Liquor Group selected as official sponsor of "Spirit of Sarasota" Restaurant Week

Sarasota, FL

The fourth largest spirit portfolio in Florida, Liquor Group, will serve as the official liquor sponsor for Spirit of Sarasota, a weeklong dining event from May 16 - 21 showcasing Sarasota’s chefs and dining establishments that have helped the city earn the distinction of having one of the highest concentrations of Zagat-rated restaurants in the state.

Liquor Group, who has operations in 21 states and several Canadian provinces, represents more than 400 liquor products that are distributed through various channels.

Five of Liquor Group’s products will be served in signature cocktails or incorporated into entrées at restaurants participating in Spirit of Sarasota.

Participating restaurants will feature Liquor Group products including Red Rum, a Virgin Island Rum infused with mangos, cherry and coconut; Mazama Infused Pepper Vodka made from hot and sweet peppers; Licor De Banana, the only fermented Licor on the market made with all-natural bananas; Crater Lake Vodka, the only aged Vodka on the market; and Crater Lake Espresso Vodka, made with 100 percent sugar cane and espresso beans, making this Licor safer for diabetics.

Patrons will have the opportunity to enjoy multi-course meals at restaurants participating in Spirit of Sarasota for $15 per person for lunch and $25 per person for dinner

Each participating restaurant will make a donation of $100 to the University of South Florida’s School of Hotel and Restaurant Management, and will hold some sort of an interactive event during the restaurant week.

Home of the famed Ringling Museum of Art, endless miles of sugar white shores and captivating culture, Sarasota & Her Islands is an area diversely comprised of Sarasota, Longboat Key, Lido Key, Siesta Key, Casey Key, Venice, Manasota Key, Englewood and North Port.

For more information, please visit
www.spiritofsarasota.org
or call 1-800-552-9799.

Golf, Art and Scotch, (not necessarily in that order)

St. Augustine, FL

In the oldest city in North America, Golf, Art and Scotch, (not necessarily in that order) were the buzz at the Inaugural PGA Golf Organizations’ "First Tee Scotch Tasting" charity event. As Gaelic music sundered in the background, crowds awaited for their chance to enter the grand ballroom at the elegant and historic Casa Monica Hotel in downtown St. Augustine. Once all gathered for these rare examples of fine single malt, single cask scotch offerings, they were greeted by a procession lead by a bagpipe player bellowing Scotland the Brave followed by renowned Scottish Scholar Byron Cassell along with Myra Schick, all dressed in Scottish traditional Prince Charlie and Tartan garb. Thereafter, education about and consumption of the finest scotches in the world commenced, featuring Scotch Specialist Signatory, with Single Malt Scotch offerings from all regions of Scotland including rare offerings such as: 1994 Edradour, 1992 Highland Park, 1991 Rosebank, 1990 Macallan, 1989 Glenrothes, 1989 Caol Ila.

As a bonus, a distillery bottling of Edradour 10 year aged Scotch was also sampled to allow the connoisseurs to distinguish the differences between Chillfiltered and Unchillfiltered scotch. This event offered a unique opportunity to enjoy history and insight on distilling of Scotch along with the education of the unique characteristics of these fine offerings with tasting notes and commentary.

SanMar Art Publishing featured Golf related art at the event from internationally recognized artist McKenzie, who created several paintings including a special painting with commemorative limited edition prints of her work entitled It's Never Too Early to Learn in honor of the PGA’s work with mentoring children.

These paintings were auctioned off at the end of the event raising thousands for this worthy cause. The Liquor Group, a distributor managing Florida’s fourth largest spirits portfolio presented each of these fine Scotches from their 250+ Single Malt Scotch Distillery offerings, including specialty scotches from all major distilleries in Scotland. Broudy’s Liquor Stores supplied customers with these fine scotch products after the event, as the appetite for fine scotches was certainly whet at the completion of the event.
To draw the event to a close, Cassell taught the crowd the traditional toast of Scotland, the Gaelic: Slainte Mhath (pronounced Slan-gee Varr) and the traditional Gaelic response to the toast as well, so not only was their Scotch whisky education a foot, but there was also Scottish language education as well!

