The Gin Game

In
recent years, we’ve been seeing some encouraging vital signs
stirring in the long-struggling vodka-dominated gin market.
But no one was quite ready to expect the pulsing upswing of
beverage business interest or the extent of new upscale
brand investment, successful new brands, growing customer
recognition, and downright swellegance that’s been surfacing
in the category in the last 12 months.

In telling me
about his perception of the gin business a year ago, Horizon
Beverage Company’s Stealth Division Vice President Sterling
Dunn whimsically described the category as ‘A Field of
Dreams’, referring to the baseball fantasy film. “My point
about gin,” he explained, “is that if you build it, they
will come.” But little did either of us envision the
surprising amount of growth and brand-building confidence
that would actually be materializing during this past year
or the number of additional category players who would now
be out there on the field wearing expensive brand team
uniforms.

To be sure,
there’s still negativity when you glance at current total
volume sales and rate-of-consumption statistics in the
overall US marketplace, including another slight decline in
the first part of 2OO5 here in Massachusetts. However, it’s
the excitement that retailers see being generated by the
performance and consumer appeal of the higher premium levels
of this history-rich classic white spirit, first popularized
in London, England, back in the 18th century, that’s created
a new sense of genuine optimism about its future prospects
with the American consumer.

After some
lengthy discussions in the past few weeks with a broad
assortment of brand suppliers and marketing reps, wholesale
distributors, on- and off-premise store owners, spirits
buyers, restaurateurs, beverage managers, and accomplished
bartenders, here in Massachusetts, what they’re reporting
can best be described as a bonfide resurgence of interest
that’s been happening for higher quality gins. They happily
talk about an unprecedented proliferation of new
super-premium gin products and line extensions, clever
marketing strategies and brand positioning, about “brand
ambassadors” actively promoting gin consumption as never
before, about creative new bartender cocktail experiments,
younger drinking audiences, and, in particular, about
intensified effective support initiatives from suppliers at
the retail level which are truly benefitting gin
sales.

Commenting about
the two gins he distributes in his United Liquors’
Diageo-Moet Hennessy brand portfolio, Vice President and
Century Division head Jim Hickey, is enthused by both the
performance of Tanqueray and its upscale sibling Tanqueray
No.1O. He’s also impressed at the amount of financial aid
the brand has been receiving under current Diago ownership.
“Tanqueray’s my baby,” says Hickey, “and Tanqueray business
has been very encouraging here in the Massachusetts market
for more than a year now. Last year, in 2OO4, the regular
Tanqueray was up about 3%, which is very respectable for the
category’s top volume-leading import. Meanwhile, No.1O has
grown about 26% over the past 12 months, which is truly
dramatic. It just shows the positive things that can happen
with the kind of support Diageo’s been putting behind this
brand. For instance, I just saw a very expensive media
program for Tanqueray that’s rolling to TV for May through
July. It’s a huge TV buy of over $3.5 million from Diageo
for just this three-month period. Now, this is a very heavy
broadcast spend for any brand promotion, and gives you a
pretty good idea of the unusual level of commitment coming
from the supplier. It also indicates an obviously very
positive outlook that Diageo has about business
opportunities in the high-end gin market. It’s the kind of
increased interest and brand support that I began to see
developing last year, and it’s just continuing to
escalate.”

As to the kind
of support he’s giving to retailers as a distributor, he
emphasizes continuing to be very consistent and aggressive
with lots of sales drivers both on-and-off premise in key
areas like distribution, shelf positioning and displays.
“We’re doing a lot more shelf work and signage,” he says,
“providing a lot more cocktail recipe ideas and tasting
activities to bring more people into the category with
flavored Tanqueray martinis. It represents a major new
opportunity for the Tanqueray marketplace. And getting the
shelf-talkers and silent salesman selling tools to retailers
is what many of them tell us is what they really need to
help drive their business.”

Joe Howell, the
store manager of downtown Boston’s highly-regarded upscale
bottle shop, Federal Wine & Spirits, is one of the
retailers who’s especially bullish on gin. “What’s not to
like about this spirit?” he asks rhetorically, spreading his
hands out wide. “The thing about the gin category is that
it’s not your grandfather’s drink anymore. The doors are
open for 25 to 3O somethings to try and experiment.You have
things with heavy botanicals, light botanicals. You can
drink it unadulterated for its own wide variety of tastes,
depending on what you like. You don’t have to cover it with
anything, or you can mix it with all kinds of
ingredients.

“We’re not a
large space here or excessively elaborate in our product
selections,” he indicates, “so we don’t go overboard in our
inventory with tons of different bottlings. Our philosophy
is more about keeping a focus on the better stuff and
keeping a good diversity of choices at the same time. I try
to stock what people are looking for, and with gin there’s
such a broad variety of options. We carry the big
number-running lower-end super-premium standards like Bombay
($22.95), Tanqueray ($24.95), Beefeater ($22.95), and we
also do well with upper-end super-premiums like Bombay
Sapphire ($26.95), Tanqueray No.1O ($32.95), and
up-and-coming niche brands like Citadelle 88-poof ($26.95),
and Hendrick’s ($32.95). Another new superstar for us is
Plymouth Gin, which, at $22.95/liter bottle, is probably, in
my opinion, the best value in the super-premium market for
both quality and price of any gin out there. And Absolut
Spirits has been putting positively phenomenal hands-on
supplier support behind the brand, which has really had a
huge impact on its success at the retail level.”

