Dive Brief:
- Buffalo Trace owner Sazerac is growing its whiskey lineup with its first Tennessee whiskey brand called AJ Bond, according to a press release.
- Sazerac will release AJ Bond in Tennessee this month with a nationwide rollout scheduled for later this year. It’s bottled at 95 proof and retails for $39.99.
- Launching a spirit in-house marks a point of differentiation from Sazerac’s latest ventures, which have mostly included acquiring other brands, such as BuzzBallz and Dirty Shirley.
Dive Insight:
In recent years, The Fireball maker acquired either full or partial stakes in ready-to-drink brands, a category that has been lucrative in an otherwise soft alcohol sector.
With the introduction of AJ Bond, Sazerac shows it isn’t abandoning its core whiskey and spirits portfolio.
Sazerac owns Buffalo Trace bourbon, Fireball Cinnamon Whisky and Southern Comfort. Tennessee whiskey is different from other whiskies because it's filtered through charcoal, usually from sugar maple trees.
The whiskey will be produced at an AJ Bond flagship distillery in La Vergne, Tennessee. The whiskey is the result of a decade-long venture by distillers Allisa Henley and the late John Lunn, for which the product is named.
Sazerac said the spirit has notes of wedding cake and caramel corn, as well as butterscotch and a redwood undertone.
The release marks the beginning of AJ Bond Distillery. More whiskey varieties will be released in the future, the company said.
“We wanted to raise expectations for what Tennessee Whiskey can be,” Henley said in a statement. “Every decision behind this whiskey was driven by a commitment to quality and a belief that innovation and tradition can work hand in hand. … We have created a whiskey that sets a new standard for the category.”
