Coca-Cola HBC Romania is expanding its Premium Spirits portfolio through a new distribution partnership with Heaven Hill Brands, the largest independent, family-owned and led spirits company in the United States and the world’s second-largest holder of Kentucky Bourbon. Founded in Bardstown, Kentucky, in 1935, Heaven Hill remains under third-generation family leadership. The partnership brings four internationally recognised brands from the Heaven Hill portfolio to Romania: Lunazul Tequila, Tequila Ocho, Evan Williams Bourbon and Elijah Craig Bourbon.

The launch is aimed at adult consumers who want to discover more about what is in their glass: the origin of the ingredients, the character of ripe agave, the influence of time spent in the barrel and the balance of vanilla, caramel, spice and oak. For HoReCa, modern trade and premium retail, the expansion brings brands with compelling stories, versatility in serving and relevance across increasingly sophisticated consumption occasions.

Through this launch, Coca-Cola HBC Romania brings together two distinctive spirits traditions that are attracting growing attention within global premium drinks culture. Tequila begins with agave, with origin, growing conditions and production choices helping to shape the character of each expression. For Tequila Ocho, terroir is central to this approach: the soil, climate, altitude and sun exposure of an individual field can influence the agave and, ultimately, the tequila in the glass. Kentucky Bourbon develops its character differently, through its grain recipe, distillation and maturation in new charred oak barrels, where time creates depth, structure and rich layers of flavour.

The partnership connects Coca-Cola HBC Romania with Heaven Hill’s more than 90 years of American whiskey heritage and its established presence in agave spirits. Together, the four brands offer complementary expressions of their respective categories, combining family tradition, a strong sense of place and time-honoured production methods with a contemporary approach to cocktails, tasting and responsible enjoyment. This breadth gives customers a clear route into both categories, from accessible discovery to more considered tasting occasions and deeper product knowledge.

Premium Spirits, a strategic focus within an increasingly complete portfolio

At Group level, Premium Spirits is a strategic category within Coca-Cola HBC’s ambition to be the leading 24/7 beverage partner. The category strengthens customer relationships and broadens the company’s relevance across adult consumption occasions, particularly through mixology activations and integrated HoReCa experiences.

“The partnership with Heaven Hill and the addition of Lunazul Tequila, Tequila Ocho, Evan Williams and Elijah Craig mark an important step in Coca-Cola HBC Romania’s Premium

Spirits strategy. These are brands with genuine provenance and distinctive stories that can inspire bartenders, enrich HoReCa menus and encourage adult consumers to discover more about tequila and bourbon. Together, they give our customers new opportunities to create quality cocktails, guided tastings and memorable experiences, always centred on responsible enjoyment,” said Stoyan Angelov, Coffee and Premium Spirits Business Director, Coca-Cola HBC Romania.

From Jalisco: two expressions of agave craftsmanship and place

Lunazul Tequila is made from 100% Blue Weber agave in Jalisco, Mexico, and draws on more than 250 years of family tequila-making tradition. The agaves are hand-harvested, and the tequila is estate-bottled in the heart of agave country. Lunazul combines premium craftsmanship with an accessible and versatile style, making it well suited to both sipping and classic or contemporary cocktails.

Tequila Ocho was created by Master Distiller Carlos Camarena, a fifth-generation agave farmer and third-generation tequilero, and Tomas Estes, the tequila ambassador who helped bring tequila culture to Europe. Founded on the idea that terroir (the unique influence of soil, climate, and geography on a product’s character and flavour) can be expressed through tequila, Ocho places the individual field and harvest at the centre of each release. Its single-estate tequilas are vintage-dated, allowing differences in soil, altitude, climate and agave maturity to emerge from one vintage to the next. Rather than being defined by one fixed set of tasting notes, each expression reflects its own place and year, with cooked agave remaining at the heart of the profile.

From Kentucky: two defining bourbon stories from Heaven Hill

Evan Williams is named for the man credited with establishing Kentucky’s first commercial distillery on the banks of the Ohio River in 1783. The brand honours that pioneering legacy through time-honoured Kentucky Bourbon-making methods and is known for a style that is rich, smooth and full of character. Approachable for consumers beginning to explore bourbon and versatile enough for established whiskey drinkers, Evan Williams works equally well neat, on the rocks or in cocktails such as a Whiskey Sour or highball.

Elijah Craig Small Batch tells another foundational Kentucky Bourbon story. Reverend Elijah Craig is traditionally credited with pioneering the use of charred oak barrels and is widely known as the Father of Bourbon. The award-winning Small Batch expression is matured in Level 3 charred oak barrels and bottled at 47% ABV. It combines aromas of vanilla bean, sweet fruit and fresh mint with warm spice, subtle smoke and nutmeg, followed by a long, sweet and slightly toasted finish. Elijah Craig is also the Official Bourbon and a Worldwide Supplier of the Ryder Cup, one of golf’s most prestigious international events.

An invitation to explore, one serve at a time

For connoisseurs discovering the portfolio, each brand offers a distinctive route into its category. Lunazul Tequila is well suited to a balanced Margarita with fresh lime, allowing the character of the 100% Blue Weber agave to remain clear. Tequila Ocho is best explored neat in a tasting glass, giving its estate and vintage character time to unfold, or in a classic Paloma, where grapefruit and lime complement rather than conceal the agave.

Evan Williams brings approachable Kentucky Bourbon character to a Whiskey Sour or refreshing highball, where its notes of vanilla, caramel and oak remain generous and accessible. For Elijah Craig Small Batch, the signature cocktail is the Old Fashioned. Its full-bodied richness, warm spice and subtle smoke are particularly well suited to this simple, spirit-forward serve, allowing the depth and structure of the bourbon to remain at the centre of the drink. Both bourbons can also be enjoyed neat or on the rocks.

Across all four brands, the emphasis is on thoughtful serving and responsible enjoyment.

About Coca-Cola HBC Group

Coca-Cola HBC is a growth-focused consumer packaged goods business and strategic bottling partner of The Coca-Cola Company. We open up moments that refresh us all by creating value for our stakeholders and supporting the socio-economic development of the communities in which we operate. With a vision to be the leading 24/7 beverage partner, we offer drinks for all occasions around the clock and work together with our customers to serve 760 million consumers across a broad geographic footprint of 29 countries.

Our portfolio is one of the strongest, broadest and most flexible in the beverage industry, with consumer-leading brands across the sparkling, adult sparkling, juice, water, sport, energy, ready-to-drink tea, coffee and premium spirits categories, with snacks as an additional offering. Our products include Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Fanta, Sprite, Schweppes, Kinley, Costa Coffee, Caffè Vergnano, Valser, FuzeTea, Powerade, Cappy, Monster Energy, Finlandia Vodka, The Macallan, Jack Daniel’s and Plazma.

We foster an open and inclusive work environment for our more than 33,500 employees and believe that a positive environmental impact is integral to our future growth. We are among the leaders of the global beverage industry across major sustainability benchmarks, including the Dow Jones Best-in-Class Indices, CDP, MSCI ESG, FTSE ESG and ISS ESG.

Coca-Cola HBC is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: CCH) and on Euronext Athens (Euronext Athens: EEE). For more information, please visit https://www.coca-colahellenic.com/.