Cutwater Spirits, LLC

Cutwater Spirits is the San Diego craft spirits operation that's grown into the most-distributed canned cocktail brand in the United States — and the production source behind much of the modern American ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktail category that's become one of the fastest-growing segments of the broader U.S. alcoholic beverage market through the late 2010s and early 2020s. Founded in 2007 as Ballast Point Spirits (the spirits-side spin-off of San Diego's Ballast Point Brewing Company), the operation rebranded as Cutwater Spirits in 2016 when it separated from the brewery side, then was acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev in February 2019 — making it AB InBev's first U.S. spirits acquisition and the company's strategic entry into the broader "Beyond Beer" spirits-and-RTD category. The Cutwater commercial trajectory has been remarkable. In the 52-week period ending January 26, 2019 (just before the AB InBev acquisition), Cutwater's RTD cocktail dollar sales grew 356% — vastly outpacing the broader spirits-based canned cocktail segment's 66% growth rate. The acquisition gave AB InBev a substantial foothold in the rapidly-expanding RTD category alongside the parent's existing Ritas, SpikedSeltzer, Babe Rose, and HiBall brands. Cutwater has since become the most-awarded canned cocktail brand in the United States, with the broader product portfolio scaling into national distribution at a pace essentially no other American craft RTD brand has matched. The product range covers an un…