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1 week ago | 
thespiritsbusiness.com | Rupert Hohwieler
Liqueurs led the way for new product development in April, while spirits brands also tapped into lower ABV and RTD trends. Scapegrace and Soplica were among brands to launch new liqueurs in April, while Maker’s Mark moved away from Bourbon for the first time. In the mixer space, Thomas Henry launched a watermelon flavour as it turned its attention to daytime drinking occasions. Read on for the full list of top spirits launches from last month.
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1 week ago | 
thespiritsbusiness.com | Rupert Hohwieler
The newly opened Rosewood Amsterdam hotel has unveiled its bar, Advocatuur, which has an in-house jenever distillery. The hotel’s director of bars and beverage, Yann Bouvignies, heads up the drinks programme. Bouvignies left his post as head of mixology at Scarfes Bar in Rosewood London last year to oversee Advocatuur’s opening. Design firm Sagrada has thought up the bar’s interior.
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1 week ago | 
thespiritsbusiness.com | Rupert Hohwieler
Summer is nearly upon us (for those in the Northern Hemisphere) and that means we’ve dug into our big bag of warm weather recipes for this month’s roundup. Palomas, Garibaldis, Spritzes – summer is almost here in the Northern Hemisphere and all the season’s chief cocktails are here with it.
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1 week ago | 
thespiritsbusiness.com | Rupert Hohwieler
Seychelles-based rum brand Takamaka has turned to the UK for its latest campaign, which features beach bars and slushies. Led by its distributor in the market, Speciality Brands, Takamaka will attend events in the UK throughout June as part of a campaign called The Spirit of Seychelles. The brand will feature in takeovers, bespoke cocktail menus, in-store tastings and immersive masterclasses at bars as well as events and festivals.
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1 week ago | 
thespiritsbusiness.com | Rupert Hohwieler
Proximo Spirits-owned 1800 Tequila has unveiled what it claims is the ‘first-ever Tequila diamond’. Toronto-based jewellery designer Jonathan Raksha of Maison Raksha created the diamond using the brand’s cristalino expression. The diamond brooch debuted on the red carpet at last night’s Met Gala in New York, worn by Grammy-nominated musician, actor and producer Janelle Monáe. Raksha said: “Every detail of the 1800 Tequila diamond brooch was crafted to embody the spirit of liquid in solid form.
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1 week ago | 
thespiritsbusiness.com | Rupert Hohwieler
We sat down with distributor Drinks99 to learn about the strategy behind debuting Australian gin Four Pillars in mainland China for the first time. The distillery’s mainland China arrival comes by way of Drinks99, which will handle the gin’s distribution in the region while also taking over its distribution in Hong Kong. Drinks99 has helped launch and grow brands such as Sipsmith, Seedlip and Mr Black Coffee Liqueur in China, and the distributor hopes to follow suit with Four Pillars.
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2 weeks ago | 
thespiritsbusiness.com | Rupert Hohwieler
US delivery platform DoorDash has crowned the Margarita the 2025 drink of the summer, after orders nearly doubled for reposado Tequila at the start of the year. The platform said the Margarita’s appeal as the season’s leading sip is about ‘going back to basics’.
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2 weeks ago | 
thespiritsbusiness.com | Rupert Hohwieler
Heaven Hill-owned liqueur brand Hpnotiq has secured a multi-year partnership with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The deal, which will see the liqueur act as official partner for the mixed martial arts organisation, will give Hpnotiq a presence at some of the UFC’s biggest events in the US, including ‘prominent’ brand placement inside the Octagon at its Fight Nights. The UFC brand reaches more 700 million fans in 170 countries, a visibility that the brand is hoping to capture.
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2 weeks ago | 
thespiritsbusiness.com | Rupert Hohwieler
The maker of Jose Cuervo has reported a 9.9% net sales increase for its flagship Tequila to start 2025, though volume has dipped. In its financial results for the first quarter (Q1) of 2025, which ended 31 March, Mexico-based Becle reported net sales were up by 7.5% from the same period last year – rising from MXN8.96 billion pesos (US$456,177 million) to 9.63bn pesos Gross profit was also up on a year-on-year basis, by 19.8% from 4.65bn pesos to 5,56bn pesos.
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2 weeks ago | 
thespiritsbusiness.com | Rupert Hohwieler
The company behind ‘first-to-market’ sour mixer Supasawa on how innovation in the category is key to attracting younger drinkers. Made with distilled water and five acids to replicate a sour flavour profile (malic, tartaric, succinic, citric, phosphoric), Supasawa cuts the need for freshly-squeezed lemons or lime in the cocktail making process. The premium sour mixer was launched in 2018 by Deluxe Distillery in Belgium as a smart solution for bartenders.
