Objective
Identify a premium tequila distiller with whom Carlos Santana could strategically align in his first-ever spirits category product endorsement; a company whose superior products would match Carlos Santana’s unsurpassed standard of creative excellence while honoring the rich traditions and cultural history of his family’s western Mexico heritage.
Business Strategy
Find a well-funded spirits company with exceptionally strong distribution channels and significant growth potential for equity position… whose premium tequila brands might be especially responsive to a product endorsement/alliance with Carlos Santana.
Our Role
Working in partnership with Carlos Santana’s management, we immersed ourselves in the spirits industry and tequila category, and focused on identifying an authentic Mexican spirits company that used only the finest certified organic blue agave and centuries-old fermentation and distillation recipes and processes.
Results
After extensive research, we identified the multi-award winning Casa Noble Tequila brand, the origins of which date to 1776 in Jalisco, Mexico and which is owned today by Tequila Ventures LLC and distributed by Infinium Spirits, a division of Wilson Daniels, Ltd.
We made a full tequila category presentation to Santana’s management, strongly recommending alignment with Casa Noble, then joined Casa Noble’s owners in making a formal presentation and financial proposal to Carlos Santana in his Las Vegas residence.
Outcome
In Spring 2011, Carlos Santana and Casa Noble entered into an equity-based relationship whereby Santana will serve as the brand’s exclusive endorser and ambassador.
Carlos Santana now owns a meaningful share of the Casa Noble brand, with the opportunity to significantly increase his equity stake over the next 3-5 years based on growth in the brand’s case volume and market valuation.