Joe also stocks
Preiss Imports’ Old Raj Dry Gin, which is a new ultrapremium
from Scotland and is a product from the prestigious
Cadenhead bottlers of rare old scotch whiskies. It has a
distinctive infusion of saffron that imparts a pale
straw-colored hue to the liquid. But it’s greatest
distinction may be the price point, which averages $5O to
$6O for a 75Oml in the US retail market. As such, it is far
and away the costliest gin that American consumers has ever
seen or heard of. But does it sell, we ask? “It’s obviously
a luxury item,” Joe observes, “and the $52.95 price point
we’re selling it at almost doubles what you’ll pay for most
other super-premiums.

“Of course, with
the 11O-proof alcohol level that this gin has, anyone should
expect to be paying a higher price,” he continues. “But
there’s also the intangible added-value of successful image
with a product like this, and a certain snob appeal that
goes along with the most expensive items in any category.
Some people will be impressed when they see an Old Raj
bottle on your bar at home, and it says something about you
when you call for it on-premise and are probably paying at
least $15 and up for a drink. Anyway, there’s definitely a
consumer segment out there wanting to buy the ultimate Rolls
Royce of the gin market, which is the way this product
promotes itself. It’s probably something people have never
seen. And it is also an exceptionally clean spirit with
stunning quality that puts it on a higher
pedestal.

“All I can tell
you,” Joe adds, “is that, although there’s not a penny of
advertising or supplier support behind this brand, we’ve
been getting a lot of repeat business for it and
word-of-mouth first-time customers coming in. And it’s yet
another example of what you see in this kind of boutique
bottle shop marketplace over and over again. Quality counts.
People don’t mind paying more if you’re giving them a real
product and something to really talk about. I mean, look at
vodkas. I’ve got three vodkas right now that are over 6O
bucks, and they’re all selling. And Old Raj may be just be
the beginning of what we’ll see happening in the gin
category in the not too distant future. But what it
particularly shows me is that if you provide a certain kind
of affluent customer genuine product quality and the right
image, you’ll not only make some sales, but will be seeing a
lot of repeat business for that product.”

Jeffrey Moran is
Brand Manager for Absolut Spirits Company’s Plymouth 1793
Gin, which is quickly becoming one of the most interesting
fast-track growth brands in Massachusetts, is well up in
double digits nationally. “For a couple of years, now,” says
Moran, “we’ve been seeing gin as a growth category and
putting a lot of effort behind it. There aren’t all that
many higher premium gins out there, and Plymouth definitely
fits into this segment. Gin attracts a slightly more mature
palate and a more mature consumer in a 25 to 3O age range,
where more drinkers are graduating from some of the fruitier
drinks of college days and moving towards a more stylized
approach to what they want. And you can’t get a more stylish
drink than a traditional original British gin martini.
Plymouth has been around since the 18th century and has a
distinquished heritage going for it. This certainly has been
a big part of our marketing focus for the brand here in the
US the past couple of years, with a little bit of
contemporary British wit and humor thrown in. We’ve also
moved into cocktail mixes.”

Moran compares
the cocktail craze to a rising tide that raises all boats.
It’s had a profound impact on all spirits categories and has
never been more intense than today, he points out. “Not only
have cocktails been dominating the on-premise market, but
consumers are now making them at home. And one of Plymouth’s
strongest appeals for new gin drinkers is it’s smoothness
and balance that can mix in so well with a variety of
cocktails. These product qualities also are perfect for
classic martinis and gin-and-tonics. Our main concern is
always to be relevant to today’s consumer and how they’re
evolving. Consumers are basing a lot of their decisions on
flavor and they want a product that is going to pay them
back in taste, in style, and everything they look for when
they go out. So, you’re finding a lot of brands out there
that are trying to update images, and we ourselves are
experimenting with a couple of new bottle and packaging
ideas that are going to make our brand image a little
fresher and more contemporary in style and appearance so
that it’s a smooth, hip, contemporary British look for right
now.”

One of the
promotional programs for the brand that’s worked
exceptionally well in various markets, he says, is the
cultivation of on-premise brand ambassadors. “These are
people who are what I call ‘in-market knowledge-keepers’ who
help consumers understand exactly what Plymouth is all about
with different drinks and who can get inside what people are
doing. And they’re also looking at those bars, clubs and
restaurants that are actively promoting the gin category.
They’re not a lot of them. Identifying where they are is
important. Brand ambassadors are pushing groups to go there.
They tell us what bartenders are really hot on the
gin-mixing trail, so we can visit with them and get them to
act as spokespeople.”

Another
promising on-premise idea that Absolut has been doing for
Plymouth is recruiting quite a number of British bartenders
who are coming over from Britain to work in locations like
New York, Boston and other metro markets. “We’ve been
focusing on them and asking how we can best help then drive
their on-premise business, like introducing customers to
their bars, doing educational training seminars about the
gin category and our brand for their personnel, and
encouraging distributors to visit and look at their
operation. Anyway, it’s great word-of-mouth when consumers
start saying, ‘Hey, did you know that such and such a place
has a very cool British bartender. He’s making some amazing
cocktails. Go check him out.’ Getting this kind of thing
going in a conversational way like this is particularly
effective, because no one feels that you’re pushing
something down their throat. And what you also see again and
again is that Brits behind a bar have a certain mystique
that Americans really seem to be attracted to. Perhaps it’s
the language, the accent, the cheeky wit, but it all adds up
to hip and sophisticated imagery. So, getting some of these
gents supporting and working with our brand as spokesmen is
a huge selling tool. It’s just a special kind of cachet that
brings it all together.”

