Cotton & Reed

District Distillers Inc. is dedicated to the distillation of premium spirits within the booming craft distilling market. The company’s brand, Cotton & Reed, represents a portfolio of experimental spirits using natural ingredients and innovative distillation techniques. As consumers become increasingly focused on product origins, with movements like farm-to-table, Cotton & Reed is bringing this approach to the spirits world by distilling local, sometimes hand-foraged plants. BRAND: Cotton & Reed is named for our cofounders in the long tradition of eponymy in spirits. The name also calls to mind the verdant intersection of agriculture and nature at which our products sit. “Cotton” represents carefully cultivated plants like corn and wheat that form the basis of many of our spirits; wild-growing “reed” represents the more natural and unknown aspects of our products and marketing imagery. Our name simultaneously describes the origins of our company and our natural products as spirits consumers value origin stories and authenticity. MARKET: The craft spirits market is booming. Industry analysts expect producer revenue in the craft distillery market to grow at a 15-25% CAGR for the next 10-20 years. The craft distilling movement is still considered to be in 'early innings' as it begins to mirror craft beer’s growth trajectory. The growing preference for locally-produced products with a human story, combined with an exploding cocktail culture, have created a thirst for creative spirits. ADVISERS: Our team is advised by spirits industry and startup veterans including: Jim Beam’s recently departed Global VP for Innovation; the team that created the Ogilvy Award-winning Makers Mark 'It Is What It Isn't' ad strategy; a venture capitalist with 30 years of experience, and a DC entrepreneur with extensive restaurant connections.

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