For more information visit
www.LiquorGroup.com
Contact: Press@LiquorGroup.com
or call 904-565-2633

Number Four in Number Two

Ponte Vedra, Florida

In the sleepy village of Ponte Vedra Beach ("Golf Mecca"), a once tiny liquor sales organization has rapidly gained strength and products to become the fourth largest spirit portfolio in Florida, which by volume is the second largest spirit market in the country. With it’s humble beginnings as a manufacturers representative for Happy Vodka (www.HappyVodka.com), Liquor Group (www.LiquorGroup.com) now has operations in 21 US States, several Canadian provinces and a few international markets, with facilities and staff prepped and ready to move quantities of the 400+ products they now represent through their various distribution channels. Liquor Group has also formed strategic alliances with companies such as Exel Transportation (www.Exel.com) and FedEx (www.FedEx.com) to manage the explosive growth and logistics concerns.

It is hard to argue with their methodology; growth of more than 1000% last quarter, sales increases upwards of 800% per year and cost per unit decreases of 15% on average are performance numbers not seen since the dot-com boom. Fueling the growth is a team of dedicated individuals who believe that alcohol beverage products should be represented and sold in a consistent, honest, vendor friendly open cards manner rather than through the ‘used car’ methods of subversive tactics, complicated discounts and chain friendly pricing schemes.

"We TRULY consider the vendors that sell our products when we set up our pricing, always allowing our customers a minimum of 30% markup to national average retail price, something no other distributor offers..." says Gray C. Solomon, Managing Member of Liquor Group, the parent company of the operation. Straight forward pricing, no minimum orders, no discounts and only modest "cost of shipping" adjustments for large single point delivery customers makes Liquor Group products friendly to independent vendors, which generally make up the majority of Liquor Store and Restaurant licenses in the market.

Product selection also plays an important role, and again Liquor Group has made smart choices for their portfolio. Some of the finest products available in the alcohol market such as the four and five star rated Black Maple Hill Bourbons, Signatory Scotch, winners of the 2005 Whiskey Magazine Bottler of the Year, Crater Lake Vodkas, Gins and flavored vodkas as well as bar suppliers such as Shotski’s all make for a selection that will stand up to any discerning client’s wishes. With all of these factors in play, it is no wonder Liquor Group has grown the way it has.

"All of this growth has come with a cost..." says Liquor Group Florida Sales Manager Jody Jordan "...we all work about 50 hours per week on average, with most of our sales force are moving towards 60 hours on average...

and it is only going to get worse as we continue to grow in other markets." As upper management in the company continues to search for new talent to bring into the fold, they find it is very difficult to hire quality sales representatives with the proper skill set. Liquor Group does not generally hire from the liquor industry, as it chooses to train employees from scratch rather than trying to retrain old and often bad habits out of seasoned sales representatives. Education on products and the industry is a cornerstone of Liquor Group, as each rep must learn a manual with more than 250 pages of product specific knowledge and insight. However, if a rep does not know the answer to a specific question, they are not afraid to admit it and find someone within the organization to solve the problem. This type of open door policy also makes a difference in the overall operation according to Jordan.

In a multi-billion dollar spirits industry, with astonishing growth curves, what more do you ask can Liquor Group accomplish? "Much more!" says Solomon. Future expansion plans include the buy out or phase out of non-owned broker sales organizations in several markets, the addition of several more state territories and implementation of even more aggressive strategy of growth. Who knows, maybe they will see 2000% next year?

For more information visit www.DrinkHappy.com
Contact: Press@DrinkHappy.com
or call 904-565-2633

Don't Worry…Drink Happy! TM

Three Piece Swimsuits?