About some
downsides of the gin category in general, he explains, “Some
people have referred to gin as being a little quirky,
because it is all over the place, whether it be all the many
different taste profiles, packagings, bottle designs, brand
icons, proof-levels. And it seems to be always searching for
new markets, new images, consumer acceptance, and creative
drink usage more than other spirits categories. However,
with so many other categories, people are following the same
basic flow, and, now, more and more people are starting to
appreciate gin for all its idiosyncracy and remarkable
diversity, which leaves it wide open for so many
interpretations. What it all really comes down to is that
this is undoubtedly the most individualized category of all
spirits. It doesn’t try and tell you who you should be when
you drink a product. Rather, it’s letting you embrace who
you want to be as an astute independent-minded consumer with
a lot of different choices. That’s what we’re trying to
cultivate here.”

Hendrick’s Gin
is another new exceptionally interesting and successful
high-end super-premium gin entry from Scotland, produced by
Wm Grant & Sons and retailing at over $3O for a 75Oml.
In the gin category, it was a complete anomaly when it first
appeared in the US five years ago. For one thing, it was the
first Scottish gin import ever to reach these shores, and
possessed a very singular un-gin-like infused
cucumber-rose-petal taste with almost none of the heavier
juniper, coriander and citrusy botanical characteristics
associated with familiar mainstream London Dry gin styles.
In fact, it was promoted as “a most peculiar gin”, and
prided itself on being something completely different. And
how about the utterly unorthodox bottle design patterned on
the short, squat old apothecary bottle idea? And what about
the package it came in, which was a tube resembling a single
malt scotch product? But this was the whole point, and a
brilliant one, as things have turned out. The tube package
concept was intended to create an association with the
celebrated Wm. Grant single malt scotch whisky expertise and
could make a visual statement, like, “If we can produce such
great scotches like Glenfiddich and The Balvenie, imagine
what we can do with a gin.”

Another part of
the basic pitch even bragged that only one out of every
thousand gin drinkers preferred the eccentric flavor of
Hendrick’s. Yet, the apparent disclaimer went on to point
out that these select people turned out to be a small, but
influential group of white spirits consumers, who are truly
excited by the unusual and looking for something a little
bit different. And about the rose petal and cucumber taste?
Why, of course. After all, rose gardens and cucumber
sandwiches at tea time are classic images in British
literature. So, it added yet another almost poetic
impression of British culture and romance to the product’s
mystique.

Anyway,
improbable and esoteric as all this might sound, the rest of
the story is all about how well this whole seemingly flaky
marketing schtick has been working for Hendrick’s, which has
succeeded in acquiring not only an appealing image of
exclusivity, but also attracting what has become a fiercely
loyal and growing cult following here in the US. Presently,
Hendrick’s is the fastest-growing of all gin products in the
Massachusetts market, and is the darling of many imaginative
top bartenders.

“I think the key
to the success of this brand,” says Wm. Grant’s
Massachusetts regional manager, Mark Tonnello, “is that we
didn’t just go out and throw it against the wall and see if
it stuck. We’ve been working it for a few years now, really
picking and choosing accounts that we felt could best
promote it. We’ve been educating on-premise restaurant wait
staffs, cultivating a number of carefully targetted bar
chefs, as creative bartenders are now called.

“We had a very
slow year-and-a-half,” Mark continues. “But this was done by
design. Fact is, it was for well over a year that we didn’t
even attempt to sell it off-premise, because as everyone
should know, a new unusual small-batch niche brand like this
has to be built in an on-premise, drink-by-drink, hand-sell
environment. When customers start calling for it on-premise,
it can take on a life of its own, it rubs off, and word can
spread quickly. So, we didn’t want to put the cart before
the horse and launch it on the off-premise market before
there was had some genuine consumer recognition and
response. Otherwise, there’s a good chance it could just sit
there on a shelf, sticking like glue, leaving a bad taste in
the retailer’s mouth.

“So, the brand
was worked hard for nearly two years in the on-premise
sector, a bottle-by-bottle hand sell, and it started
capturing the imaginations of bartenders and waitresses
because of the brand’s originality and what they saw as
strong customer potential. That’s basically our success
story, and it’s similar to the way some of the greatest
image vodkas were built. Grey Goose is of course the
ultimate extraordinary example. Belvedere is another. These
are all brands that have become dynamite success stories
well within the past decade. They were all first promoted
heavily and worked almost entirely on-premise before they
even tried to get off-premise distribution. If you go the
other way, it just doesn’t seem to work, for the most
part.”

Not that
Hendrick’s is setting the world on fire, Mark admits with a
soft chuckle. It’s still has a relatively tiny base in the
import segment. But it has definitely established a niche
point of considerable excitement for the whole gin category
and been bringing a lot of new young drinkers in who might
not have been introduced to gin in any other way. It’s also
been growing phenominally on a national level, like 3O and
4O%, with Massachusetts being one of the top markets leading
the way. “And it’s definitely become a favorite of a number
of top bartenders for signature cocktails,” Mark emphasizes.
“You now see popularity with gin-based specialties like the
Vesper at Davio’s, which is basically gin, vodka and Lillet.
This was author Ian Fleming’s standard favorite cocktail,
and is the classic shaken-not-stirred martini that you see
the OO7 James Bond character always ordering. So, anyway,
I’m seeing a definite re-awakening for gin taking place, and
there’s a renaissance of returning to classic cocktails, in
general, that’s creating major opportunities for quality
gins.

