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Lester Jones will join the National Beer Wholesalers Association in the position of Chief Economist.  Jones has more than 2O years of experience in research, survey methodology and applied economics.  He most recently served as Chief Economist at the Beer Institute, where he developed and executed significant research initiatives.  In... Read More

Three top executives with Beam Inc., which is being acquired by Suntory Holdings Ltd., have announced their resignations.  Chief Financial Officer ROBERT PROBST and corporate controller LEO MIERZWICKI are pursuing other professional opportunities.  For both, their decisions were linked to the changes of their roles as a result of the... Read More

President and Chief Officer ED SHIRLEY is retiring from the company after a 36-year career.  An interim CEO will be announced and serve until a successor is appointed.  During his tenure with Bacardí Limited, Shirley helped reignite the company’s global marketing with new campaigns for Bacardí rum, Dewar’s Blended Scotch... Read More

KRIS SIRCHIO has been named Chief Executive Officer. In this role, Sirchio will lead all facets of NAB, including its brewery operations, alehouses and sales and marketing efforts.  Previously, he has led profit and growth across companies and brands including Brown-Forman, Syngenta and Procter & Gamble.  Most recently Sirchio served... Read More

Bill Nesto, MW and Frances Di Savino’s THE WORLD OF SICILIAN WINE has just won the André Simon Award for the best wine book of 2O13.  The awards were established in 1965 by the French-born André Simon, who was a champagne shipper, notable gourmet, prolific writer, president of the Wine... Read More

ASHLEY CESARIO has been appointed Jordan’s new Northeast Regional Sales Director.  She will be responsible for wine sales and promotion initiatives, distributor management and Tastevin digital wine list app sales.  Her territory includes Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.  Previously Cesario... Read More

KEVIN MARTIN has been named VP of Sales by the Essex-based rum company.  Most recently, Martin was Bar Manager at Eastern Standard for seven years.  In his new position he will work directly with on-premise and off-premise accounts in Boston and New York to build the brand and a sales... Read More

CASPAR MACRAE has been appointed as Global Brand Director for Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey.  He is currently Vice-President of Marketing for William Grant & Sons in the US.  He’ll be responsible for Tullamore Dew across its key markets including the US, the UK and mainland Europe.  MacRae joined the company... Read More

DAVID GRAPSHI, Tequila National Sales Manager for Sazerac Company, has retired.  During his twenty-plus years with Sazerac, David was instrumental in developing many brands in the US marketplace including Herradura, El Jimador, Pueblo Viejo, Siete Leguas and Corazon.  David was awarded the title of “Conocedor del Tequila” in 2O13 –... Read More

FREDERIC PFLANZ, who became CEO three months ago, is stepping down “for personal reasons”, the company said.  Chairman François Hériard Dubreuil will take over as a transitional measure.  Pflanz, Rémy’s CFO for four years, will remain with the company as a “development director”, working on projects he had already initiated.