By Tabitha Evans Moore
Editor & Publisher
LYNCHBURG, Tenn. — The competition for Brown-Forman Corporation just got more complicated. Two weeks after the Louisville-based parent company of Jack Daniel’s Distillery confirmed merger talks with French spirits giant Pernod Ricard, a second major spirits company has now entered the picture — and its timing is striking.
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Sazerac Company, the privately held Louisiana-based spirits producer, has approached Brown-Forman about a potential deal. Brown-Forman shares jumped more than 10 percent on the news. The development comes as Pernod Ricard talks remain ongoing and unresolved, meaning Brown-Forman now finds itself at the center of what could become a bidding competition between two of the industry’s largest players.
The report arrived one day after Sazerac made a significant announcement of its own: the formal naming of its Tennessee distilling operation as AJ Bond Distillery, and the confirmation that its first-ever Tennessee whiskey will debut this summer. Tennessee whiskey is, of course, the category that Jack Daniel’s has defined and dominated globally for more than 150 years — and the only spirits category legally tied to the state where Moore County sits.
Whether the timing is coincidence or strategy, it has not gone unnoticed.
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The AJ Bond distillery
Sazerac entered Tennessee in 2016 with the acquisition of the Popcorn Sutton distillery facility in Newport, retaining the production team led by Master Distiller Allisa Henley and the late John Lunn. The company relocated the operation in 2019 to La Vergne, Tennessee, where it has since expanded production capacity and aging warehouse space.
The distillery’s new name honors the partnership between Henley and Lunn, whose first names — Allisa and John — inspired the “AJ” designation, with “Bond” reflecting what the company describes as their professional and creative connection. Lunn passed away in 2023; Henley continues to lead production.
To be legally designated Tennessee whiskey, a spirit must be produced in Tennessee, made from a grain mixture of at least 51 percent corn, aged in new charred oak barrels, and filtered through maple charcoal before aging — a step known as the Lincoln County Process. Jack Daniel’s has been produced in Lynchburg under these standards since 1866. AJ Bond Distillery’s commitment to the same process means Sazerac is building a direct competitor in the same legally protected category.
What it means for Moore County
The emergence of Sazerac as a potential suitor adds a new layer of uncertainty — and, for some, perhaps a measure of reassurance — to a situation Moore County has been watching closely since late March.
When Pernod Ricard and Brown-Forman first confirmed their discussions, the central unknown for Lynchburg was what a French-led merger of equals might mean for a distillery that has operated in this county since 1866. Pernod Ricard’s portfolio is primarily built on European and international brands; its exposure to American whiskey is limited. Analysts noted the strategic logic of the combination precisely because Pernod needed what Jack Daniel’s has.
Sazerac presents a different profile. It is an American company, privately held, family-owned across four generations, and now demonstrably committed to Tennessee whiskey as a category in its own right. Whether that makes it a more natural steward of the Jack Daniel’s legacy — or a competitor with its own ambitions that complicate any deal — depends on how the Brown family, which controls more than 70 percent of Brown-Forman’s voting shares, chooses to weigh its options.
One analyst at BNP Paribas has already expressed skepticism that either deal will close, noting that the Brown family “has long had voting control and consistently dispelled any notion of a potential sale of the company.” What is different now, other analysts have suggested, is the industry environment: a sustained consumer spending downturn, the pressure of new tariffs on imported spirits, and the rise of alternative beverages including cannabis drinks have created conditions that may be making the Brown family more receptive than in years past.
Brown-Forman’s own recent results reflect that pressure. Third-quarter fiscal 2026 results showed organic net sales roughly flat year-to-date, with Canada still largely off-limits for American spirits and the company completing a $400 million share repurchase program in December 2025. A restructuring plan announced last year targeted 12 percent of the company’s global workforce.
What happens next
Both the Pernod Ricard discussions and the newly reported Sazerac approach remain at the exploratory stage, with no deal announced and no terms disclosed. Brown-Forman has said it will not comment further unless an agreement is reached. Pernod Ricard has said the same.
The Times reached out to Brown-Foreman’s corporate communications team on Thursday but did not receive a response.
Pernod Ricard is scheduled to report its fiscal third-quarter results on April 16 — one week from today — which will be the next public forum at which executives could be pressed about the state of talks. Sazerac, as a private company, operates with far less disclosure obligation.
The Jack Daniel’s Distillery in Lynchburg remains Moore County’s largest employer and the cornerstone of a tourism economy the county values at $15.8 million annually. Whatever shape a potential deal might take, this community has a direct stake in the outcome. •
This is a developing story. The Lynchburg Times will continue to report as it unfolds. Here are links to our prior reporting on this story: Is Jack parent company Brown-Forman for sale? (March 26, 2026) and Brown-Forman: Potential deal is real; calls it a merger of equals (March 26, 2026). •