“There’s a whole
new wave of consumer interest out there,” he adds. “And
where Bombay Sapphire has been doing a great job capturing a
major share of this upscale gin market for a number of years
now, an exciting new niche brand like Hendrick’s can also
make major inroads in today’s gin market. You’ll never find
me knocking the success of brands like Bombay Original,
Sapphire, Beefeater, or Tanqueray and Tanqueray No.1O. But
you’re talking about very different animals when it comes to
styles and tastes. And the thing is, that the person who’s
drinking these products is now, increasingly, becoming
interested in something new and different in a high quality
gin alternative. This is what Hendrick’s and a few other
super-premium brands are bringing to the marketplace today.
It’s not your gin of yesteryear, but is perfectly suited to
today’s passion for exotic flavors, and yet is something
very different from all the flavored vodkas out there.
Anyway, it’s put Hendrick’s in a very good position right
now, and this business is all about taking advantage of the
wave that you’re riding. Hendrick’s seems to have caught a
very good wave, and we’re getting it in the right places and
giving the right people a trial for all it’s
worth.”

Discussing gins
with a variety of on- and off-premise retailers produced
some particularly revealing insights about not only the
category, but also consumer trends and demographics,
customer feedback, new cocktail interest, effective brand
positioning, and what kind of support they most appreciate
getting from their distributors.

Tim Everett is
the gin buyer for Pop N’ Kork out in Mendon, Massachusetts,
in Worcester County’s Blackstone Valley. “In general,” he
reports, “I’m seeing a lot more looks at the gin category
than at any time in the recent past, also more interest
coming from younger consumers. My shelf space has been
increasing substantially. We’ve also been seeing a
resurgence in our vermouth sales, too. I’ve had a big
upswing in Wet By Beefeater. It’s a pear-infused product
extension, and they’ve got a cute value-added wet suit on
the bottle package which has been getting a lot of
attention. Quite honestly, it puzzled me at first, and I was
reluctant to take it in at a retail price of $25. But it
quickly took legs and has just continued to move – every
week, we just keep on ordering and ordering. It’s obviously
all about the Beefeater customer stepping up to a boutique
brand level, although Wet is only 7O-proof. Tanqueray No.1O
is also a big gin item and I think appeals to the same kind
of upscale customer, who’s moved up from the regular
Tanqueray.

“And Bombay
Sapphire keeps on rolling,” Tim continues. “It has been a
phenomenon. A few years ago, when people started drinking
the truly high-end, luxury level boutique vodkas, this is
when I noticed a lot of interest also developing for
Sapphire. The brand appeared in the white spirits market at
just the right time, because I think when a lot of consumers
were started heading up the price point scale, gin drinkers
were also ready to move up to a $3O product in their own
category. It certainly has the right package and has
established considerable snob appeal in the on-premise
sector. “Sapphire martini? Hey, what’s that?” You don’t even
have to mention gin. It’s all about image and brand
recognition.

What’s bringing
customers over from vodka you ask? Tim feels it’s because
gin has a more succinct taste just on it’s own. Martinis
always were gin, he emphasizes. But you ask for a martini
now, and you’re never getting gin. However, as more and more
consumers learn about the gin origins and the genuine
classic martini recipe, he feels, there’s developed a sort
of snob appeal among consumers wanting to order the real
thing, and it’s obviously been helping to bring people into
the category.

“In my retail
business, I see a lot of customers looking for proof
strength, and super-premium gins offer much higher-proof
levels than any flavored vodkas. In fact, you’ll notice that
a great many flavored vodka brands have actually been
dropping down from the original 8O-proof vodka standard to a
7O-proof level, which is still something that many consumers
aren’t aware of. But it’s a weaker vodka that they’re
buying, if they check the alcohol content on the bottle. So,
what I’m seeing is a trend where flavored vodka martinis are
starting to head more and more to female drinkers, whereas
males are heading back to the classic martini and other gin
drinks. You see this in other categories, too. For instance,
Bacardi just introduced a lower-proof rum, Island Breeze I
think it’s called, that’s has a proof in the 4Os, and it’s
clearly targetted at the female spirits
consumer.”

The kind of
support he’s been getting from suppliers is all about good
seasonal promotions. But Tim feels this could change.
“Obviously, the traditional gin season is summer,” he says,
“and Allied Domecq has some very good programs on Beefeater,
just as Diageo comes with aggressive programs for Tanqueray
to get them on the floor. There’s always the battle going on
against the vodka category, since it’s a given you’re going
to be selling a ton of vodka all summer long. But what some
gin marketers, like maybe Plymouth who do very good year
around displays, are beginning to realize is that gin
doesn’t necessarily have to be just a seasonal product. With
the resurgence of the classic martini, I think we’re now
looking at much more of a gin consumer base all twelve
months. So, why not go after the martini drinker and help
grow this market. What vodka created with the martini is now
helping gin. So, whether it’s something like a valued-added
martini glass or a small add-on vermouth to help promote
sales, there’s definitely something very positive going on
for this category that can bring it back to where it once
was. I mean, hey, we’re talking about gin cocktail drinkers,
here, and let me tell you something . . . they’re
back!”

