布伦特•霍金推出高档龙舌兰酒DeLeón后，他的朋友道格•埃林很快就在电话里给了他一个好机会。埃林是HBO热播剧《明星伙伴》（Entourage）的制作人，他向霍金提议在这部电视剧中给DeLeón安排一个出场机会，让剧中的聚会迷特特尔喜欢上这种酒。

    不过，面向众多年轻男性消费者（《明星伙伴》当然能带来这样一个群体）和更专注于精英团体还是存在差别。很快霍金就告诉埃林：“我不参加。”最终在这部电视剧里亮相的是Avión龙舌兰酒，2012年该产品的销量为5.5万箱，增长了22%。不过，DeLeón在好莱坞也同样闯出了名堂。

    DeLeón龙舌兰酒每瓶售价介于140-825美元（858.2-5,057.25元人民币）之间。现在，它已经出现在了洛杉矶一些最具有精英色彩的活动中，比如时装周、电影首映式、私人音乐会以及著名制片人哈维•韦恩斯坦举办的聚会。这些来自影视圈的客户格外引人关注，原因是仅仅7年前霍金还在Countrywide Home Loans和Coast Capital这样的信贷机构发放抵押贷款。他在2009年，也就是美国经济严重衰退时推出了这种龙舌兰酒。

    霍金看上去有点儿像专业健美运动员。他并不是人们通常所认为的那种企业家，而且也不打算让自己的产品成为一种寻常的龙舌兰酒品牌。霍金是个品酒行家，喜欢夜生活。2006年，他决定离开抵押贷款行业，把他身为一个葡萄酒爱好者的品位带到龙舌兰酒领域。

    为了找到自己的酿酒厂，霍金来到了墨西哥哈里斯科州。这个州面积很小，首府瓜达拉哈拉市之于龙舌兰酒就像法国的香槟地区之于香槟酒。（DeLeón 龙舌兰酒网站建议饮酒者将DeLeón Diamante龙舌兰酒放在香槟杯中，再和其他纯龙舌兰酒进行比较。）哈里斯科州对龙舌兰酒的生产实行严格监管，把它限制在143家酿酒厂。霍金既找对了时机，又碰上了极好的运气。他发现自己婚礼上那位年轻D.J.的祖父拥有一家龙舌兰酒厂，而这位老人不久前刚刚去世。霍金就这样买下了这家酒厂，成了在墨西哥自行经营龙舌兰酒厂的“唯一一个外国佬”。

    霍金的经历听上去也许很奇特，但他绝不是近年来唯一一个开创精品龙舌兰酒品牌的企业家。龙舌兰酒占美国烈性酒市场的7%，这个领域实际上已经变得特别拥挤，竞争非常激烈。2008年以来，龙舌兰酒品牌从832种暴增至1,600多种，其中许多都是小批量品牌（就像DeLeón和Avión龙舌兰酒），而且都想在不断增长的高端领域立足。歌星贾斯汀•汀布莱克就拥有一个龙舌兰酒品牌。影星乔治•克鲁尼也有一个。

    全球信息服务机构Euromonitor酒类行业分析师斯皮罗斯•马兰德拉科斯认为，烈性酒行业的走势类似于蓬勃发展的精酿啤酒。他指出，在美国国内市场已经饱和的情况下，走高端化发展路线既是最有希望、也是顺理成章的一个途径。“消费者会喝的更少，但质量会更高。”

    Shortly after Brent Hocking launched his high-end spirit, DeLeón Tequila, his friend Doug Ellin, the creator of HBO's hit show Entourage, called with a big break. Ellin offered DeLeón a bit part on his show, as the new favorite tequila of the party-loving character called Turtle.

    There is, however, a difference between exposure to a huge young male audience (which Entourage would certainly provide) and a more elite exclusivity. Hocking quickly told Ellin, "I'm out." The tequila that did score a spot on the show, Avión, sold 55,000 cases and grew 22% in 2012. Still, DeLeón has made its own mark in Hollywood.

    Hocking's blends, which sell for $140-$825 a bottle, now turn up at some of the most elite L.A. events: during fashion week, at movie premieres and private concerts, or parties thrown by Harvey Weinstein. Hocking's red carpet clientele is particularly striking given that just seven years ago he was working as a mortgage banker at places like Countrywide and Coast Capital, and that he launched his tequila in 2009, in the depths of a recession.

