SONOMA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Seeking to capture a niche in the growing spirits market, 35 Maple, a division of The Other Guys (TOG), today introduced an upscale straight rye whiskey called Masterson’s, focusing on on-premise placements and sales to high-end wine and bottle shops. It will retail for $79.00.
35 Maple previously announced that it would be working with four top spirits producers to develop special artisan brands. The straight rye whiskey is its first entry into the market, to be followed by a botanical gin, aged rum and small batch bourbon over the next year, said August Sebastiani, company president.
The straight rye whiskey was named for frontier lawman Bat Masterson, one of the most famous American Old West personalities, because ”I’ve always been fascinated by the role that saloons, card games and whiskey played in the gun slingin´ days of the Wild West and I wanted to tip our cap to a character from that time,” Sebastiani explained. “Bat Masterson was not only a buffalo hunter, card dealer, U.S. marshal and local lawman, but he retired to New York where he became a prolific sportswriter and newspaperman. He had considerable depth of character, much like our rye whiskey.”
35 Maple’s move into the spirits market will allow the company to expand its influence into the flourishing cocktail movement. “We’re seeing lots of new cocktail lounges and old-fashioned speakeasies infiltrating the bar scene, not only in major metropolitan areas, but across the nation. It’s a nostalgic lifestyle movement and a perfect fit for our marketing philosophy, which is to focus on high quality, limited production wines — and now spirits,” Sebastiani said.
The first 100 bottles of Masterson’s to be released will feature the personal signatures of Don Sebastiani, Sr. and August Sebastiani.
While the Sebastiani Family is best known as a pioneer in the California wine industry, this is not their first foray into the spirits business. They have produced grappa and brandy products in the past.
35 Maple is the spirits division of The Other Guys (TOG), a cutting edge wine company headquartered in Sonoma, CA. Its president, August Sebastiani, is a fourth-generation member of one of California’s oldest wine families, which has been a leader in the California wine industry since August’s great-grandfather, Samuele Sebastiani, opened his eponymous winery almost 110 years ago. With the motto “Laid-back guys, stand-out wines,” TOG focuses on producing top-quality wines and spirits at reasonable price points. Among its most popular wine labels are Plungerhead and Hey Mambo. www.togwines.com or www.facebook.com/togwines.
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