Scott Samos, the
General Manager of Martignetti Liquor stores, sees a similar
increase in gin interest. “Gins are doing the same thing and
echoing what you’ve been seeing with vodkas,” he contends.
“You’re now also seeing it with rums. It’s a shift to
high-end super-premium segments in lots of categories.
Consumer markets are maturing. Customers are now coming in
and calling for specific top-end gin brands, not just asking
“where’s your gin aisle?” It probably started with Bombay
Sapphire about six years ago. They were the first one to
really get things going with that uniquely distinctive and
eye-catching blue bottle package. It quickly became one of
the stars on our shelves, and Bacardi continues to put great
support and advertising behind the brand. Among other heavy
hitters, we’ve got Tanqueray No.1O, which is also a major
category leader in the growth of the super-premium gin
segment. It’s with these higher-end products where I’m
really seeing double-digit advances. My domestic lower-end
price brands and entry level stuff – the Gordon’s of the
world – they just plod along. These products are buried on a
bottom shelf, and if a customer wants it, they’ll grab it.
We just don’t focus on it.”

Hendrick’s is
one that Scott says has been doing tremendous business.
“It’s a very unique animal unto itself. I’ll admit I was
never a gin fan myself. I just didn’t find all the heavy
botanicals and juniper very appealing. But Hendrick’s
intrigues me and is a real departure from a typical gin
profile taste. And it’s leading the charge for the
super-premium segment in the $29 to $3O/75Oml price range,
and is my #1 seller right now.”

Another new gin
product that interests him is Miller’s, which has only been
in Massachusetts about a year or year and a half. There’s
not a lot of juniper berry flavor in there either, he notes,
and some people describe the taste as somewhat medicinal.
But Scott finds it has a unusually clean finish, and is
certainly another example of the wide diversity and
increasing number of high quality products that have entered
into the category today.

“It seems there
are basically two schools of thought,” he says. “Some gins
are trying to become the ultimate luxury premiums in the
traditional, refined juniper and botanical classic recipe
style. Others are marketing themselves as high-end mavericks
with distinctive points of taste differences. What it’s all
leading to is considerably more interest and excitement for
retailers and customers on- and off-premise. Today, the gin
category is offering more styles, with more different
proof-levels and different heritage marketing stories, than
any other spirit. It ready-made for today’s more
sophisticated, experimental customer. For year’s, we’ve been
seeing the craze, literally, going on for all the countless
flavored vodkas in the 25 to 35 age group. Until recently,
gin was ‘Dad’s drink’, so forget about it. Not anymore. I’m
seeing more and more younger drinker’s embracing gin like
never before. Now, many of them are thinking “it’s my
drink”.

What kind of
distributor support does a major supermarket-style store
retail operation like Martignetti particularly appreciate?
“Well, I first always have to ask if this brand going to
help me pay the rent?” Scott laughs. “It’s got to make some
money. But what I’m looking for is an interesting quality
product. I am a huge believer in the Silent Salesman.You’ve
got to have POS, shelf tags and all that kind of material.
If I don’t have a guy on the floor or one of my managers
present, you’ve got to have something to educate a consumer
while he’s standing there looking at this large lineup of
competing brands. In my very busy Martignetti Brighton
store, for example, I don’t have a liquor guy per se.
Customers are most often on their own, shopping the aisles
and making choices. So, a Silent Salesman on the shelf is
very important.

“I also need to
have tasted something to sell it,” he continues. “I do about
9O% of the liquor buying for our three stores, and it’s like
what I talk about with my wine guys. You’ve got to put it in
your mouth to sell it. That’s the only way you can tell a
story about it. I want to be able to stand there with
customers, look them in the eye, say, “Look, I’ve tasted
this,” and proceed to give them a first-person taste profile
of the product. It’s the only way you can feel positive and
comfortable about recommending something. What you never
want to say is, “I haven’t tried it, and really can’t tell
you what it is.” But I’m not working directly with customers
that much, so again, we come back to the Silent Salesman
technique, and anything like this that can work in my
behalf. I’m looking for a story that I can put out
there.

“Tastings are
another thing. We were slow to embrace in-store tastings for
quite a while. Now, we’re doing more and more of them. We’re
also doing considerably more staff training seminars and
tastings, getting some of our wine guys to cross over and
get a first-hand grasp of various spirit items, which often
have very saleable wine characteristics. I mean, you’re
often dealing with the same consumer, particularly in a
store like our Brighton outlet. People are rounding up
supplies for big private house parties and graduation
receptions at Harvard, Boston College, and the many clubs
organizations in the immediate area. They’ve got a large
shopping list of both wine and spirits selections. You want
knowledgable staff people on hand who can walk them through,
from the fine wine selections to choosing top shelf gins,
vodkas, rums, bourbons, scotches, tequilas, appropriate
cordials and liqueurs, brandies and cognacs, whatever is on
their list. You want to be able to say, ‘Let me continue to
work with you.’ And you want your staffers talking the
truth.”

Scott says his
greatest frustration is having to work so much in an office,
and can only get out into stores a couple of times a week.
“But this is where my heart is,” he declares. “It’s why I
have so many friendly fights with my boss Carmen
(Martignetti) all the time. I keep telling him, ‘Man, unlock
the chain on my desk. I got to get out of this office and
out where the action is.’ And sometimes, he lets me.” Scott
pauses for a good laugh. “Seriously, it’s true,” he
continues on the point. “As a retailer, you want to be out
there and greet, touch and lay hands on the business with
your customers. You really want to feel it, and you want to
sell it out there in the aisles where the rubber hits the
road. Whenever I can do it, I just have a blast. All I can
say is, you give me an intelligent consumer, that’s my best
consumer. We’re going to have a blast. It happens everytime.
This is a people business, more than anything else, and if
you supply me with right kind of product knowledge, I have
the passion and the ability to get along with people, and
will be successful selling quality gin or anything else
worth buying. And so will a lot of other retailers in this
industry.”

