Popcorn Sutton Avoids Leaks, Lands George Dickel’s Lunn

News

March 16, 2015

If you follow me on Twitter, you know I was all over John Lunn’s departure from Diageo. I’m a big sports fan (and a former sports writer), and this story broke around the time of NFL free agency. I was treating this very much like Lunn was an NFL quarterback. I mean, how often does a major master distiller depart?

It rarely happens.

Leading up to Friday, I had two sources telling me he was heading to Popcorn Sutton. I called a partial Popcorn Sutton owner, who said he hadn’t heard anything, and I called the general number for Popcorn Sutton, where the phone answerer person said she hadn’t heard anything.

But my two sources were solid and even gave me Lunn’s salary figures. While I won’t be reporting those, I did suspect Popcorn Sutton was toying with me, so I Tweeted this Friday: “Regarding John Lunn, I can confirm he is not going to Corsair or Belle Meade. Popcorn Sutton did not confirm nor deny when I asked them.”

My sources and gut were right. Lunn is heading to Popcorn Sutton. The company made the formal announcement this morning.

“The chance to work in Tennessee was certainly appealing to me, but what excited me most is the incredible opportunity here,” said Lunn in the press release. “It’s not often you get to be associated with an American folk hero like Popcorn Sutton. The uniqueness of that, combined with the talented team and state-of-the-art production facility that’s been developed here, were simply too good to pass up.”

So, the move has been made and Lunn is gone from Diageo. Now, who will replace Lunn?

 

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