Gran Malo
Gran Malo, a tamarind-flavored Tequila liqueur from Gallo, is spicing up the premium Tequila space. The brand, which launched in Mexico in 2021 and was followed by a U.S. launch in California in 2024, has been catching fire in the States, rocketing to 360,000 cases in 2025, according to Impact Databank. Gran Malo is geared toward shot-taking occasions, offering flavors including Churro and Jamaica, among others.
“Gran Malo, which entered our portfolio last year, was the No-1 spirits growth item in California,” Gallo chief commercial officer Britt West told Market Watch sister publication Shanken News Daily (SND) in an interview earlier this year. “It now represents over 50% of all flavored Tequila and it drove 60% of dollar growth in Tequila last year. And there is more runway.”
The Tequila-based liqueur, which retails for $20 a 750-ml. and $2 a 50-ml. and comes in at 30% abv, made Market Watch’s Hot Brands list for the first time in 2025. Its growth has skyrocketed since its initial launch in Southern California in 2024. Since then, Gallo has expanded Gran Malo into several other markets across western America including Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, California, and Texas, among others. Gallo’s West noted in an interview with SND that Gran Malo has “a highly focused Mexican-American consumer, and therefore you can very effectively use data, use targeted retailers, and focus in.”
Madeline Ender
Decoy Featherweight
The wine world has been adapting to broad new industry trends as consumers—particularly younger legal-drinking-age ones—have been seeking out healthier drinking options. Decoy, part of the Duckhorn portfolio, is one of many all-star brands that has leaned into the better-for-you wine segment with the release of Decoy Featherweight, a low-calorie and low-abv line of wines designed to introduce the Decoy brand to “a new audience of consumers who are engaging with wine on different occasions and in different ways,” Duckhorn’s then-interim president, CEO, and chairperson Deirdre Mahlan said at the line’s 2024 launch.
Decoy Featherweight released its first wine, a Sauvignon Blanc, in January of 2024, followed by a Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay in 2025. Each wine has just 80 calories and clocks in at 9% abv, meeting health-minded consumers exactly where they want to be. The line depleted 63,000 9-liter cases last year, according to Impact Databank.
Decoy Featherweight is available nationally and is priced intentionally at $20 a 750-ml., a price segment that Decoy has been trying to break into, according to Chanel Caplan, senior vice president of premium brands at Duckhorn. “We made the decision about a year ago to strategically reposition the pricing to really compete in that $15–$20 segment,” Caplan told Market Watch sister publication Shanken News Daily last year.
Madeline Ender