Listening to
customers, painstaking sales analysis and accurately reading
category trends are key business strengths behind the large
and successful Yankee Spirits retail operation headquartered
down in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. And co-owner and chief
operating officer Don Cimini says he was pleasantly
surprised last year to find that the gin business was up 4%.
“I had assumed sales would continue to be flat, as in recent
years, because almost all the low-end and medium-priced gins
have not been doing particularly well. There’s just not that
much acceptance anymore. The vodka surge has truly impacted
this part of the gin category. Price-alternative brands are
just not signficant. So, the Seagram’s, the Gilbey’s and the
Gordon’s market has been suffering badly. But the high-end
gins are defying this downward trend, with Bombay Sapphire
leading the charge.

“Sapphire is in
a league unto itself,” he marvels. “It’s performance in my
store is just unbelievable. It simply has the right image.
After all, image is what made Absolut vodka the phenomenal
success that it is. It’s what has made Grey Goose what it
is. And here’s Sapphire with that immensely appealing
blue-tinted bottle, which I think is a perfect color for a
white spirit liquor today. It’s something you want your
neighbors to see on your bar. We’re a 9O% 1.75-liter size
business in this store, so you know our bottle ends up on
somebody’s bar for some duration.”

Bombay also did
a very smart thing with their regular gin, he points out.
They brought the price down to the same price range of a
Beefeater and a Tanqueray. And whereas the Tanqueray price
has been rising, Bombay is currently selling for less money.
Don feels it hasn’t hurt the higher-premium Sapphire sales
in the slightest, but it’s brought Bombay down into a very
attractive price position in that highly competitive
upper-middle segment of the category. “So, these are our two
heroes among the gins,” he says. “And you’ve also got to say
something special about this Bacardi company. They’re one
company that is constantly calling me, asking what do I see
happening with trends, and they’re also out there asking
people on the street what they’re seeing going on. All I can
say is that in their marketing, they have some of the
smartest brand strategists I’ve ever met.

“We’re a strong
Allied Domecq store, and Beefeater seems to be holding its
own,” he goes on. “Tanqueray is close to holding its own,
but isn’t doing anywhere near the growth it was enjoying
before Sapphire got to be the image brand. However, their
No.1O is succeeding fairly nicely on a small base. Same with
Beefeater Wet, again on a very small base. I think there’s a
trend, as in bourbons and scotches, that the high high-end
is what’s attractive. I’ve been in this business 17 years,
and I never would have thought you could sell a 1.75 of
vodka for $5O. But I sure have been proved wrong. It’s all
about less but better with consumers. And what they perceive
as better is often determined by the price.”

Miller’s,
Henrick’s and Plymouth are the particular niche brands he
finds interesting. “Since we took them on, they have just
kept on growing and growing,” he says. “I would even predict
that five or six years from now, these will be the category
standards with the popularity that the Seagram’s, Gilbey’s
and Gordon’s once enjoyed, because so many consumers are now
willing to trade up in their quality selections.”

Don says he’s
pleased by the amount of support he gets from the other
tiers in the industry. “My Sturbridge store draws heavily
from the state of Connecticut, and our North Attleboro
operation gets a huge volume of business from Rhode Island.
Both outlets did over $3O million last year, he points out.
“We’re sort of like big fishes in a little pond,” he
chuckles. “So, like Kappy’s Bob Selby, we get a lot of
attention from both wholesalers and suppliers. These people
come visiting all the time, and work very closely with our
business. Providing revenues for ads which are legal,
presence on the floor, working shelf positioning, getting
exposure in our promotional mailers, and seeing their
products priced competitively are all part of their support
efforts. And where wholesalers now have multiple suppliers,
I think it’s now up to the supplier to make sure their
products are well represented. Because if a wholesaler is
filling up a truck with someone else’s product, you can bet
they’re not going to be mentioning yours. So, if you want
your brand mentioned, it means maintaining a good rapport
with the key retailers in the state. And more and more, with
all the in-store liquor tasting activities going on,
suppliers are working to come up with unique ways to get
consumers just to try something. I mean, if you’re a
retailer trying to sell a customer a $3O bottle of gin, it’s
pretty hard unless he tastes it and finds something unique
to like about it.

“But, again,
it’s image that drives everything,” Don stresses.
“Everyone’s always looking for that brand that’s got the
image. With vodka, it was all about Absolut, which got lucky
when the Russian Stoli got knocked off the plane. And now
it’s Grey Goose. These brands grow quickly when they build
themselves on image. But how long do they last? For so many
decades, Smirnoff managed to maintain its amazing
category-leading presence as the vodka market’s
standard-bearer. But it’s been years since I went into an
establishment and saw the Smirnoff label on the back bar.
Anyway, the bottom line is that it’s just astonishing to see
what people are willing to spend these days. They want
image, but they also want it to taste good when they drink
it. And they don’t want any more hangovers, so they’re
taking to the stuff that’s more refined.

Among the
on-premise gin enthusiasts I talked with, veteran bar expert
and the present night manager of the Omni Parker House,
Frank Weber, was the most specific about his gin selections,
and he says that Plymouth has been far and away his favorite
martini gin ever since he opened his first saloon bar in New
York City’s Soho District over 35 years ago in 1969. He also
claims to be the first person to sell the brand here in New
England. “I love Plymouth for one simple reason,” he says.
“I feel it’s the most balanced gin product that there is on
the market. It works in concert with mixes. It doesn’t
bounce against other cocktail ingredients. And it makes the
best martini that there is.”