Sarasota, FL

We have all heard of the one piece, even the two piece swimsuit, but in Sarasota Florida the Convention and Visitors Bureau: Spirit Of Sarasota (SpiritOfSarasota.com) has introduced the third piece of the puzzle...the dining bib! Chefs from more than 30 top area dining venues will gather on Restaurant Week May 16th through 21st to showcase their cuisine with a unique twist: their recipes will include one or more of the spirits products provided by Liquor Group (LiquorGroup.com), including Crater Lake Vodka®, Crater Lake Hazelnut Espresso Vodka®, Mazama Infused Pepper Vodka®, Licor De Banana® and RedRum® Tropical Fruit Flavored Rum. These chefs will be challenged to create mouth watering appetizers, succulent dinners and desirable deserts while using each of these award-winning unique spirits to enhance the outcome. Chefs will interact with the diners, offering cooking lessons, tips and activities for them to participate.

Sarasota and Her Islands are diversely comprised of Sarasota, Longboat Key, Lido Key, Siesta Key, Casey Key, Venice, Manasota Key, Englewood and North Port. The highest concentration of Zagat-rated restaurants in Florida, mostly independent, locally-owned eateries reside in this region. These restaurants introduced their Iron Chef-esque challengers to their first test at the press day event held on Monday March 13th, as a bevy of reporters including representatives from NPR Radio, Gayot.com, Martha Stewart Living, New Tampa Style, Citysearch.com, National Post, The Globe & Mail, Sun-Sentinel, Delta Sky, Continental Magazine, National Geographic Traveler, Travel World International, MSNBC.com, JustSayGo.com, Senior Marketplace News, Northern Colorado Woman Newspaper, FL International Magazine and Tallahassee Magazine gathered for their first taste of the event. Needless to say, the large group of reporters left with a belly full of culinary creations and now has many great food stories to share.

The main event starting May 16th however, will encompass thousands of locals and tourists alike, dining on the best that the area has to offer. "These Sarasota Chef’s have really outdone themselves..." says Carinne West, Sales Representative for Liquor Group’s Florida Division "...the spirits they are using to create these marvelous dishes are great to drink, but who would have thought they would also be great to EAT!" All we have to say about foods made with Crater Lake Vodka®, Crater Lake Hazelnut Espresso Vodka®, Mazama Infused Pepper Vodka®, Licor De Banana® and RedRum® is...yummy.

For more information, visit
www.SpiritOfSarasota.com
or call 1-800-871-6380.

www.LiquorGroup.com
Contact: Press@LiquorGroup.com
or call 904-565-2633

The First Annual “First Tee Scotch Experience”

St. Augustine, FL

March in the Jacksonville area signifies one thing…The PGA Golf Tournament, but golfers have other interests as well, including the education about and consumption of the finest scotches in the World. This has prompted The First Tee - A PGA Organization along with the Commissioner of Golf in conjunction with The Golf Channel to arrange for The First Annual “First Tee Scotch Experience” Charity Event, March 21, 2006, featuring Scotch Specialist Signatory, with Single Malt Scotch offerings from all parts of Scotland including rare offerings such as: 1994 Edradour, 1992 Highland Park, 1991 Rosebank, 1990 MacCallan, 1989 Glen Rothes, 1989 Caol Ila.

The event is slated in the oldest city in North America, at the Historic Casa Monica Hotel in downtown St. Augustine Florida. PGA and LPGA Golf greats, NFL players, television and film celebrities and Scotch connoisseurs will all gather for a rare example of fine single malt, single cask scotch offerings. This is a unique opportunity to enjoy the history and unique insight of the distilling of Scotch along with tasting notes for each of these fine offerings from renowned Scottish Scholar Byron Cassell. Attendance is limited to two hundred, and tickets are first come, first served. Other sponsors of the event include SanMar Art Publishing, who will be featuring Golf and Scottish related art at the event. Internationally recognized artist McKenzie has created a special painting called

"It's Never Too Early To Learn" in honor of the PGA’s work with mentoring children. Commemorative limited edition posters of this painting will be available for sale at the event. The Liquor Group is presenting each of these fine Scotches from their portfolio of more than 250 Single Malt Scotch Distillery offerings, including specialty scotches from all major distilleries in Scotland. Broudy’s Liquors will be the presenting liquor store chain supplying the customers with these fine scotch products after the event

For more information visit
www.LiquorGroup.com
Contact: Press@LiquorGroup.com
or call 904-565-2633