For those of you with long memories, yesterday’s (26 March) initial media reports of deal talks between Pernod Ricard and Brown-Forman – and then the subsequent confirmation by the two companies – probably brought to mind previous mega-deals in spirits, including Suntory Holdings’ purchase of Beam in 2014 or, perhaps more pertinently, the 2005 takeover of Allied Domecq or the 2000 purchase of Seagram.