For his
signature Plymouth gin martini, he first freezes the gin and
also the glasses. And he uses one of those spray atomizers
filled with Lillet, the French aperitif vermouth. He sprays
the inside of the martini glasses before they go into the
freezer. When the drink is called for, the glass comes out,
and he pours in gin directly from the frozen bottle. Then he
flambees a lemon peel over the top, which gives it a shimmer
of citrus oil on top. He says many of his martini-loving
customers tell me this is like dying and going to heaven.
It’s been a sensational success for his bar
business.

“One of the
beauties of this drink,” he explains, “is that the customer
doesn’t even know what the hell you’re doing. Everything’s
already in place. No arguments or a customer telling you
things like, “Oh, no, no, no! I like mine really dry.” Then,
with that flourish of a lemon twist flambee, it’s just a
perfect added presentation touch. But the real triumph of
this martini is the way Plymouth gin works with the drink,
giving a heightened aura that just seems to set your palate
up.”

In his most
successful bar outlet at the Parker House, the popular Last
Hurrah bistro, he also offers many specialty gin martinis on
the drinks menu. One is called the Perfect Martini that uses
Plymouth and both dry and sweet vermouth. Another one,
called a Fine & Dandy, using another of my gin he’s fond
of called Boodle’s, blended with a touch of Cointreau, a
little lemon juice and a dash of bitters. Still another
popular specialty is the Miracle Martini which uses Bombay
Sapphire blended with a touch of cassis. And, because he’s
also partial to the unusual character of Hendrick’s, he’s
created what’s called the Scottish Rose Petal Martini, which
is Hendrick’s blended with Campari and sweet vermouth. This
is really nothing more than a Negroni, but when it’s made
with Hendrick’s there’s a major point of difference, he
points out.

“Why the choice
of these very specific gins for these different martini
blends, customers ask me? It’s simply because the matchup of
ingredients work so perfectly together. A successful drink
is like a good marriage – it has to have the right kind of
chemistry. And the interesting thing about the gin category
is that it probably offers more genuine individuality and
distinctions with its higher end products than any other
spirit.”

Working with
customers is one of Frank’s fortes. “When some of them first
come to me, they want to drink what they see on Sex and the
City. My job is to get them to use their noggins, and I’ll
sometimes say ‘Wait a minute. You don’t want to do that, you
want to do this.’ My approach is always, ‘Just give this a
try. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to pay for it.’
Everybody’s willing to take that chance. And if you can
demonstrate in a positive fashion that you’re introducing
them to something that’s genuinely terrific, 99% of the time
they’re happy to pay. And at this point, I don’t need to
guide them any longer.

“So, yes, I do a
great business with gin, but it’s not nearly as big as my
vodka sales, and it probably never will be. Gin sales can
sometimes be a little like trying to carry a boulder up the
hill. The realities are that majority of people still want
to drink juice – the kind of juice that gives them a buzz
without really tasting what’s giving the buzz. But, day in,
day out, I keep trying to develop customer palates, broaden
horizons, and let people know that there’s something else
out there that will go better with the meal they’re about to
have, the conversation they’re having, and lots of these
kinds of fine points. That’s really how I view my function.
And the reason I’ve enjoyed considerable success doing this
is because I always hand-sell the idea and the products I
carry. My gin menus are several pages long and tout the
glories of this classic and immensely interesting category,
as well as the the brands of other categories I believe in.
But I do have a particular passion for gin and have
considerable faith in its future. Despite a tad of cynicism
one can develop over the course of several decades in this
business, I firmly believe the glass is half full when it
comes to the gin category today. And it’s only going to get
better, as long as I have anything to do with it, because
I’m one of the true on-premise ambassadors.”

When it comes to
the support he needs from wholesalers, Frank is equally
emphatic. “Getting orders on time is number one. This has
always been my priority over the 42 years I’ve been in this
business. I tell everyone, ‘Listen, I don’t want tickets to
the Red Sox.’ What I do need is not to see back orders on my
invoice, and I need to see something when I ask for it. I
need to know when you’re going to run out, so I have first
dibs on what you’ve got left. And I need to know when
there’s something new in the marketplace, cause I can’t read
every publication and product announcement. I feel keeping
me informed is part of a distributor’s job.

“This is
basically what I lay out to every new salesperson who is
servicing my accounts,” Frank emphasizes. “But I’ll be
honest. I don’t deal with a lot of salespeople, because I
cultivate the ones who do it the way I want it, and frankly
I don’t have time for anybody else. This doesn’t sound very
nice, but sorry about that. It’s what works for me. To
single out a couple of exceptional people, there’s Kenny
Bandera for United, who I’ve known and worked with for 3O
years, and there’s Marcie Valerie-Allain in their
Connoisseur’s wine division who gets a good piece of my wine
business. Paul Toner with Horizon is another old-timer and a
terrific guy who knows exactly what he’s doing. Michael
Daugherty from M.S. Walker is another up-and-down
straightshooter who really knows his business. And there’s
one young supplier rep around here, Jamie Terrell. He’s
British and a sweetheart of a kid who works his tail off for
Absolut’s Plymouth gin accounts, and is doing just a
tremendous job marketing the product, conducting training
seminars, educating bartenders and wait staffs. He’s just
exemplary of the kind of support you want from a supplier. I
wish there were two or three more like him
around.”