    But Hocking, who looks a bit like a professional bodybuilder, is not your typical entrepreneur. And he's not trying to build your typical tequila brand. A oenophile and lover of nightlife, Hocking in 2006 decided to leave his career in mortgage lending to bring a wine-lover's touch to tequila.

    Determined to find his own distillery, he traveled to Jalisco -- the tiny state in Mexico bordering Guanajuato that is tequila's equivalent to the Champagne region in France. (The DeLeón website instructs drinkers to compare its Diamante blend to any other clear tequila by placing it "in a champagne flute.") In Jalisco, tequila production is highly regulated and limited to 134 distilleries. Hocking, through a combination of good timing and great luck, bought his distillery after learning that the young D.J. from his wedding was the grandson of a recently deceased tequila distillery owner. Hocking claims to be the "only Gringo" in Mexico operating his own tequila distillery.

    Singular as Hocking's story may sound, he is hardly the only entrepreneur to have started a boutique tequila brand in recent years. In fact the tequila market, which accounts for just 7% of the U.S. spirit market, has become an especially crowded and competitive one. Since 2008, the number of tequila brands has ballooned from 832 to more than 1,600, many of them small-batch players (like DeLeón and Avión) that have tried to seize upon the growing premium market.Justin Timberlake owns a label. So does George Clooney.

    Spiros Malandrakis, an alcohol analyst with Euromonitor, compares the trend in spirits to the craft beer boom and says the premium sector is the most promising path toward growth in, and a natural consequence of, a domestic market that is already saturated. "Consumers are going for drinking less, but higher quality," he says.

    然而，能够成功的高端龙舌兰酒品牌数量也许相当有限。食品饮料行业研究机构Technomic的数据显示，龙舌兰酒的销量一直处于温和增长状态——2011和2012年分别为6.4%和3.8%，稍高于烈性酒行业3.2%的增幅，但低于伏特加（5.8%）和威士忌的增长速度，而伏特加和威士忌的增长则一直伴随着层出不穷的新口味。

    虽然我们不应认为很快就会出现花生果酱口味的龙舌兰酒，但许多新的高端龙舌兰酒品牌已经开始在口味上做文章，以便和其他龙舌兰酒区别开来。一旦局限于杯口沾盐的小酒杯和加了碎冰的玛格丽塔酒，龙舌兰酒酿造者的任务就是让饮酒者感到更纯粹、更浓郁、更强烈——简而言之就是更美妙。

    霍金的DeLeón龙舌兰酒让这种纯粹感倍增。这种酒不含化学成分（许多龙舌兰酒都加了焦糖或其他化学物质，以改变口味或甜度），完全以蓝色龙舌兰草为原料。霍金说用来酿酒的是墨西哥最纯净的水。其他酿酒厂都用抽水机抽水，霍金说他的酿酒厂则直接从当地的三口天然泉眼中引水。酿造时，霍金的龙舌兰酒只蒸馏两次。他相信消费者受到了其他品牌的误导，进而认为三次、四次或五次蒸馏意味着质量更高，但实际情况正好相反，霍金说：“那样做只会让龙舌兰酒失掉它的味道，更像是把酒精吞下肚。”蒸馏后，霍金会把龙舌兰酒放在老葡萄酒桶里陈化。由于每只酒桶的酿酒年份不一样，这样做会让每桶龙舌兰酒都有一种只属于自己的烟熏风味。

    由此酿造而成的DeLeón龙舌兰酒已经享誉酿酒界。2010和2011年，在瑞士举办的世界饮品大赛（World Beverage Competition）将DeLeón龙舌兰酒评为顶级烈性酒。奢侈品评论网站Robb Report把陈年DeLeón龙舌兰酒称为“哈利斯科高原出产的最非凡的陈年酒之一”。（霍金也承诺说，通宵畅饮他的龙舌兰酒后，人们在醒来时会“感觉良好”，而且还能照常去健身；此外，将其他较差的龙舌兰酒一饮而尽后，饮酒者的整张脸都会缩成一团，但DeLeón龙舌兰酒则不会这样。）

