Booze News Weekly Roundup: Brown-Forman Turns Down Another Sazerac Offer, U.S. Lifts Tariffs from Scotch Whisky, and More
This is VinePair’s Booze News Weekly Roundup, where we gather the hottest headlines and product releases every Friday for a snapshot of what’s happening in the beverage alcohol industry. This week, we have news on Sazerac’s request from Brown-Forman to reconsider its previous offer, a co-signed letter lobbying for alcohol health warning labels on bottles, the latest product releases, and more.
News to know:
Sazerac tried to court Brown-Forman yet again. Sazerac, which owns brands like BuzzBallz and Buffalo Trace, sent a letter to the maker of Jack Daniel’s and Woodford Reserve earlier this week, asking to reconsider its original $15 billion buyout offer. Brown-Forman later issued a statement denying the reconsideration. Sazerac first approached Brown-Forman about an acquisition back in April a few days after reports revealed the American whiskey juggernaut had engaged in potential deal talks with Pernod Ricard.
A coalition of trade groups co-signed a public statement addressed to Department of Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Treasury secretary Scott Bessent lobbying for a legislation that would require alcohol companies to brandish their products with a warning label about their health effects. The trade groups ask for the administration officials’ support to “help fulfill President Trump’s goal of Making America Healthy Again.”
Last dance for the Margarita? Data from NielsenIQ shows the Martini is nipping at the heels of the Margarita, the most-purchased cocktail in the U.S. In the final fiscal quarter of 2025, on-premise accounts in the U.S. saw a 16 percent drop in revenue from Margarita purchases year-over-year. Martinis, however, brought those accounts 29 percent more in revenue than the year prior. While the Margarita remains the prima donna of cocktails, the Martini’s time at the top could be on the horizon.
President Donald Trump’s lift on Scotch whisky tariffs came into effect on Friday. Trump and Scotland came to a zero-for-zero trade deal during King Charles’ visit to the U.S. in April. The lift means American whiskey will also enter the U.K. without the added taxes.
Famed Sonoma winemaking pioneer David Hirsch passed away at 81. Hirsch was one of the earliest influential viticulturists in the region: His work on his vineyard site on the extreme Sonoma Coast in the 1980s and ’90s drew flocks of aspiring winemakers to Sonoma, an exodus that helped establish the region as among the best in the world.
Product releases to watch:
Middle West Spirits-owned Old Elk Distillery released a trio of 10-year-old whiskeys, including a straight bourbon, wheat whiskey, and wheated bourbon. The bourbons and the wheated whiskeys were bottled at 105 proof and 103 proof, respectively.
Bib & Tucker is launching its first bonded bourbon. The Tennessee-based distillery debuted an 8-year-old high-rye bottled at 100 proof. The bourbon’s nationwide rollout will begin September and come with a suggested retail price of $64.99.
Old Overholt debuted an 11-year-old Kentucky-style rye. The release marks the distillery’s fourth installment of its Extra Aged Cask Strength series. Old Overholt Extra Aged Cask Strength 11YR 2026 Edition is bottled at 125.6 proof and available for a suggested retail price of $109.99.
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