New Light Liquors Show Promise On-Premise

Light makes right, or at least this is often the case in cocktail sales. Vodka’s primacy in the sales hierarchy continues, and lighter rums and liqueur launches are captivating the public and giving mixologists and bar staff inspiration.     Although the quality and marketability of individual light spirits vary as much as those in any other liquor segment, these less heavy spirits together do pose a question relevant to anyone in the cocktailing trade. Namely, what law out there says a spirit has to be 80-proof to be a mover and shaker behind the bar?
While there are plenty of brands of note in this broad — and perhaps hard to define — spectrum of spirits, here’s a look at just a few interesting players.

Lightening Up
    Lighter, even if not white, spirits are shaking things up, to be sure.
A few examples are Starbuck’s Coffee Liqueur, Malibu Rum, and Aperol orange liqueur, the national spirit of well-socialized Italians, just launched in select U.S. markets last spring by Skyy Spirits LLC. All three of these lower proof spirits and/or liqueurs have proven to be cocktail compatible and well worth the space they occupy on any bar shelf.
    Starbuck’s Coffee Liqueur, a joint venture between Beam Global Brands and Starbucks launched in 2005, had a powerful sales and marketing advantage from the beginning, with 50 percent of Starbucks millions of patrons nationwide already consuming coffee liqueurs.
    Today, almost two years out, it’s still advantage: Starbuck’s. The brand continues to build sales and brand exposure in bars, clubs, resorts and restaurants with critical acclaim such as its designation as “Best New Product of 2005”
by MarketWatch.
    With Aperol, an Italian orange liqueur light enough to be enjoyed chilled on its own or mixed in a number of cocktails, on-premise spirits prospects are getting an assist from the Italian tourist industry. Returning American tourists convinced Skyy Spirits and its Gruppo Campari parent company of Milan, Italy, to launch Aperol in the states earlier this year.
    Aperol goes back to 1919 when it was introduced by the Barbieri family of Padua as a breakthrough innovation — with only an 11 percent alcohol content — at the Padua Exhibition. Today, approximately 3.4 Italians enjoy the spirit. A recently completed series of Skyy-sponsored promotional events known as “Aperol Nights…An Invitation To Flirt,” in all four U.S. launch cities confirmed its appeal with American consumers.
    “All four markets really enjoyed the cocktail parties and found the Aperol Spritz very refreshing and perfect for the summer heat,” Skyy spokesperson Brenda Dos Santos said. “Most people agreed that it tasted unlike anything they had ever had and really loved the bright orange color. People commented (further) that it would take the place of a standard Mimosa for brunch.”
    Banking on the continued, seemingly unquenched consumer thirst for new and unusual flavors (see: pomegranate), Skyy Spirits also is distributing the inventive Zen green tea liqueur. The spirit, imported from Japan, features a balanced blend of specially selected green tea leaves, premium herbs and  flavors.
    Kyoto, the historic capital of Japan, is well known for its superior quality tea, and Zen takes carefully selected green tea leaves of the highest grade grown by one of the most distinguished producers of fine teas there, Marukyu-Koyama-En. A company steeped in tradition, it has been cultivating tea for more than 300 years.
    Zen infuses neutral spirits with the whole and ground tea leaves, then blends in several herbs such as lemongrass along with other natural flavors. The result? Skyy aims for consumers to achieve Zen, of course.

Caribbean Light
    Malibu Rum may have been the light spirit that helped carve out this new subcategory with the launch of its Malibu Coconut Rum in the early 1980s. This now iconic rum brand blends the more delicate and lighter rum spirits of Barbados, known for subtle sugar cane and soft butter rum notes, into a spirit lower in alcohol than other rums and spirits — all the while delivering real rum flavor
and enjoyment.
        Indeed, the ultimate triumph of Malibu, now in the Pernod Ricard spirits portfolio and extended to included Malibu Pineapple, Mango and Passion Fruit flavors, may stem from the fact that many customers today don’t even realize that they are drinking a so-called light rum when they order Malibu in an array of cocktails, from Planters Punch to Malibu Passion Tea.
        Other global spirits brands have launched their own light spirits brands as well. Last year, Bacardi introduced its Island Breeze line of low calorie and low-carb flavored light rums in Key Lime, Coconut and Wild Berry flavors, billing them boldly as “not just another product, but a new category of spirits.”
        For patron and proprietor alike, Island Breeze may represent the quintessential light spirit product — bringing together the highly respected Bacardi rum brand name with only half the calories of other 80-proof rums per typical 1.5-ounce pour.
        A blend of Bacardi rums, natural fruit juices and sucralose in place of the added sugar found in other rum spirits, Island Breeze is likewise light by virtue of its 18 percent alcohol content. With regular rums typically bottled at 40 percent ABV, the lower alcohol content and fewer calories advantage of Island Breeze give it an interesting position on-premise.   NCB