    但DeLeón龙舌兰酒的最与众不同之处可能是“克制”，人们通常不会把这一点和龙舌兰酒联系在一起。霍金不仅拒绝了《明星伙伴》的邀请，原因是担心这样做会让他的品牌成为一个噱头（道格•埃林曾对本刊表示：“把一个品牌交给创意人士，而且还要让（别人）为所欲为，这是很难迈出的一步”），他还把自己的经营策略定为从小规模开始，逐步缓慢增长。他希望借此让这个高端品牌长期延续下去。

    霍金对本刊记者说：“在酿酒行业，标准的发展计划是大批量生产，尽可能地销售并设法创出品牌。我们则真的严格保持小批量生产，把重点放在品牌上。如果没有货真价实的东西，抱着打造高端产品的信念进入酿酒行业是一件非常吓人的事。”

    But there may be a limit to how many premium tequila brands can succeed. Sales of tequila have increased moderately -- 6.4% in 2011, 3.8% in 2012 according to Technomic, a food and beverage research company -- at a rate that slightly outpaces the spirits industry (3.2%), but which trails behind those of vodka (5.8%) and whiskey, categories that have grown with the proliferation of flavor-infused products.

    While you shouldn't expect PB&J-infused tequila soon, many of the new premium tequila brands have played with the flavor in an effort to set their tequilas apart. Once confined to salt-rimmed shot glasses and slushy margaritas, tequila-makers are on a mission to make the drinking experience purer, richer, stronger -- in short, fancier.

    With DeLeón, Hocking is doubling down on purity. The tequila contains no chemicals (many add caramel or other chemicals for flavor and sweetness) and is made from 100% blue weber agave. It is distilled with what Hocking claims is the purest water in Mexico. While other distilleries pump in their water, Hocking says his tequila draws its supply directly from three natural spring wells located on the DeLeón land. He distills the tequila only twice -- brands have fooled consumers, he believes, into thinking that three, four, or five times distilled means higher quality, but in fact it's the opposite: "That's just stripping it down and you're moving toward rubbing alcohol," he says. DeLeón then ages its tequila in old wine barrels, a method that gives the spirit a smoky flavor unique to the particular barrel's vintage.

    The resulting product has earned DeLeón high marks from the spirit industry. In 2010 and 2011 it was recognized as a top spirit at the World Beverage Competition in Switzerland, while the Robb Report, a luxury review site, called DeLeón's añejo (aged) variety "one of the most extraordinary añejos to come out of the Jalisco highlands." (Hocking also promises you'll wake up "feeling good" and gym-ready after a night of partying with his tequila; and do none of the puckered-up grimacing that usually follows a shot of other, lesser tequilas.)

    But where DeLeón has perhaps most distinguished itself is a property you don't often associate with tequila: restraint. Hocking didn't just turn down Entourage, which he feared would turn his brand into a gimmick (And Doug Ellin tells Fortune, "It's a hard leap for a brand to hand over to creative and let [someone else] do whatever they want with it"), he has also charted his business strategy to start small and grow slowly, a combination that he hopes will keep his premium brand around in the long term.

    "The textbook plan in alcohol is to put out a ton of cases and see how much you can sell and if you can make a mark," Hocking tells Fortune. "But we kept it really tight, small production, focused on the brand. Entering this business with something that's supposed to be high-end is a very scary proposition if you don't have the goods to back it up."

    与之相反，霍金的重点在于“精准打造品牌”，也就是通过人脉来瞄准某一专属群体。DeLeón龙舌兰酒的宣传活动不多。有一次，霍金雇佣了一名《国家地理》（National Geographic）杂志摄影师来拍摄照片，结果这些照片在《纽约时报》（The New York Times）旗下的时尚杂志《T》上名噪一时。霍金还承认，自己在设计产品时以吸引女性为目标——他的逻辑是，如果女人想要，男人就会去买。就这样，霍金把DeLeón龙舌兰酒装进了雅致的方瓶子里，看上去就像是香水。

    同时，DeLeón龙舌兰酒正在积极开拓仍是一片空白的海外市场。虽然85%的龙舌兰酒都进入了美国和墨西哥，但高端品牌正在香港等地设法锁定阔绰的酒吧达人。（几十年前率先开拓高端市场的龙舌兰酒品牌Patrón正在和墨西哥政府一起劝说中国对龙舌兰酒敞开大门。由于甲醇含量较高，大多数龙舌兰酒都无法进入中国市场。）

