News Notes: Bacardi Goes For All Of Teeling, New York Distilling's New Cocktail Space & More

Bacardi Takes Full Ownership of Teeling Whiskey

Bacardi has completed its acquisition of Teeling Whiskey Company, becoming the sole owner of the Irish whiskey maker after taking a minority stake in 2017 and transitioning to majority owner in 2022. Co-founders Jack and Stephen Teeling will remain on board as strategic advisors. Teeling is thus now a Bacardi-owned operationt, joining Bacardi portfolio of whiskies that also includes Angel’s Envy, Dewar’s, and Aberfeldy.

New York Distilling Opens New Cocktail and Event Space

Roughly a year after New York Distilling Company was bought by Loch Lomond Group, the craft distiller has opened a new cocktail and event space, Jaywalker, inside its distillery in Brooklyn, New York . The 3,000-square-foot space—which is the production site for the label’s Jaywalk Heirloom rye and Dorothy Parker gin—is designed to integrate the distilling process into the creative atmosphere for guests to enjoy, with copper stills in full view in the bar space. The inventive New York-themed cocktail menu highlights its namesake Jaywalk rye, while reimagining classics priced at $12-$15. Jaywalker is open Thursday through Sunday from 4:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m.

Catoctin Creek Widens Texas Availability

Virginia craft distiller Catoctin Creek has signed a new distribution agreement with Texas-based wine, spirits, and tobacco distributor Alfvor LLC. According to the distillery, the new partnership will increase Catoctin Creek’s presence in bars, restaurants, and retailers across the Lone Star State—with a focus on the distillery’s Roundstone rye, Rabble Rouser bonded rye, Watershed gin, Hot Honey rye, and other limited releases.

Catoctin Creek has been making other distribution moves recently as well. Back in February it named PM Spirit, the Brooklyn, New York-based importer and distributor founded and owned by Nicolas Palazzi to handle its New York market. That decision similarly focused on widening the availability of its whiskey—specifically Roundstone and Hot Honey—but it also covered Catoctin’s applejack and peach brandy, which seemed like a natural fit for PM’s cognac, armagnac, and brandy-heavy portfolio.

WhistlePig Offloads Its Upstate New York Facility

It recently came to light that, back in March, WhistlePig quietly sold its outpost in Moriah, New York to Zags 26 LLC, a Delaware company apparently incorporated in January of this year. The site, which sold for $17 million, was home to a bottling plant and aging warehouses, which WhistlePig first occupied around 2017. Some readers may recall hearing about this facility a few years ago, when local outlets reported that there had been an outbreak of “whiskey fungus”—a type of nontoxic black mold that feeds on ethanol vapors—in the area following WhistlePig’s arrival.

Green River and Bardstown Bourbon to Supply Mission Cocktails

Ready-to-drink (RTD) brand Mission Craft Cocktails has inked a new production agreement with Loftus Spirits, parent company of both Bardstown Bourbon Co. and Green River. Under the new arrangement, Mission will exclusively use Green River bourbon for its Old Fashioned expression and Bardstown rye for its Manhattan.

New Releases

Tequila Ocho Collaborates with Ferrand Cognac On New Barrel Select Añejo

Tequila Ocho and Ferrand Cognac have teamed up for a new limited edition Barrel Select Añejo, the third collaboration between the two brands. The single-estate tequila is made from Highlands agave and aged for 1 year in Ferrand cognac casks. Bottled at 44.4% ABV and priced at $125, it will be available in California, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia beginning August 2026. This is just the latest in Tequila Ocho’s series of collaborative releases that recently included the use of its barrels to finish Widow Jane 10 year old bourbon, and last year, its añejo finished in Old Fitzgerald bourbon barrels.

Virginia Distillery Co. Has a Low-Alc Vodka Seltzer

Virginia Distillery Co. (VDC) is best known for its excellent American single malts, but this week it made news with a completely different spirit. The distillery has just launched Kinda Light, a vodka seltzer that aims to maximize sipping at social events by lowering both the calories (50 per can) and alcohol content (2.5% ABV). It’s made with real juice, sparkling water, vodka, natural flavors, and zero sugar. The brand has initially launched online and in Virginia retailers for $18/variety 8-pack—including two cans each of Cucumber, Black Cherry, Pineapple, and Grapefruit—with national distribution coming soon.

Kinda Light is noteworthy as this is the first new brand created through VDC’s Pound & Penny Spirits (P&P) division. P&P was established in March as a marketing platform catering to up-and-coming spirit brands looking for growth opportunities. P&P’s inaugural client was an additive-free tequila label called Cierto, but it has since tacked on VDC’s own Courage & Conviction label and the Illinois-based Black Band Distillery. Kinda Light was produced via American Custom Distilling, VDC’s contract distillation wing.