Old Forester president to lead brand to ‘prominence’

Brown-Forman has promoted a member of its founding family to the newly created position of president of Old Forester Bourbon, as part of a bid to bring the brand “back to prominence”.

Campbell Brown has been promoted to the newly created position of president of Old Forester Bourbon

Fifth generation family member Campbell Brown, who most recently managed Brown-Forman’s wine and spirits portfolio in Canada and the Midwest, will take up the position from 1 May.

He will be responsible for the “worldwide growth” of the Old Forester trademark, aiming to develop it into a “national and international iconic American Bourbon brand”. He will also oversee the development of the brand’s new US$30m distillery, which is expected to be completed in autumn 2016.

“With the Bourbon business booming and Brown-Forman’s commitment to Old Forester evident in our substantial investment in building the Old Forester Distillery, Campbell is very well suited to lead this venerable brand to national and global growth,” said the group’s chief brands and strategy officer, Lawson Whiting, to whom Brown will report.

“This is particularly significant when one considers that Brown-Forman was founded in 1870 with Old Forester as the first bottled Bourbon brand.”

Brown is also a member of he is a member of Brown-Forman’s Corporate Strategy Committee, serves on the Brown-Forman/Brown Family Shareholders Committee, and is on the board of the DendriFund – the environmental sustainability charitable foundation established by Brown-Forman.

“I am very pleased to take on the assignment of leading Old Forester back to the prominence it once had within Brown-Forman and in the bourbon industry,” said Brown.

“It has remained a favourite among true Bourbon aficionados, as well as a source of great pride among company employees and Brown family members. I look forward to helping introduce Old Forester to a new generation of Bourbon lovers in the US and around the world.”

Brown-Forman’s new distillery, based in Louisville, Kentucky, will double capacity for Old Forester – the only Bourbon brand to be produced and bottled before, during and after Prohibition.

Earlier this month, the group revealed sales of its super- and ultra-premium brands had surpassed million case sales for the first time.