7/29/2019 Beverage Media Magazine June 2013

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/beverage-media-magazine-june-2013 1/3

Market: NJ NY | Login | Contact Us

Frank Caiafa and his cocktail

creation The Bronx from Above at

Peacock Alley.

A | A |

A

On Call: Bols Beginning

Posted on | June 21, 2013

Written by | Kristen Wolfe Bieler

Lucas Bols USA gains a stronger foothold in the American mark et.

The spirits and liqueurs of Lucas Bols are not new to the world

—the company began distilling in Holland 438 years ago. They

aren’t new to the U.S. market either, with representation from a

handful of importers over the last few decades.

But the path ahead for this family of brands looks much different

today than it did even a month ago, now that all the products in

the company’s portfolio are under the control of Lucas Bols USA,

the New York–based sales and marketing company.

 “As a supplier, you want contro l over your destiny, and the ability

to relay your passion for your products first-hand to distributors,

bartenders and consumers,” says Tal Nadari, Managing Director,

Lucas Bols USA, who came to the U.S. from Holland five years

ago to lead this effort. At that time, he was a lone soldier, working

to bring the brands back from separate importers. Today Lucas

Bols USA employs a team of 23 people.

Beginning in 2010 with Bols Genever, Damrak Gin and Galliano

—the revered Italian liqueur purchased in 2006—Lucas Bols USA

has been steadily building a portfolio of artisan spirits, with the

introduction of Galliano Ristretto and an aged expression of Bols,

called Bols Barrel Aged Genever. This month, the company

officially took back its successful line of Bols liqueurs. This in

many ways marks the real beginning of the Lucas Bols story in the U.S.

Tradition Meets Innovation

Lucas Bols USA’s focus is predominantly on bartenders with a passion for the cocktail. “We have always

believed first and foremost in the bartender,” says Jaron Berkhemer, Marketing Director. “We always

look to introduce innovations—but not just for the sake of doing something new. We always ask

ourselves if a new flavor or tool will add true value to a bartender or in a cocktail. If the answer is

 ‘yes ,’ we are quick to br ing something unique in to the market. This is why we recently released Bols

Yogurt Liqueur and in September will debut Bols Foam [see next page]. Being 438 years old, we prideourselves on being the oldest distilled spirits brand while leading today’s trends.” 

July marks also the inauguration of the Bols Bartender Academy: Brand ambassadors with mobile bars

will travel the country illustrating the possibilities with Bols products. At Tales of the Cocktail this month,

the Bols Bartending Academy will attempt to set the record for the largest pousse-café (a cocktail with

separate layers) in a five-foot tall glass (the current record stands at 32 layers in a shot glass).

With a belief in the American bartender’s and consumer’s interest in quality products with an authentic

story, and with their broad portfolio now under one roof, the Lucas Bols team anticipates tapping deeply

into the U.S. market.

Reinventing Bols Genever, Holland’s Gift to Mixology

Most people aren’t aware that the British got the idea to create gin from Genever, the ancient Dutch

spirit created 100 years before gin. Lucas Bols is determined to get the word out, however. “There are

many producers making Genever within Holland, but we wanted to bring it back on a global scale,” says

Nadari. Bols Genever has been distilled since 1664 and was introduced to the U.S. market in 2008. Oneyear later, it won Best Spirit at Tales of the Cocktail, and has become the company’s most awarded

product.

Genever lends itself to mixing in ways that gin cannot. Made with rye, wheat and corn, it behaves more

like a whiskey with a lovely sweetness and viscosity. It shows much less juniper berry character than

its English cousin, with softer, rounder botanical flavors. Bols recently introduced an aged Genever to

the market—the only one of its kind.

Enter Keywords

Spain's Great Match: Wine, Food and

Design 2013

Michael Skurnik Wines - Fall Grower

Bonanza & Italian Portfolio Tasting

American B.D. Co. and Opici Wine C o. of NJ

Fine Wine & Spirits Tasting-Central

Taste of France

NBWA 76th Annual Convention

 

Around Town Atlantic Wine & 

Spirits Bacardi Bar Talk beer bourbon

Brand Profile Diageo DISCUS

ecommerce Fedway Jim Beam KnowThe Law Maker's Markmillenials New Jersey

New York NJLBA NJLSA NJRA NYSLA Pernod

Ricard Pernod Ricard USA R&R MarketingRumChata Scotch shopping feeds social media

Somm Sez Southern W ine & Spiritsspirits Ste Michelle Wine Estates strategy Tales

of the Cocktail Tanqueray Tequila Tequila Avion

The Find Tito's Handmade Vodka  USBG vodka

wholesalers  wine Wine Buzz wswa

WP-Cumulus by Roy Tanck requires Flash Player 9

or better.

