Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/661678
april 2016 / the tasting panel / 57 "W e've touched over 25,000 products from 65 dif- ferent countries," says MHW, Ltd. CEO John Beaudette. As if to underscore the point, Executive Vice President Scott Saul pulls a squat, clear bottle from a locked glass cabinet, and dives into the spirit's backstory. "The founders of this Swedish vodka, Karlsson's, added a potato harvest date to echo the concept of vintage." Next to it, Saul sets Singani 63, a Bolivian grape-based liquor from director Steven Soderbergh, on the conference table. "People say we've handled everything," he remarks. He continues, chuckling while describing a beer bottle with a scratch-off label (akin to a lotto ticket) revealing a female in the buff. "I had to convince the client, based on longtime expertise, that this label design was certain to be rejected by the TTB." Indeed, the 20-year-old company has seen it all, or most of MHW, Ltd.'s management team. AT YOUR SERVICE MHW, LTD.'S MODEL OF SERVICE PROVES TO BE A WINNING FORMULA by Lauren Mowery / photos by Doug Young