Wee Smoky taste rolls out to cocktail range
WHISKY brand Wee Smoky has expanded on its ambition to bring smoky tastes to the off-trade with the roll out of its new cocktail can range.
Following on years of the brand balancing the flavour of smoke across drinks options, founder Rory Gammell is set to bring these tastes to the off-trade with a six-strong range of cocktail options.
The range offers a whisky-based take on some traditional cocktail serves in a bid to shift consumer expectations around both the spirit and smoky flavours in the market. As part of this, two of the cocktails are traditional whisky-based serves, with the remaining four swapping out the typical spirit in favour for Wee Smoky.
The four traditionally non-whisky cocktails consist of a Margarita, Salted Caramel Cocktail, Espresso Martini and the Grape-fruit-arita, Wee Smoky’s take on the Paloma cocktail. Meanwhile, there is also an Old Fashioned serve and a Manhattan to appeal to shoppers seeking more traditional whisky cocktail options.
Speaking on the launch, Gammell said: “Smoke has traditionally been seen as intense. Whisky hastraditionally been seen as intimidating. We believe both deserve a wider audience.
“Imagine finding out that your favourite Margarita, or indeed Paloma, turned out to be scotch whisky-based. For me that’s what success would look like – playing our part in a broader perception shift of our category.”
Each can comes in a 100ml format with bar-serve quality ABV strengths to match the demand for higher quality options within the RTD sector. The drinks have been designed for more modern drinking occasions, says Wee Smoky, and appeals to the trade-up opportunity across the convenience channel.
The range has secured distribution with specialist drinks wholesaler Select Drams, with the first cans set to be dispatched from 3 August.
Jack Sotti, liquid development partner at Wee Smoky, said: “Wee Smoky takes a flavour that has traditionally been viewed as complex or intimidating and makes it approachable and exciting. The goal was never simply to put whisky into a can – it was to create properly balanced cocktails that deliver the flavour and experience you would expect from a great bar serve.”
