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UP Donn Lux Luxco CEO Takes a Different Approach to Spirits Marketing story and photos by Fred Minnick At the Luxco corporate bar, Donn Lux leans against the granite countertop. The light softly glistens off the Pearl vodka and warms the color of Admiral Nelson’s spiced rum. Lux is cast in the very light he wants—he’s an unimposing silhouette while the light shines over his company’s products. Lux is not your ordinary spirits company CEO. He is a humble, unassum- ing man who has more pictures of his wife and two boys than awards in his offi ce. His employees adore him, and he remembers their birthdays and how long they’ve been with the company. He probably received this laid-back, caring nature from his father, Paul Lux, Donn Lux prefers to keep a low profi le while his brands speak for themselves. who helped found the David Sherman Corporation (DSC) as a private label bottler in 1958. Since then, the St. Louis–based company has become a major producer, owning brands such as Everclear, Juarez and El Mayor tequilas, Saint Brendan’s Irish cream liqueur and Pearl vodka, among many others. In 2006, DSC rebranded itself as Luxco in tribute to Paul. “Unfortunately, Dad was not here to see it as Luxco,” Lux says. But no doubt Paul Lux is proud of his son. Today, Luxco owns 3 percent of the liquor product market share, Lux says, and is consistently growing. Most recently, Luxco added Canadian Reserve blended whisky and Dimitri vodkas and gins to its list of products, which encompasses nearly every liquor category as well as enough wine labels to supply your average restaurant. Lux has led the company to a new headquarters, two blocks from the St. Louis Cardinals’ Busch Stadium, and opened a 213,558-square-foot distribution center that further solidifi es the Luxco brand as a spirits company of the future. Going after Consumers Lux says every major retailer carries Luxco prod- ucts. And recently the famous Lisa Kline boutique in Los Angeles, which attracts A-list celebrities, signed an exclusive deal to feature Pearl vodka and El Mayor tequila in the shop’s interior bar. Tequila El Mayor is a Luxco brand that’s quickly on the rise. 6 / the tasting panel / november 2010