Scotch is in their future

More than 300 investors have paid US$3,000 each for six bottles of single malt whisky a year for 50 years. But, they'll have to be patient before getting started.

To explain: Ladybank, a distillery that will be constructed on the site of an abandoned mill near Fife, Scotland, rounded up the first 330 backers of what it hopes will be a group of 1,250 financial supporters. According to The Times of London, the first product will be ready for consumption in 2017.

So far, $1.5 million of the $4.5 million expected to be spent has been raised. Investors also will have access to the guest rooms, dining area and library of the adjoining Ladybank private members' club, expected to be completed by 2007.

The Ladybank brochure describes the project (see illustration) as a “luxurious country club with one difference — here the activity is focused on the special mystique that is the production of fine single malt whisky.”

Founder James Thomson told The Times the empty old farm buildings at the end of a narrow track will not begin to be converted until next spring, and production will not start for another year after that.

Thomson said he envisions his members attending whisky-making classes in the converted 18th century mill or taking a stroll in an adjacent “secret Victorian garden,” with rockeries, grotto and a pond. Those especially pressed for time will be able to land their helicopters on the lawn.

Whisky production will be on a small scale, with about 25,000 litres distilled per year compared with between one million and two million for most whisky distilleries. The whisky will be shared among members and “VIP customers” with little, if any, sold commercially.

What will the whisky style be? "Our members will be able to decide how they want their whisky, whether they want it peaty or not too peaty, how they want it bottled," Thomson said.

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Cut-rate Scotch due in India

An experiment in India by a British whisky manufacturer may lay the groundwork for a lower-priced tier of scotch.

UB Group, India's largest liquor distributor, is launching a low cost variant of its Black Dog Scotch whisky to expand its market to a larger Indian consumer segment, particularly middle-income consumers. To do so, it will expand its existing bulk sourcing arrangement with White & Mackay, the UK-based scotch maker.

The new Black Dog is different in maturity as well as price. Sources quoted by the Business Standard of India said UB currently sells 12-year-old scotch at US$39 a bottle. The new version will be five years old and sell at about $22.

White & Mackay's core brands include Whyte & Mackay Scotch Whisky, Dalmore Single Highland Malt, Glavya Liquer and Isle of Jura Malt Whisky.

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Rum: The new vodka?

If fancy bottles and smart marketing helped make vodka the best-selling spirit in the world, perhaps the same can be done for rum.

That is, at least, what Lascelles deMercado of Jamaica is hoping. Andrew Denoes, seen here, is doing his best to show off the line of Edwin Charley premium rums and increase its sales globally by at least 15 percent per year. Denoes is general manager of the subsidiary Lascelles Wines & Spirits.

The Edwin Charley Proprietor's premium rum collection comes in hand-blown, sculpted Venetian glass bottles for an average retail price of $100.

This is a shift in targets since for years Lascelles' Appleton Rum has been its flagship product. The new plan is to diversify to satisfy more niches.

"Looking at the global alcohol market, we have noted with great interest the increase in sales of spirits while beer sales are on the decline. What is taking up the slack is premium spirits and wines," Denoes said in an interview with Caribbean Business Report. "A lot of alcohol consumption is aspirational. You can treat yourself to a $40 bottle of wine or Scotch; you can't buy a $40 bottle of beer. This shift in demand is favourable to us and Lascelles is now focusing on premium spirits."

Global rum consumption is about 110 million cases a year, Caribbean Business Report said, with North America accounting for 27 million cases -- 19 million in the U.S., 5 million in Mexico, and 3 million in Canada.

"We recognize that if we are to build the Jamaica rum sub category we cannot be one-dimensional," Denoes said. "By that I mean we need to have more than one dominant product. You need a handful of brands to create a strong category. Appleton ... has become the No. 1 imported rum in some key markets around the world (such as in Mexico and in Canada), but the feedback we are getting is that there is a demand for another brand so we have chosen Edwin Charley as a more contemporary rum."

Lascelles, founded in 1825, has the largest stock of aged Jamaican rum in the world. It sells nearly 2 million cases a year worldwide.

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Mmmmmm, now that's wheat!

It's in the New York Post, so it must be real.

The firebreathing tabloid reports that a bad batch of Ketel One vodka has been caushing headaches, not for its consumers but for the Dutch distiller. It seems a lot of complaints were being heard in various cities, and a lot of drinks sent back by unhappy customers complaining of an odd taste.

The Post contacted Bill Eldien, president of Nolet Spirits which owns Ketel One, and quoted him as saying the bad batch was the result of "a higher wheat content, with more of a wheat flavor." He went on to say that all the affected bottles had been recalled and the problem corrected.

Now we can all rest easy.

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The Diva, The Donald, The Sidekick and The Professor

More new vodkas -- a nearly daily occurrence -- with some personal twists that may intrigue you.

• Diva Vodka: This wheat-based vodka is triple distilled, filtered through Nordic birch charcoal then filtered again -- through such precious gems as diamonds, emerald and rubies, we are told. A glass tube in the bottle is filled with 48 crystals that can be used as a garnish. They include cubic zircona, smoky topaz, pink tourmaline, amethyst, citrine and peridot. Basic retail price: $60 a bottle.

• Trump Super Premium: Drinks Americas Holdings Ltd. (DKAM) has signed a licensing agreement with The Trump Organization for this new vodka. Beyond that, the announcement was a veritable avalanche of hyperbole and braggadocio -- perhaps the main ingredients in the product? -- and very little product detail. One little detail that certainly was not included in the PR was that The Donald is a noted tee-totaler, a result of his own dislike for alcoholic beverages and the untimely death of his brother from alcoholism, something Trump has spoken about publicly. DKAM, by the way, develops, owns, markets, and nationally distributes alcoholic and non-alcoholic premium beverages often associated with celebrities. Among them: Willie Nelson's Old Whiskey River Bourbon and Bourbon Cream; Roy Yamaguchi's Y Sake, and golfer Greg Norman's Norman's Wines from Australia.


• McMahon Perfect Vodka: The younger set may only know him as an old commercial pitchman for Publisher's Clearinghouse, but generations knew Ed McMahon as the hard-drinking, jovial sidekick of Johnny Carson for decades on late-night TV. Thus, it's no real surprise for most that the onetime Marine fighter pilot has come out with his own vodka. It's a premium Russian imported spirit, filtered four times.

• Most Wanted Vodka: Seth Fox, an engineer in Leavenworth, KS, today runs a small distillery operation called High Plains. Just two years ago he was manufacturing creatine ethyl ester, a muscle strengthener to aid in heart surgery, for the University of Omaha. The compound he produced with an alcohol base intrigued him and led to experiments with distilled alcohol. That, in turn, led to his distillery and Most Wanted Vodka. Fox, who had made his own beer and wine for years, runs a one-man operation. He is limiting production and is distributing only in Kansas for now; he has sold 20,000 bottles of the Kansas grain vodka since late July when he put his product on the market.


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