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StateWays | www.stateways.com | July/August 2017 29 CORDIALS & LIQUEURS | CATEGORY UPDATE REPACKS HIGHLIGHT HISTORIC ROOTS In 2016, Giffard enhanced the packaging of the Specialty Range of liqueurs, featuring a custom bottle that celebrates 130 years of history with the embossed signature of com- pany founder, Emile Giffard. Designed with the bartender in mind, the bottles feature an ergonomic, elongated neck for easy handling, twist caps for ease of opening and neck labels so bartenders can quickly identify the products in their bars. Last fall, Jagermeister launched a new bottle with a more defined, taller shape, a more realistic stag and a bold logo type; in addition, the new bottle's cap bears the sig- nature of Curt Mast, Jagermeister's founder, as well as the founding year 1878. Sazerac renovated its Tuaca liqueur brand to take it back to its true Italian heritage. Tuaca is made with Italian brandy infused with Mediterranean citrus and vanilla spice. The new label communicates Tuaca's original heritage and features a winged lion, a legendary Italian symbol of strength. Later this year, Campari America plans packaging modi- fications to Aperol. Recently, the Campari amaro had a label refresh, which now calls out its Milan heritage. The Bols company also revised labels to celebrate its heritage; the packaging gives a nod to its Amsterdam roots and founding in 1575, all done in a classic Amsterdam-style typog- raphy. New back labels suggest signature cocktails with per- sonal tasting notes from master distiller Piet Van Leijenhorst. For its part, St-Germain is introducing a new size, a 375- ml. format. The SRP is $19.99, allowing consumers to try St-Germain along with their favorite base spirit, Koster says. "The popularity of current whiskey fl avors has not changed that much and the 'tried and true' fl avors remain the consumer favorites," says Becky Henry, senior marketing director for Fireball at Sazerac. "Fireball is the leader with its cinnamon fl avor, but honey and fruit fl avors (apple, peach, blackberry) are popular," she adds. "The added fl avors bring new personality to whiskies, which can be enticing to con- sumers who want to try something different and can also soften the whiskey notes and be appealing to a new whiskey drinker." RIDING THE COCKTAIL SWELL "Classic liqueurs such as Grand Marnier, Campari and Bols Blue Curaçao are benefi ting from a second coming of the cocktail golden age, and con- sumers being more in tune with what it takes to recreate their favorite cocktail," says Gilles Bensabeur, senior brand manager for Bols Liqueurs. Indeed, cordials and liqueurs are often designed as modifi ers to base spirits in mixed drinks, and over the past decade, many have risen on the coattails of the cocktail renaissance. Campari, which was a stagnant brand in the U.S. for decades, surged in the past fi ve years on the strength of the Negroni and the return of clas- sic cocktails, Batchelor says. The brand recently surpassed 100,000 cases in the U.S., after being stuck at around 50,000 cases just a few years ago. "With the growth of interest in craft cocktails, people see drinks on the menu in bars, and note the ingredients to recreate them at home. That's a factor driving sales of liqueurs and cordials," Belbayeva says. The retailer adds that because many recipes call out specifi c brands, cus- tomers come into the store looking for those labels. "If they are making a Midori Sour, they need a bottle of Midori. If looking for St-Germain, they probably won't be swayed to get St. Elder." Beginner at-home cock- tail makers don't feel comfortable straying from recipes or substituting. NEW ROLLOUTS FROM THE BARREL There's plenty of news from producers, who have been busy with new products, line extensions, reformulations and packaging updates. At one point in its long history, Bensabeur says, Bols produced over 300 different liqueurs. "So over the past few years we have looked to our extensive archive of recipes to bring back some of our old-style li- queurs, such as Bols Parfait Amour and Bols Maraschino liqueur." Bols also launched a watermelon liqueur. RumChata has parleyed its liqueur business into a number of differ- ent avenues. It recently launched MiniChatas, 25-ml. peel-top creamer cups. This summer, it is introducing a premium ready-to-drink alcoholic iced coffee called FrappaChata. The RumChata Iced Coffee Sampler Pack VAP will also be available this summer off-premise; it includes two 8-oz. ready to drink cans of High Brew coffee with a 750-ml. bottle of RumChata. Giffard added Wild Elderfl ower to its portfolio last year. In May 2017, the company launched Giffard Fruit de la Passion, and Caribbean Pine- apple liqueur was added to Giffard's Premium Range. • THOMAS HENRY STRENK is a Brooklyn-based freelance writer with over 20 years experience covering the beverage and restaurant industries. In his small apartment-turned-alchemist-den, he homebrews beer kombucha, and concocts his own bitters and infusions.