As an unprecedented rise in demand leads to a historic supply crunch, the Aristocrat Group Corp. (OTCBB: ASCC) announced today that it will develop a new online platform that will allow bourbon collectors and connoisseurs to acquire their favorite aged spirits for less by purchasing bourbon futures from producers.
“The high demand for relatively scarce, handcrafted bourbons has presented an incredible new opportunity in this marketplace,” said ASCC CEO Robert Federowicz. “The success of wine futures has shown us that this is a viable market strategy, and bourbon has now entered the realm of scarcity and popularity necessary to support a robust trade in futures. We want to build the online platform to facilitate those transactions.”
“Wine futures” refer to buying wine after it is made, but before it is bottled. Six months or so after vintage, when the wines are still in tank or barrel, samples are made available and buyers place orders based on their assessment of the wines, then sell their “future” stock on to their customers. With a global bourbon shortage now well underway, ASCC believes that the time is ripe for the creation of a similar futures market for the brown spirit, which is typically barrel-aged far longer than most wines.
“The main appeal of such a market is that consumers can pay less for bourbon futures now than for a finished spirit later,” Federowicz said. “All the bourbon community needs now is a stable, online marketplace.”
Creating and hosting that marketplace is only the latest strategy in ASCC’s mission to carve out a niche in the booming U.S. distilled spirits market. The company is already planning for dramatic growth in 2015 behind the continued success of its RWB Ultra-Premium Handcrafted Vodka, as well as a closely guarded new product that the company expects to debut this spring. ASCC recently announced that it was seeking out expanded warehouse space and additional fleet vehicles to help satisfy growing demand for its spirit brands.