Search Articles

Serving Industry Professionals for 75 YearsServing Industry Professionals for 75 Years

Local NewsNational News

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com

7/29/2019 Beverage Media Magazine June 2013

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/beverage-media-magazine-june-2013 2/3

Yet Bols is far from anti-gin: Their own Dutch gin, Damrak—a citrus-dominant gin with an excellent

value proposition—is the fastest growing brand in their portfolio.

Bols Liqueurs: Adding Flavor to the World

First crafted in 1575 with exotic spices and herbs, Bols liqueurs have always been on the vanguard of 

innovation. Today that pioneering spirit continues with flavors like the just-released Bols Yogurt and

soon-to-be-released Bols Foam, a foam liqueur which rests on top of a drink. Says Nadari: “In Asia and

America, people eat a tremendous amount of yogurt so we set out to create a yogurt-flavored liqueur;

it’s low sugar, made with real yogurt and doesn’t curdle like most cream liqueurs.” At the WSWA

Convention in April, a Bols Yogurt cocktail took first place, on top of the brand new liqueur winning

Double Gold and Best of Show in the Liqueurs category.

The Bols liqueur line officially joined the Bols USA portfolio on July 1st, kicking off with a new ad

campaign, “Add Flavor to the World.” Nadari explains, “With that campaign, we want to express that we

not only add the essential flavor to a cocktail with our Bols Liqueur range, but also to the entire

category and the lives of the users of our products.” The 36-flavor portfolio includes bar essentials,

store essentials and seasonal specialties like Pumpkin Smash and Hot Cinnamon. Among the bes t-

selling liqueur lines in the country (at 400,000 cases a year), they are the most awarded as well.

 “The liqueur category isn’t conside red the most dynamic, but we design ours to compete aga inst high

quality stand-alone products like Midori and Grand Marnier,” attests Berkhemer. “The category is often a

battle on price, a race to the bottom, and we want to step out of that battle.” Bartenders are taking

note of this rare quality-to-price ratio: Bols Orange C uraçao has become the go-to Margarita ingredient

for many, making it the fastest growing liqueur in the portfolio.

The Return of Retro: Galliano’s Comeback Story

Reinvigorating a brand like Galliano has its challenges—namely, that many bartenders aren’t quite sure

how to use it. However, one obstacle the brand does not face is obscurity. “Everyone in the U.S. knows

this brand,” says Nadari. A back bar staple in the 1960s and 1970s, owing largely to the popularity of 

the Harvey Wallbanger (a mix of G alliano, orange juice and vodka), Ga lliano declined steadily from a

half a million case brand to under 100,000 cases.

Lucas Bols purchased the brand in 2006 and went back to Italy to track down the original recipe,

created in 1896. “We realized that the former owners had played with the recipe—made it sweeter,

added more vanilla—and we brought it back to its roots at 84 proof with more herbaceous flavors,” 

says Nadari. “We would not be attracting bartenders today had we not done that.” Almost immediately,

the brand started go grow, and Galliano has been increasingly turning up in drinks across the country.

Nadari believes the cocktail culture, which had been obsessed with Prohibition era-cocktails, has shifted

its attention to the retro drinks of the ’60s and ’70s—how else to explain the recent resurgence (the

Drapers and friends sipped Ga lliano neat on the season premiere of Mad Men, and Harvey Wallbangers

were in an episode of The Americans). Mixologists across the country are making their own twists on

the drink, and creating new ones, using Galliano almost like Chartreuse. Lucas Bols has also launched

a “Find Harvey” campaign, bringing back to life the cartoon character the brand’s ad agency used 40

years ago. Look also for the new Galliano Ristretto, a beautiful liqueur that tastes just like “ristretto,” a

bold style of espresso the Italians love so much.

 

Category: On Call, Spirits & Mixology

Tags: Bols > Lucas Bols > Lucas Bols USA > On Ca ll > Peacock Alley > Profile > Tales of the

Cocktail

You might also like...

On C all: Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire

On Call: Russia’s Best Meets Poland’s Finest

New! On Call: Mixing with Tequila Avión’s New Espresso Liqueur

Comments

Comments are closed.

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com

7/29/2019 Beverage Media Magazine June 2013

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/beverage-media-magazine-june-2013 3/3

THE BEVERAGE NETWORK

What is the Beverage Network?

List of Publications

Subscribe

Advertise

Mechanical Specs

Editorial C alendar

INSIDE YOUR BOOK

Your Market & Past Events

New Jersey Beverage Journal

New York Beverage Media

Digital Issues

Past Articles

OUR SERVICES

The Cellar

BevSites: Retailer Web Services

Wholesaler and Supplier

Customized Pricing Reports

eOrders / eStage

Professional Wine Reference

Register for our BMG

eNewsletter

Subscribe to our eNewsletter today fo r

related and useful information.

Enter your email address below.

 

About Us | Contact Us | Wholesaler Login | P ublisher Login | Licensees Login

Copyright © 2013 Beverage Media Group ALL RIGHTS RESERVED152 Madison Avenue, Suite 600, New York, NY 10016

Phone: 212-571-3232 | Privacy Policy 

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com