KTW Group Expands Its Spirits Portfolio with Whisky and New Brands

KTW Group Expands Its Spirits Portfolio with Whisky and New Brands

Founded in 2001, KTW Group is developing new directions including Georgian whisky, BAICHA for the Chinese market, a series of new XO brandies and several new brand concepts. For a company whose products are sold in more than 30 countries, much of the expansion is being developed with export markets in mind.

KTW Group has built its core drinks business around Georgian wine, brandy and chacha. It is now widening that portfolio with new categories and brands.

The projects in development include whisky, China-focused BAICHA, four new XO brandies and the new names VALMON, VALASKA, MARULA and IMPERIUM.

Not all commercial specifications have yet been disclosed. For several of the new products, details including age statements, alcohol strength, pricing and release dates remain to be announced.

From a family cellar to an international producer

Kakhetian Traditional Winemaking, or KTW, was founded by Zurab Chkhaidze in 2001.

The company's roots extend back to the village of Askana in Guria and the cellar of Antimoz Chkhaidze. According to KTW's history, the oldest qvevri preserved there dates to 1880.

Today KTW is one of Georgia's largest producers of wine and spirits.

Its production infrastructure includes the Velistsikhe-Mukuzani winery and distillery, Chateau Manavi and the Patardzeuli wine and brandy facility.

KTW lists annual production capacity of 10,000 tons of wine material and 20,000 tons of spirit material. The group employs more than 2,500 people and sells its products in more than 30 countries.

The company also reports longstanding leadership positions in Georgian wine and brandy exports.

Moving into whisky

Whisky is one of the most significant new categories in KTW's portfolio.

The company is developing Georgian whiskies with different concepts and ageing profiles, with export markets forming an important part of the strategy.

Whisky is a new category for KTW, but it builds on capabilities the group already uses in brandy and chacha, including distillation, spirit production, maturation and international distribution.

Age statements, alcohol strengths, pricing and release dates for the new whisky products have not yet been publicly announced.

BAICHA and the Chinese market

BAICHA is being developed specifically with China in mind.

The concept brings together elements of Chinese baijiu culture and the Georgian tradition of chacha.

KTW already has experience introducing Georgian products to the Chinese market, and BAICHA represents a product direction developed around that market rather than simply exporting an existing domestic brand.

Detailed information on its composition, alcohol strength, price and commercial release date has not yet been disclosed.

Four new XO brandies

KTW is also expanding its premium brandy portfolio.

The new XO names are Chateau Manavi XO, Chateau Askana XO, Heritage XO and Imperial Crown XO.

Chateau Manavi and Chateau Askana already sit within KTW's broader brand architecture. Askana also connects the new portfolio with the group's family history in Guria.

Specific age statements, alcohol strengths and pricing for the new XO products have not yet been published.

VALMON, VALASKA, MARULA and IMPERIUM

Four additional names are also being developed: VALMON, VALASKA, MARULA and IMPERIUM.

According to the company's material, each is being built with its own visual identity, story and positioning.

What has not yet been disclosed is the drinks category attached to each name. Until that information is available, it would be premature to classify them as whisky, brandy, chacha or another type of spirit.

The broader strategy is clearer. KTW is developing new products with distinct brand identities intended to compete beyond the Georgian domestic market.

Positioning chacha internationally

Chacha itself is not new to KTW, but the company is also working on how the category is presented internationally.

The objective is to position chacha not only as a traditional Georgian spirit, but as a standalone spirits category capable of competing for attention in export markets.

KTW enters that effort with an established distribution base. Its products are sold in more than 30 countries and the group already has experience exporting Georgian wine and brandy at scale.

The whisky programme, BAICHA, the new XO products and the additional brand concepts represent a broader extension of that strategy. KTW is not moving away from the Georgian categories on which it built the business. It is using the same production and export platform to test where new spirits and new brands can fit alongside them.

Learn more about KTW Group: [link]