    最初构想DeLeón龙舌兰酒时，霍金希望它包含四种要素：“奢侈、性感、锋芒”和一种难以言表的态度。一种傲气。霍金称之为“混账东西”。对于那些喝酒时要求服务周到而且鼻孔朝天的人，霍金对他们的浮夸和做作感到厌恶。人们经常把“呷饮龙舌兰酒”和高端品牌联系在一起，霍金则认为这种说法很荒谬：“这是龙舌兰酒。我们知道自己为什么喝它。还是让我们举杯畅饮吧。”

    经过四年的努力，霍金的策略看来已经奏效：虽然DeLeón龙舌兰酒销量较少，但这个品牌的收入和销量正以平均每年200%的速度增长。他也开始去争夺那1%的高端饮酒者——和高端领域的竞争对手针锋相对，而他的产品要更为丰富。去年12月，DeLeón推出了私藏品牌Leóna，售价为每瓶825美元（5057.25元人民币）。

    今年夏末，这家公司将推出Café de León。这款产品由咖啡和DeLeón龙舌兰酒混合而成，还含有2.5%的糖（这是香甜酒的最低含糖量）。Patrón和Avión都有这种产品。本月，DeLeón还将宣布两个时尚色彩浓厚的合作项目：一是成为一位名厨旗下高档连锁餐厅的专用龙舌兰酒，二是加入一部好莱坞巨制。分析师马兰德拉科斯认为DeLeón“正站在时尚的风头浪尖上”，他觉得DeLeón就是大型烈性酒公司希望收购的那种超高端品牌。

    但这并不意味着DeLeón会成为市场龙头。它的价格对大多数饮酒者来说都高不可攀：在酒吧里，一杯Leóna就要90美元（551.7元人民币），让人望而却步。虽然DeLeón等高端品牌正在逐步夺取市场份额，但标准的老牌平民龙舌兰酒Jose Cuervo仍处在领先位置自然有它的道理。（财富中文网）

    译者：Charlie

    Instead, Hocking focused on "pinpoint branding," using connections to target certain exclusive populations. In one of the brand's only ad campaigns, Hocking hired a National Geographic photographer to take photographs that became a buzzed-about ad in The New York Times style  magazine T. He also admits designing his product to appeal to women -- if they order it, his logic goes, so will the men pursuing them -- and so DeLeón comes in an elegant, square bottle that looks like it might contain perfume.

    DeLeón is also making an aggressive move into untapped overseas markets. While 85% of tequila is sold in the U.S. and Mexico, premium brands are trying to lock up jet-set clubbing types in locales like Hong Kong. (Along with the Mexican government, Patrón, the tequila brand that pioneered the premium space decades ago, is lobbying China to allow tequila, most of which is banned in the country due to its higher methanol levels.)

    When Hocking conceived of DeLeón, he wanted the product to emanate four pillars: "luxe, sex, edge," and a certain je ne sais quoi attitude. A swagger. He calls it "motherfucker." He resents the pomp and pretension of those who approach alcohol with their snifters ready, noses upturned. He says the term "sipping tequila" -- a notion often associated with premium brands -- is ridiculous: "It's tequila. We know why we're drinking this. Let's get to it."

    Four years in, Hocking's strategy appears be working: Though DeLeón posts low volumes, the brand says that it is growing an average of 200% in revenue and volume every year. He's also started going after the 1% of alcohol drinkers -- and head to head with premium competitors -- with a wider array of products. In December DeLeón released its private reserve Leóna, which fetches $825 a bottle.

    Later this summer, the company will launch Café de León, a bottle that mixes coffee with DeLeón tequila, plus 2.5% sugar (the minimum to qualify as a liqueur). Patrón and Avión both have coffee-tequila blends. DeLeón will also announce two swanky new partnerships this month: It will be the exclusive tequila at a celebrity chef's chain of high-end restaurants, and the other is with a Hollywood big shot. Analyst Malandrakis posits that DeLeón is "exactly on trend" and that he suspects it is the sort of super-premium brand that larger spirits companies would want to acquire.

    That's not to say DeLeón will ever become a market leader. The pricing is prohibitive for most drinkers: A shot of the Leóna blend will set you back $90 at the bar. Though the premium brands like DeLeón are chipping away, there's a reason that the old spring break standard, Jose Cuervo is still #1.