Kentucky’s Wilderness Trail Distillery has grown over the last decade from a small barrel-a-day distillery to become one of the nation’s largest Bourbon distilleries. Dr.… Read More
Kentucky’s Wilderness Trail Distillery has grown over the last decade from a small barrel-a-day distillery to become one of the nation’s largest Bourbon distilleries. Dr. Pat Heist and Shane Baker founded Wilderness Trail as an offshoot of Ferm Solutions, their consulting business that works with distillers and brewers around the world. This week on WhiskyCast In-Depth, we’ll talk with Pat Heist about the origin of Wilderness Trail — in a rock band, of all places, and the circumstances that led to their decision to sell the distillery to Campari in late 2022. In the news, Laphroaig is planning a major expansion, while whisky auction prices have yet to recover from recent declines.
O’Shaughnessy Distilling master distiller Brian Nation arrived in Minneapolis nearly three years ago after leaving Ireland’s Midleton Distillery, and it’s been an interesting transition. We’ll… Read More
O’Shaughnessy Distilling master distiller Brian Nation arrived in Minneapolis nearly three years ago after leaving Ireland’s Midleton Distillery, and it’s been an interesting transition. We’ll catch up with Brian and learn about the new Keeper’s Heart 21-year-old Irish single malt coming later this summer on WhiskyCast In-Depth. In the news, Beam Suntory has changed its name to Suntory Global Spirits, while Buffalo Trace takes a look at global expansion with its first home place in London.
Ten years after acquiring Beam Inc. for $16 billion to create Beam Suntory, Suntory Holdings has dropped the Beam name from its corporate branding in… Read More
Ten years after acquiring Beam Inc. for $16 billion to create Beam Suntory, Suntory Holdings has dropped the Beam name from its corporate branding in favor of Suntory Global Spirits.
“Suntory Global Spirits demonstrates our global leadership and premium position in the market, while enabling us to build upon the strong and positive brand recognition that Suntory has worldwide,” said Greg Hughes, President & CEO of Suntory Global Spirits in a news release announcing the change. The move is designed to unite the company’s global operations with its Japanese base, while focusing on key priorities including Bourbons and other American whiskies, Japanese spirits, Scotch, Tequila, and the ready-to-drink market.
Since the acquisition on April 30, 2014, the company has grown from a $2.5 billion company to $5.5 billion in annual sales with more than 6,000 employees around the world. It remains the only whisky maker with distilleries and brands in all five key whisky-making countries: Scotland, Japan, Ireland, Canada, and the United States.
Same powerhouse global spirits company. New parent name. “Beam Suntory” is now “Suntory Global Spirits“. PRESS RELEASE Today is an exciting day for our company as we are rebranding to Suntory Global Spirits, setting the company up for our next era of growth as a global leader across categories in premium spirits and Ready-to-Drink cocktails. The last […]
Same powerhouse global spirits company. New parent name. “Beam Suntory” is now “Suntory Global Spirits“.
PRESS RELEASE
Today is an exciting day for our company as we are rebranding to Suntory Global Spirits, setting the company up for our next era of growth as a global leader across categories in premium spirits and Ready-to-Drink cocktails. The last decade since Suntory acquired Beam Inc. (10 years ago today!) has been marked by growth across the board, including:
Growing from a $2.5B company to a $5.5B company today
Building a global team of 6,000+ employees in 27 countries, with products sold in more than 70 countries
Becoming the #1 global player in bourbon and Japanese whisky
Delivering breakthrough innovation to consumers like Legent, Ardray and -196.
The foundation for our success is our shared values of a relentless commitment to quality and craftsmanship, an enduring respect for the wonders of nature, and a passion for giving back to our communities.
We continue to be deeply committed to Kentucky as one of our homeplaces:
We have a team of nearly 1,500 employees in Kentucky, including more than 600 UFCW union jobs
Every year, our James B. Beam Distilling Co. and Maker’s Mark distilleries see more than 100,000 visitors each
In the past 10 years, we’ve invested more than $540 million in our Kentucky facilities, and have donated more than $15M to University of Kentucky
James B. Beam homeplace, Clermont, Ky. Photo: Seth Thompson
“Suntory Global Spirits demonstrates our global leadership and premium position in the market, while enabling us to build upon the strong and positive brand recognition that Suntory has worldwide,” said Greg Hughes, President & CEO of Suntory Global Spirits. “The dedication that Suntory CEO Tak Niinami and Suntory Holdings have shown to advancing our culture and business growth – while also preserving the legacy of craftsmanship and interplay of traditions exemplified in brands from Jim Beam to Laphroaig and Maker’s Mark to Yamazaki – is extraordinary. Becoming Suntory Global Spirits is the natural next step in our evolution.”
The rebrand is expected to help the company drive value as one global team and focus on key priorities including American whiskey, Japanese Spirits, Scotch, Tequila and Ready-To-Drink, while providing flexibility for growth in the future.
