Effen sold to Beam, which sells off Old Taylor

I was sitting at the bar of Creo, a "green" restaurant and bistro in the New York Capital Region suburb of Guilderland, this evening, dawdling over an icy cold Chopin martini before dinner and mentally perusing the shelves behind the bar.

I spotted a bottle of Effen vodka and asked myself who owned that company. I just couldn't bring it to mind. When I got home I checked my e-mails and found a press release that began this way:

"Beam Global Spirits & Wine, the premium spirits business of Fortune Brands, today announced it has acquired the Effen Vodka brand from the Sazerac Company Inc. Effen, named after the Dutch word for smooth, is a super-premium brand produced in Holland with a patented distillation process."

So much for worrying about commiting such information to memory.

Effen's current distribution is concentrated in Chicago, Southern California and major Florida markets, although it pops up in various parts of New York State and elsewhere. The product line includes black cherry and raspberry vodkas as well as the basic unflavored spirit.

As part of the transaction, Beam Global has sold the Old Taylor whiskey brand and inventory to Sazerac. Other terms of the proposed transaction were not disclosed.

To Dowd's Wine Notebook latest entry.
To Dowd's Spirits Notebook latest entry.
To Dowd's Brews Notebook latest entry.
To Dowd's Tasting Notes latest entry.
Back to Dowd On Drinks home page.