Just over two years ago, Italian wine brand Stella Rosa dipped into the spirits sector with the launch of three brandies: Stella Rosa Smooth Black, Tropical Passion, and Honey Peach. The launch by Stella Rosa parent company Riboli Family Wines came against the backdrop of faltering sales for the brandy category.
Company president and CEO Steve Riboli says the strength of the Stella Rosa wine brand, coupled with a celebrity partnership with singer, songwriter, actress, and model Brandy, gave the brand instant credibility. “I think [Stella Rosa wine consumers] had faith in the brand, saw something new and different—and the bottle itself is really sexy,” he says.
Nevertheless, the launch was a gamble considering the consumer malaise currently surrounding the spirit. American brandy, including flavored line extensions, declined 2% to just under 7 million cases in 2023, according to Impact Databank. Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, during which most spirits categories saw a consumption surge, brandy was left out.
“While there was positive momentum before Covid-19, that has since waned and now is a pivotal time for the industry to come together to help reinvigorate the category,” says Britt West, chief commercial officer for Spirits of Gallo.
Aaron Wilke, director of legacy spirits for Heaven Hill Brands, sees growth shoots in what has been a challenging time for the category. “While brandy declines continue to outpace the total spirits industry, the latest trends for brandy are showing positive results,” he says. “In all the most recent scan periods brandy is nearing flatness from a year-over-year comp perspective.”
Heaven Hill’s Christian Bros. brandy, ranking third among American brandies, declined 5.8% to 1.14 million cases in 2023. Similarly, E. & J. Brandy, which led the field in volume at 2.8 million cases, saw a 3.4% drop.
However with a 3.2% increase to 2.1 million cases. Sazerac finalized its purchase of Paul Masson from Constellation Brands in 2021. Sazerac vice president Jess Scheerhorn says innovation on the brand, and in the overall category, had been lacking. “Paul Masson has proudly refreshed nine new flavors in two years, including our latest innovation, Paul Masson ICE, alongside brand partner, Grammy-nominated rapper Paul Wall,” Scheerhorn says. “We’re constantly challenging the category in exciting new ways.”
Scheerhorn adds that brandy as a category is lacking innovation, which is negatively impacting the spirit. “The great news is that Paul Masson brandy is growing,” Scheerhorn says. “We are committed to moving the needle for the entire category by providing our loyal consumers with partnerships and flavors that are exciting and newsworthy.”
Flavors And Mixability
Paul Masson isn’t the only brand to focus on flavor options—many brands offer a variety of fruit or other flavors to broaden their appeal and enhance mixability. “While the American brandy category is stagnant, consumers are still drawn to flavors that make sense for simple mixology, so Christian Brothers Peach, Apple, and Honey flavors are go-tos from a simple mixology standpoint,” Wilke notes. “Premium innovation and flavors in the line extensions also provide trial into different tasting experiences.”
Stella Rosa brandies are available in Honey Peach, Butter Toffee, and the berry flavored Smooth Black, but Riboli says the brand is branching out into cream brandies, starting with recently released Chocolate Hazelnut. Beginning in 2025, Pistachio and Salted Caramel will also be added to the portfolio. “Our mixology team is primarily made up of young women who love ice cream,” Riboli explains. “These are the three hottest gelato flavors in Italy. That’s what people enjoy and flavors they understand.”
Clear Creek uses the “bountiful fruits of the Pacific Northwest,” including pear, apple, and others. The flavors can help round out a variety of cocktails, says Korrie Dodge, vice president of marketing at Clear Creek producer Hood River Distilling. “Because of the quality of our fruit, our brandies and liqueurs are exceptional ingredients that have a place in mixology,” she says. “We’ve had significant success with our ‘add a splash’ campaign, which strikes a balance between consumers wanting to serve new cocktails while entertaining, but recognizing that few have the time to search for new recipes and then buy additional ingredients that they may not use again. All it takes is a splash of Clear Creek Pear brandy to turn a classic Vodka Tonic, Margarita, or glass of sparkling wine into something special.”
Marketers say promoting mixability and incorporating brandy into known cocktails means more consumers will become familiar with brandy, and perhaps will want to explore. “Brandy’s versatility in cocktails allows bartenders and consumers alike to get creative with their drinks—whether it’s a twist on a classic like the Boulevardier or something on-trend like the Espresso Martini—and by encouraging this, we hope to foster more opportunities for consumers to enter the category,” Gallo’s West says.
