Can the Man Behind Fireball Do It Again With Tequila?
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Fireball cinnamon whisky in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 17, 2017.
Photographer: Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post/The Washington Post/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
The man who helped turn Fireball Cinnamon Whisky into one of the fastest-growing alcohol brands of the past decade is hoping to duplicate that success with tequila, a category marked by surging sales but also geopolitical risk.
Richard Pomes, who promoted the Fireball brand for Sazerac Co., has begun a startup in Boston called Ghost Tequila. The idea is to capitalize on the broader growth of tequila while using Pomes’s grass-roots efforts to gain recognition. With Fireball, he took the cinnamon-flavored liquor from bar to bar -- offering free shots -- until Fireball was outselling established whiskey brands.