upscale Gold ($60). Although Scapegrace’s
botanicals aren’t foraged, Schladenhauffen notes that
provenance plays a similarly important role in the brand’s
identity. “New Zealand is known for the purity of its
water,” he says. “The water that’s used in Scapegrace takes
70 years to trickle down through the Southern Alps and
into the aquifer that we then source from.”
Another brand with provenance as a key selling point is
Radico Khaitan’s Jaisalmer Indian craft gin ($50 a 750-ml.).
New to the U.S. this year, Jaisalmer features 11 different botan-
icals, seven of which are sourced from across India by master
blender Anup Barik, among them coriander and vetiver from
the north; orange peel from central India; cubeb pepper berries
and lemongrass from the south; Darjeeling green tea leaves
from the east; and lemon peel from the west. According to
Radico Khaitan president Sanjeev Banga, Jaisalmer’s Indian
heritage will easily separate it from other gins on the market,
enticing adventurous consumers and millennials.MILLION-CASE GIN BRANDS
IN THE U.S.—1998-2018
(millions of 9-liter cases)Source: IMPACT DATABANK ©20191998 2003 2008 2013 20180.51.01.52.02.53.03.5Seagram’s Tanqueray BombayIn the U.S., gin is seeing the most action at upscale bar and restau-
rant accounts, where mixologists have enthusiastically embraced the
spirit as a high-end cocktail ingredient (Liquid Productions’ Lulu
Martinez pictured above, mixing a Drumshanbo-based cocktail).