小众龙舌兰酒品牌的走红之道

    布伦特•霍金推出高档龙舌兰酒DeLeón后，他的朋友道格•埃林很快就在电话里给了他一个好机会。埃林是HBO热播剧《明星伙伴》（Entourage）的制作人，他向霍金提议在这部电视剧中给DeLeón安排一个出场机会，让剧中的聚会迷特特尔喜欢上这种酒。

    不过，面向众多年轻男性消费者（《明星伙伴》当然能带来这样一个群体）和更专注于精英团体还是存在差别。很快霍金就告诉埃林：“我不参加。”最终在这部电视剧里亮相的是Avión龙舌兰酒，2012年该产品的销量为5.5万箱，增长了22%。不过，DeLeón在好莱坞也同样闯出了名堂。

    DeLeón龙舌兰酒每瓶售价介于140-825美元（858.2-5,057.25元人民币）之间。现在，它已经出现在了洛杉矶一些最具有精英色彩的活动中，比如时装周、电影首映式、私人音乐会以及著名制片人哈维•韦恩斯坦举办的聚会。这些来自影视圈的客户格外引人关注，原因是仅仅7年前霍金还在Countrywide Home Loans和Coast Capital这样的信贷机构发放抵押贷款。他在2009年，也就是美国经济严重衰退时推出了这种龙舌兰酒。

    霍金看上去有点儿像专业健美运动员。他并不是人们通常所认为的那种企业家，而且也不打算让自己的产品成为一种寻常的龙舌兰酒品牌。霍金是个品酒行家，喜欢夜生活。2006年，他决定离开抵押贷款行业，把他身为一个葡萄酒爱好者的品位带到龙舌兰酒领域。

    为了找到自己的酿酒厂，霍金来到了墨西哥哈里斯科州。这个州面积很小，首府瓜达拉哈拉市之于龙舌兰酒就像法国的香槟地区之于香槟酒。（DeLeón 龙舌兰酒网站建议饮酒者将DeLeón Diamante龙舌兰酒放在香槟杯中，再和其他纯龙舌兰酒进行比较。）哈里斯科州对龙舌兰酒的生产实行严格监管，把它限制在143家酿酒厂。霍金既找对了时机，又碰上了极好的运气。他发现自己婚礼上那位年轻D.J.的祖父拥有一家龙舌兰酒厂，而这位老人不久前刚刚去世。霍金就这样买下了这家酒厂，成了在墨西哥自行经营龙舌兰酒厂的“唯一一个外国佬”。

    霍金的经历听上去也许很奇特，但他绝不是近年来唯一一个开创精品龙舌兰酒品牌的企业家。龙舌兰酒占美国烈性酒市场的7%，这个领域实际上已经变得特别拥挤，竞争非常激烈。2008年以来，龙舌兰酒品牌从832种暴增至1,600多种，其中许多都是小批量品牌（就像DeLeón和Avión龙舌兰酒），而且都想在不断增长的高端领域立足。歌星贾斯汀•汀布莱克就拥有一个龙舌兰酒品牌。影星乔治•克鲁尼也有一个。

    全球信息服务机构Euromonitor酒类行业分析师斯皮罗斯•马兰德拉科斯认为，烈性酒行业的走势类似于蓬勃发展的精酿啤酒。他指出，在美国国内市场已经饱和的情况下，走高端化发展路线既是最有希望、也是顺理成章的一个途径。“消费者会喝的更少，但质量会更高。”

    Shortly after Brent Hocking launched his high-end spirit, DeLeón Tequila, his friend Doug Ellin, the creator of HBO's hit show Entourage, called with a big break. Ellin offered DeLeón a bit part on his show, as the new favorite tequila of the party-loving character called Turtle.

    There is, however, a difference between exposure to a huge young male audience (which Entourage would certainly provide) and a more elite exclusivity. Hocking quickly told Ellin, "I'm out." The tequila that did score a spot on the show, Avión, sold 55,000 cases and grew 22% in 2012. Still, DeLeón has made its own mark in Hollywood.

    Hocking's blends, which sell for $140-$825 a bottle, now turn up at some of the most elite L.A. events: during fashion week, at movie premieres and private concerts, or parties thrown by Harvey Weinstein. Hocking's red carpet clientele is particularly striking given that just seven years ago he was working as a mortgage banker at places like Countrywide and Coast Capital, and that he launched his tequila in 2009, in the depths of a recession.

    But Hocking, who looks a bit like a professional bodybuilder, is not your typical entrepreneur. And he's not trying to build your typical tequila brand. A oenophile and lover of nightlife, Hocking in 2006 decided to leave his career in mortgage lending to bring a wine-lover's touch to tequila.

    Determined to find his own distillery, he traveled to Jalisco -- the tiny state in Mexico bordering Guanajuato that is tequila's equivalent to the Champagne region in France. (The DeLeón website instructs drinkers to compare its Diamante blend to any other clear tequila by placing it "in a champagne flute.") In Jalisco, tequila production is highly regulated and limited to 134 distilleries. Hocking, through a combination of good timing and great luck, bought his distillery after learning that the young D.J. from his wedding was the grandson of a recently deceased tequila distillery owner. Hocking claims to be the "only Gringo" in Mexico operating his own tequila distillery.

    Singular as Hocking's story may sound, he is hardly the only entrepreneur to have started a boutique tequila brand in recent years. In fact the tequila market, which accounts for just 7% of the U.S. spirit market, has become an especially crowded and competitive one. Since 2008, the number of tequila brands has ballooned from 832 to more than 1,600, many of them small-batch players (like DeLeón and Avión) that have tried to seize upon the growing premium market.Justin Timberlake owns a label. So does George Clooney.

    Spiros Malandrakis, an alcohol analyst with Euromonitor, compares the trend in spirits to the craft beer boom and says the premium sector is the most promising path toward growth in, and a natural consequence of, a domestic market that is already saturated. "Consumers are going for drinking less, but higher quality," he says.