A few toughts on how & why, in 2016, PM Spirits started to develop its own bottlings (aka the PM Projects):
The journey began with importing and bringing in the US a bunch of artisanal French spirits circa 2011. This is still the core of what we do, the reason of our existence and about 70% of our business.
But little by little we realized that as we networked more and interacted with different people, there were opportunities in the market.
Things that were not readily available, that we recognized we could come up with and knew we could sell, at least throught PM Spirits Distributing, our wholesale operation in our home NY market. It kicked-off the initial idea to collaborate with our existing suppliers and friends, creating products to fill these voids. That's the essence of the PM Projects - collabs and what we want to think are "innovations", be them in term of packaging, how the story gets told etc...
One aspect of our work involves collaborations like PM VS Overproof Armagnac, the Mic.Drop whiskies, PM Tequila, the PM Sherries or even CobraFire. These products are significant markers of our ethos.
During COVID, since we were as scared as bored AND i happened to own a small but unique collection of casks and demi-johns in a cellar in Cognac, France, i decided to release these things, leading to a larger PM Project release.
These were not just products; they were special, something that resonated with the ethos of PM - good people with good intentions making good juice.
Note that we don't care much about building brands per se or growing like crazy Casamigos tyle.
It's about keeping things fresh in an industry where novelty is really key.
In New York, being a wholesaler, we know what sells. We talk to people daily, we see gaps in the market. We have ideas and know we can make them happen.
With a great graphic designer (William Bahan) and over 12 years of experience, we've built a solid network of people distilling great stuff.
There is also, to be totally honest, a personal motivation - to keep myself entertained through the intellectual process of creating and actualizing ideas.
That's how the PM Project stuff comes/came together: by linking ideas, people, and possibilities to create what we think are unique and meaningful distillates.