Rapper-cum-investor Sean “Diddy” Combs is now the proud part-owner of the luxury tequila brand DeLeón, which he and co-owner Diageo PLC hope to turn into a boutique brand.
DeLeón is a pricey niche tequila made from the blue agave plant in Mexico’s Jalisco region and sells for more than $1000 a bottle in upmarket bars, The Wall Street Journal reports. DeLeón currently sells just 10,000 nine-liter cases annually, compared to overall tequila sales in the U.S. of 13 million cases a year, and is distributed in only 18 states. Combs and the major distiller each now own 50% of DeLeón.
Combs and Diageo will attempt to build on their earlier success with the high-end vodka Cîroc. High-end tequila makes up just 0.6% of the U.S. tequila market, but tequila globally has grown 7% in the last decade, more than scotch, brandy or gin.