WHAT HAMPTON ROADS DRINKS
Hennessy Very Special Cognac was top seller, with Tito’s vodka taking second
Liquor sales are up across the state, and Hampton Roads is tipping a glass, too, with Sunday sales and craft distillery products boosting receipts at local ABC stores. Turn inside to find out which spirits have been the best sellers at stores in the region this year.
Sunday sales and craft distilleries contributed to an increase in ABC store sales in Hampton Roads and across Virginia this year.
That and Tito’s Handmade Vodka, which area consumers are buying in a big way.
Liquor sales increased 4.6 percent to $232 million at ABC stores in Hampton Roads and 4.3 percent to $978 million statewide from fiscal years 2017 to 2018, according to the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority. About 24 percent of the state’s retail liquor sales are from Hampton Roads stores.
The agency is aiming to top $1 billion in gross sales by the end of this fiscal year ending June 30, 2019, CEO Travis Hill said.
In the last fiscal year, five new stores and 11 store remodels helped contribute to the statewide sales growth. Sunday sales helped too, jumping 23 percent thanks partly by the stores being open an additional hour that day.
Statewide, revenue from Virginia-made products — including spirits, mixers and wines — increased 25 percent to $12.5 million, according to ABC data.
Virginia has 61 active distillery licenses and 12 more pending, according to the Virginia Distillers Association.
In Hampton Roads, Hennessy Very Special Cognac remained the top-selling brand, but its regional sales dipped 4.5 percent to $12.8 million. Taking up the slack was Tito’s Handmade Vodka, which rose to the No. 2 spot with a 43 percent increase in sales to $6.8 million, according to ABC data.
Despite a 5.7 percent increase in regional sales, Jack Daniel’s 7 Black whiskey fell a spot to No. 3 in the region. Statewide, Tito’s sales increased 33.7 percent to $33.5 million, making it the new top-selling brand last fiscal year.
Tito’s was the top seller at ABC stores in James City County, Williamsburg and Virginia Beach, while Hennessy topped the charts in Newport News, Hampton, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake and Suffolk.
Jack Daniel’s was No. 1 in York and Poquoson, while Jim Beam bourbon reigned supreme in Gloucester, Mathews, Isle of Wight and Smithfield.
Among the Hampton Roads cities, Newport News saw the largest increase in ABC store sales, growing 11 percent, while James City County, with one store, was the only regional locality to see a drop in sales. Sales fell there by 7.1 percent.
Tito’s has always been fairly popular, but what’s trendy tends to fluctuate and often is based on marketing campaigns or time of year, said manager Stephanie Kimbrough of downtown Hampton restaurant Brown Chicken Brown Cow. She recalled when Absolut was huge and people wanted to collect the brand’s bottles. And darker liquors are more popular in the wintertime, she added.
Not all customers ask for local spirits, but consumers are getting more educated about the quality of spirits and may have a more sophisticated palate, particularly with bourbon, Kimbrough said. The customers who know about Virginia’s burgeoning spirits scene will ask for the craft products, she said.
Ironclad Distillery Co. in Newport News, which started selling bourbon at ABC stores a couple of years ago, definitely saw an increase in sales this past year, President Stephen King said.
He said the Virginia Distillers Association’s events showcasing local products, in addition to the Virginia ABC promoting Virginia spirits, has helped get the word out. Ironclad opening an on-site tasting room and store has also helped.
King believes people seek out craft distilleries because they want to explore and try something new. And in addition to a straight bourbon, Ironclad has been releasing products that offer new flavors — like bourbon infused with coffee, maple syrup and chili-infused honey — by finishing them in barrels that had stored those items.
“We’ve been busy,” King said. “It promises to be an exciting 2019 also.”
Co-owner Kim Rangos of Blue Sky Distillery in Isle of Wight County said events at which craft distilleries can interact with the public, including tastings in ABC stores, help Virginians get to know local spirits. Smaller distilleries don’t have the advertising budgets of national brands.
Blue Sky started selling its Dog Star Vodka in ABC stores in the summer of 2017 and has since released Blackbeard Point’s Premium Silver Rum and Triple Deuce Whiskey, said Rangos, who runs the distillery with husband Mark. The distillery plans to release a spiced rum in the coming weeks, she said.
“People tend to like to go local, and whenever you have good product, it’s even better,” Kim Rangos said.
“It makes us feel wonderful that the public is embracing the craft distilleries like they did the craft breweries. I think it’ll probably continue to go up. As a trend, it’s just starting to get its legs.”