Tanqueray No.1O
is the specific gin required for the hugely popular
signature Kirkland Martini at Sibling Rivalry in Boston’s
South End. It was singled out as one of the Hub’s great
drinks by the Boston Globe earlier this year. Explains
manager and bar supervisor Ryan Shocklee, “It’s No.1O
blended with mint, lime juice and simple syrup, and served
in a martini glass with a sugared rim. It’s one of those
cocktails where even if you don’t like gin, you’re going to
love this drink. We also sell a lot of Hendrick’s. I’m a gin
drinker myself, and it’s my favorite gin, by far. When you
drink it straight on-the-rocks, it’s not going to choke you
the way some real dry gins will. We serve Hendrick’s by
itself, straight up or on-the-rocks. However, with a gin
drink like a Kirkland, with Tanqueray No.1O in the recipe,
you do want that bite of a heavier aromatic gin to partner
up with the mint and lime juice.”

Sibling Rivalry
also uses many other standard gin like Original Bombay,
Sapphire, Beefeater, and just took on a new Dutch gin
product from Amsterdam called Damrack that Martignetti is
carrying. “The schtick on that is that it’s an old very
historic Bols recipe from the 17OOs that was discovered in
an ancient office drawer or something,” says Ryan, “and it’s
a truly classic aromatic gin with a very distinct bite. So,
I wouldn’t recommend this as a first time introductory gin
experience, the way I would a light-flavored Hendrick’s, but
this will definitely be interesting to experienced gin
lovers looking for a powerful classic taste and payload.
They want that old recipe. If you ranked our best-selling
gins in terms of volume sales, the top six brands would
probably be #1 Sapphire, then Beefeater, Hendrick’s,
Tanqueray No.1O, Bombay regular, and Tanqueray, which still
has a very loyal signature T-N-T (Tanqueray-and-Tonic)
following that the brand started building many years
ago.”

Just about all
drinks here sell for $1O, he says. He describes his
clientele as being an affluent business crowd, about 25 to
45 in age, and he find that a lot of the younger drinkers
are going for something like Sapphire, because of
well-established brand recognition and all the major
advertising it’s received. But they’re also receptive to
trying new and different things like a Hendrick’s, because
they’re still exploring the category. Older drinkers, he
observes, are more set on what they want to order. They want
a very specific taste. But the entire bartending staff is
always suggesting different drinks and brands to customers.
It’s the way the Kirkland was established, Ryan says. “Every
single time I would tell a customer, if you don’t like it,
I’ll buy it for you. It’s that good. No one has asked me to
buy one yet.”

He sees a bright
future ahead for the gin category. While younger consumer
tastes may still be stuck on flavored vodkas, he’s
definitely feeling new momentum building in the gin market.
“I’m just waiting for this flavored vodka craze to die out,
and I’m convinced it’s going to. It won’t exactly be a
back-lash, but I think, as people in my own 25- to
35-year-old generation develop a little further, they’ll
start to realize, ‘You know, I’ve had every flavor under the
sun mixed with vodka. Now it’s time to find something with
qualities that I can really taste, appreciate and settle
on.'”

Ryan says the
best thing that a spirits supplier can do for his business
is come in and teach a class about the liquor, not the
brand. “A couple of reps have come here telling me they’re
going to do a scotch seminar, but all it is, really, is a
promotion of a particular product,” he complains. “I really
don’t appreciate that kind of thing. What I want is
something that truly educates my staff about a category’s
big picture, and how spirits, wines and beers are produced,
how the products are actually made. The is the biggest thing
the restaurant and bar industry needs today. People don’t
know how things are made. They don’t know about the
different production nuances of scotches or bourbons or the
gins they’re selling, or why it’s called gin or what goes
into it – things like that. I’m far more interested in how
things are crafted, rather than all the promotion hype about
particular brands. I’m looking for category knowledge, which
is the big picture, and it’s what’s really going to help me
sell any particular product. People in my position are so
inundated with brands all day, every day, when what we
really need to know is how things are produced, rather than
why this brand is better than others.”

“All alcohol is
cyclical,” observes Adam Grushey, the Bar Chef at Bricco
Resturant & Bar in Boston’s North End, “and gin is
definitely a spirit that I see coming back around. You’ve
got to be enthused by what’s happening. It’s at the historic
roots of the almost all the cocktails that are out there,
and I see it starting to make a strong comeback with a bunch
of different purveyors and styles. “Among all the gin
brands, right now, Hendrick’s has really intrigued me. So,
it’s just about my most accessible favorite product on the
market, right now.”

“Bricco’s is a
destination place,” he points out. “We’re here in the North
End where a lot of tourists are wandering around deciding
where to go to eat and drink. But most of our customers are
regulars and know exactly where they’re going when they come
here. They come from all parts of greater Boston. The
clientele is upscale. It’s mainly an all wine and martini
bar business, and the kind of bar where, if I go into the
spiel about Hendrick’s with the cucumber, as opposed to a
citrusy botanical gin, you get a lot of surprise and
interested looks from customers. People are receptive. Since
I came here, our bar business and popularity has increased
maybe ten-fold in the past two years, which is a nice thing
to have happen.”

When it comes to
growing his gin business, Adam explains he keeps reminding
customers that what’s often forgotten is that gin was the
original martini by definition. It was also the base spirit
for a Gibson, the Gimlet, the Greyhound, the original Tom
Collins. And regardless of it’s eldertly age, the fact it’s
been eclipsed by it’s younger vodka brother in the white
spirits market, it’s appeal in these drinks is still intact.
“Some people might argue that vodka is a cleaner, less
complicated taste that’s become all the rage for quite a few
years,” he says. “But just remember that gin was responsible
for all these classic drinks for a very good reason, a