Four Roses bourbon master distiller on future under new owner: ‘Perfect timing’
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Gallo buys Four Roses for $775M, deal set to close in second quarter.
- Elliott: Gallo values Four Roses’ heritage and is 'totally long term.'
- Gallo won’t push flavored bourbons and is described as a long-term owner.
Brent Elliott, the master distiller at Four Roses Distillery in Lawrenceburg, said the sale of the bourbon producer to wine giant GALLO comes at the right time.
Japanese owner Kirin announced Feb. 6 it agreed to sell the Kentucky whiskey maker for a record $775 million to E&J Gallo Winery. The deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter, includes a $50 million earn-out if Four Roses hits performance targets, according to the announcement.
Elliott said during a media event at the distillery March 10 that he is excited about the change.
“Kirin was fantastic ... It’s awesome all that they’ve done for the brand and how far we’ve come in the past 24 years, but I’m looking forward to GALLO,” Elliott said. “We’re poised, a known brand with a lot of respect throughout the industry and with customers ... They have that talent for distribution and the timing is perfect.”
Under Kirin, the distillery doubled its capacity and launched new, permanent line extensions.
He said many at Four Roses were worried when they learned about six months ago that Kirin was looking for a buyer.
That “obviously was huge news ... they wanted to migrate away from spirits, except in Japan, and focus more on health sciences and pharmaceuticals. That’s not what you want to hear (as a bourbon maker),” he said.
But as the distillery began hosting potential buyers, GALLO stood out.
“From the first meetings with GALLO ... they said all the right stuff,” he said. “They know this brand, know exactly what our heritage is, what our strengths are ... and most importantly they come in with their eyes wide open.”
With the whiskey industry, like wine and beer, in a sales slump, he said it was important for GALLO to acknowledge they aren’t expecting sales to blow up after the purchase. “Then jobs start getting cut and budgets start getting cut.”
No flavored Four Roses bourbons
But meetings with executives from GALLO indicate so far their expectations mirror Elliott’s own for the future of Four Roses. They do not, for instance, see Four Roses taking a turn into flavored bourbons.
“I was really concerned that they were going to go, ‘blackberry bourbon, here we go’ ... but they were pretty forward about competitors who they think had gone too far and lost their core identity,” he said.
But that doesn’t mean there will be no room for new ideas.
“They are totally long term. They love the brand and love what we’ve done,” he said.
After the purchased was announced, Stephanie Gallo, chief marketing officer of the company, which is the now the largest family-owned winery in the world and the fourth-largest spirits producer in the U.S., came to Kentucky and met with employees at the distillery and the bottling plant in Coxs Creek, he said.
After that, Elliott said, she and other executives stayed to speak with virtually every employee and fielded questions.
Everyone “left energized,” he said.
