A great shock came to many whisky lovers yesterday after Atom Group, the company that owns online whisky retailer Master of Malt and independent spirits bottling and blending company That Boutique-y Whisky Company, was purchased by Anheuser-Busch InBev. For those who don't know who Anheuser-Busch InBev are they are a multi-national conglomerate alcoholic beverages company that mostly focus in beer and own brands such as Corona, Budweiser and Stella Artois along with many other beer brands and craft beer makers such as Goose Island Brewery and Devil's Backbone Brewery in the United States.
The news came yesterday afternoon after Master of Malt made a blogpost confirming the sale for an undisclosed amount.
The news also came just after Master of Malt made another blogpost confirming that it would not be continuing their practice of shipping products to the United States.
Some commenters online and on Master of Malt's blog comment section were skeptical over the reasoning behind the halting of online orders to the United States when other sites such as The Whisky Exchange were continuing online orders to FedEx approved states. Some question whether the purchase by AB-Inbev played a role in this due to potential liability issues arising with international imports of spirits.
That Boutique-y Whisky Company have not made any social media posts currently regarding the purchase.
The deal gives AB-InBev ownership of the two companies along with Maverick Drinks which is the distribution side of the company. While many whisky lovers, including long-time fans of Master of Malt and That Boutique-y Whisky Company, are very concerned about the purchase by such a big conglomerate others have been more subdued regarding the purchase due to past successes by AB-InBev with craft breweries such as Goose Island who they claim have not seen quality hits in their products after the purchase.
More details regarding the future of USA distribution for Master of Malt appear to be coming at a much later date.
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