The perfect sequel to 'