April 2011 - destillation

What makes abc liquors the foremost contender in their business

ABC Liquors was founded in 1936 in Orlando in Florida by Jack Holloway. He was a cigar store manager who saw great potential in bringing together the cigar and wine business during the end of the Prohibition. His employer did not share his foresight and that led to Jack Holloway going into the spirits business single handed.

It all started with one store called ‘Jacks Friendly Neighborhood Bar’. This store was located in downtown Orlando and became very popular. The coming decade saw Holloway’s business grow in leaps and bounds.

According to the company legend Jack Holloway choose the name ABC Liquors, Inc because he wanted an excellent recall value from people and one which also easily featured first in phone books.

The coming years saw a phenomenal rise of the company where along with the retail stores the company also brought in different types of concept lounges ranging from the neighborhood watering hole style to the discotheque.

In the coming years the company grew form strength to strength. In 1980, ABC Liquors Inc took a huge leap and expanded from central Florida right into the northern peninsula when they purchased Jax Liquors. ABC Liquors had become the country’s largest privately owned wine and spirits retailer with 200 stores under their wing starting from Tallahassee, Boca Raton and Naples.

It was in 1993 that ABC Liquors changed its name from ABC Liquors to ABC Fine Wine & Spirits. This move was made primarily to expand their market reach and get known in larger locations for their comprehensive wine selections.

ABC Liquors have been consistent in their growth pattern and have given a great deal of focus on not just the growth of the company but also in managing the growth of the company well. They have selected new locations keeping for the growth of the company and have been pragmatic in their approach while doing this. They have also closed down certain locations which were not profitable ventures and have also unhesitatingly remodeled older units to keep pace with the changing times.

Understanding the changing market dynamics and realizing consumer focus is something that ABC Liquors has been focusing on consistently. They have ventured to try and find out what is it that drives their customers and have managed to give them the overall customer satisfaction. This has been done by enhancing a customer’s experience in the store by providing excellent customer service and meeting all the customers’ needs.

ABC Liquors or ABC Fine Wine & Spirits as it is now known have remodeled their stores to make sure that they give their clients the best customer experience. All stores display clean lines and wide, open and well lit shopping areas. It is not just alcohol that you will find in the ABC stores today. Along with the alcohol you have a fine selection of gourmet foods to complement your fine selection of alcohol. You can choose fine cheeses, snacks, chocolates and other items that will go with your alcohol choice. What makes the company so successful is their dynamic approach to their business.

ABC Liquors focus a great deal on evaluating the level of their products and services which makes them innovative and flexible to accommodate all their customer needs.

Meukow – a family owned affair.

Meukow is a drink of the privileged. The distillery for this product is run by a family and hence Cognac Meukow is a modern family business. It is one of those famous cognac houses holding high stakes on the family business. In order to survive the stiff competition, the family came up with a brave wave of creating – Compagnie de
Guyenne (CDG). This happened in 1969. The idea was to have it as an umbrella company and Meukow is still a part of and it comprises of many small cognac houses which are in association with Meukow,

In 1862 Karl and August Meukow travelled to Charente in times of Russian Tsar. The purpose of this trip was to find Cognac from this region. It so happened, that in that particular year they established themselves there by founding the cognac house Meukow – and so there was no reason for them to return to Russia. Ever since, now meukow’s history is a strong family support which is successfully running the family business

The Matha distillery is located at Charente Maritime – a historical estate in Brugerolle. The CEO of this company is Philippe Coste and Claude Brugerolle, head of their sales department, assists him. The Black Panther which appears on the product’s bottle is their famous mascot, designed by Philippe’s dad – Michel Coste, in 1995. Other products like Armagnac, Vodka, Gin, Brandy, Rum, Whisky etc. are also covered by their staff which is about 82 people, who make an average turnover of 35 million – 50% of this being cognac.

The Meukow distillery represents the most technologically advanced products of cognac. This distillery in Matha is recently undergone renovation recently and has been raised to the most modern standards. The modernization plan had cost them approx 1.4million Euros. This includes the cost of the most awaited robot for the crating system.

They now have a spacious and absolutely new reception dock, which is capable of housing 18,000 hectoliters along with a newly constructed place to take care of the delivery as well as pick-up of their products. Close to this is their old bottling unit, which was fully restored in the year 2001. Their Six lines of production churn out roughly 13 million bottles in 2009. Currently, Meukow only lacks an automatic system to organize and move the crates around.

Talking of its History, comparatively, it has a very young history. It was christened under its present name in 1947 and holds a very important position in the world market even today. Initially,in 1847, Meukow’s site was a part of Brugerolle Cognac and in

1987 it became a part of CDG. Andre Brugerolle the CEO was an important politician and also a Mayor of Matha – 1958 to 1978. Having started from humble beginnings as a family, they had a sentimental attitude towards their work place. Instead of stocking their spirits in a high tech designed site of Cognac, they chose to use the Brugerolle site – as Phillippe Coste felt their soul was in Brugerolle.

Respecting their traditional and family attributes, they have also been very supportive locally by restoring in their own town, the old clock tower and also the family chapel. It would be the endeavor of the family to maintain the values of the generation and never let go off Cognac from the hands of their family. Symbolically, the next cognac after Meukow would be named “Esprit de Famille”.

Walk into the world of rich warm tasted with hine cognac

Connoisseurs of fine cognac have always been admirers of Hine cognac. Founded by Thomas Hine, Hine cognac has been in the business of cognac for six generations. Thomas Hine had humble beginnings and came from Dorset in England. He left England and travelled to France to find his fortune in 1775. Following an arrest during the French Revolution, Thomas Hines destiny took him to Jarnac which is the heart of the Cognac vineyards. It is here that he founded Hine Cognac in 1763.

A lot of people want to know the difference between Cognac and Brandy. While all cognac is brandy all brandy cannot be termed as cognac. This is because fine cognac can only be created in Charente region located in South Western France. Cognac can only be made in this region only in a specific environment. Anywhere else, brandy producers can use the same methods of distilling wine and even use the same grapes as used in Cognac and age it in the same oak barrels but the resultant brandy will never taste the same as a cognac.

Hine cognac prides itself on its fine taste and aroma. Aged in fine French oak barrels sipping on Hine cognac is like travelling through the fine Grand Champagne vineyards and discovering the warmth and fruitiness of the region. These fine cognacs have different and distinctive flavors. The spicy notes speak of aromatic warm hints of pepper and spices. The Oriental notes in the cognac are rich in their tones combining opulence, warmth, exoticism and sensuality. The floral notes in their cognac bring to the taster a fine abundance of floral perfumes while the fruity notes tease the palette with hints of peaches, tropical fruits and luscious plums.

The sensory journey of Hine cognacs changes from one product to the other. The Hine cognac range is a consistent and fine blend of cognacs which have been aged for at least four years or more. Using the finest grapes from the Grand Champagne region and combining them with grapes from other regions such as Petite Champagne, Fins Bois, Borderies these cognac blends have different aging timelines. Some of the youngest blends are aged for a minimum time of ten years and are perfect accompaniments to a classic hand rolled cigar.

Amongst the most coveted of all Hine Cognac stands the Family Reserve. This blend was made specifically for a discerning New Yorker in 1936. The Family Reserve collection is aged for a minimum period of fifty years or more and is the finest blend of old Grand Champagne cognacs. Released in limited editions this blend is a treat and desire of the true cognac connoisseur.

Hine Cognacs accompany a fine cigar in an excellent manner. Bernard Hine, one of the world’s most accomplished cognac blenders belonging to the House of Hine successfully pairs off Hine cognacs with its suitable cigars. Not only that, he also recommends aptly the time to smoke the cigar and drink the cognac to get the right experience. Hine cognacs make cognac drinking an experience to be reveled in. To revel in this experience open a bottle of Hine’s finest and get drawn into warm and mellow notes.