Lisa Belczyk, beverage manager for Pennsylvania’s Lucky Sign Spirits, says her patrons are curious about brandy. “Many people are interested in fruit spirits as a concept, but are hesitant to try them because of notions that brandies are too sweet, cloying, or old fashioned—they’re perceived as a spirit that older generations drank,” she notes.
She focuses on flavorful cocktails like one recently featured at the Lucky Sign bar. Called the Cursed Orchard ($12), the cocktail includes Lucky Sign Cardshark Bourbon, Honest Hillbilly Apple brandy, fresh-pressed apple cider, lemon juice, Liquid Alchemist Falernum syrup, maple syrup, and Fee Brothers Black Walnut bitters. “It proved to be an effective entry point for our guests into the brandy category,” Belczyk says. “The whiskey enthusiasts were excited about it and the cocktail fans liked the complex autumn flavors.”
Spanish brandy maker Osborne is also embracing mixology as part of its pitch to a new generation of U.S. consumers. Monica Lopez Calvo, global brand manager, says the approach allows the brand to “open more doors and have more chances to [position] moments of consumption differently than what we did in past years. We have been using mixology and gastronomy to break [the old fashioned] stigma that maybe the brand is still having.”
Leaning Into Luxury
Osborne is also focusing on offering a broad range of brandies, including super-premium and luxury expressions, to tap into current trends. “We are still producing new premium brandies and collections and limited editions like the one that we did two years ago for the 130th anniversary of Carlos Primero,” Lopez Calvo says. “We are using all these different growth drivers—it’s important for us to have this for the U.S. market because we have seen that this population is going to look for this experience.”
Some producers in the U.S. are also leaning into the higher pricing tiers. The Stella Rosa brand, for example, sells for around $35 a 750-ml., a price that positions it as a more affordable alternative to Cognac as well as a more luxury offering than the brandy category leaders. Packaged in a heavyweight bottle that mimics the dramatic designs of many Cognac bottles, Stella Rosa is being positioned for gift-giving as well, Riboli says.
Gallo is also focusing on the higher-end of the brandy category. While Spirit of Gallo owns the country’s largest brandy, E. & J., the company is also putting emphasis on its Germain-Robin and Argonaut brands. The goal is to attract a new generation of brandy consumers, and West says education is key. “To help broaden the consumer base, as well as the occasions where they’re enjoying the spirit, we must start with trade education,” he says. “Within the Spirit of Gallo portfolio, brands like Germain-Robin and Argonaut are doing this by prioritizing brand advocacy.”
Hood River Distillers is targeting both consumers and the trade as part of its efforts to spur demand. The producer’s line of Clear Creek brandies has seen growth slow in recent years, says Dodge, but the company is “doubling down on efforts to enhance brand awareness and education.”
Dodge believes brandy can evolve to appeal to a new generation of customers. “While many of our consumers are enjoying brandies in traditional methods, we are also seeing a sense of exploration as craft brandies such as Clear Creek are shaking off the dusty image of brandies of old and being used in new and innovative ways,” she says.
Noting that Clear Creek sales have kept pace with the category but that the category overall is declining, Dodge says more education is needed. “We are doubling down on efforts to enhance brand awareness and education through strategic relationships and grassroots, liquid-to-lips tasting events,” she says. “Today’s market doesn’t change that. It’s been much reported that younger spirits consumers are drinking less, but better. They are seeking brands that share their values and concern for the environment, and opting for quality over quantity. We see numerous opportunities to introduce our super-premium artisan portfolio of fruit brandies to these selective consumers, as well as the bartenders and retailers who serve them.”
Lucky Sign Spirits’ Belczyk also sees opportunity. “As the beverage manager for a craft producer, I have the ability to talk directly with guests about their perspectives on brandies and begin to illustrate to them that current high-quality offerings in the category can be complex, exciting spirits,” she says. “I’ve also begun to teach interactive consumer workshops with our head distiller about brandy—our first venture was a sold-out experience exploring apple brandy and mixology, which was met with enthusiasm and a thirst for additional educational opportunities from our participants.”
For brandies at all price points, marketers aren’t expecting a quick return to growth, but they are hopeful for a change in fortunes. “It seems like there’s an opening for a new spirit to catch the consumer attention, and I think brandy has a good chance of becoming the next big thing,” says Lopez Calvo.
Wilke says he’s seen hints of a turnaround in recent months, and is hopeful for a continuation. “The brandy category is still behind compared to the rest of the spirits industry,” he notes, “but we expect the recent positive trends to continue into 2025 and the years beyond, eventually reaching small growth.”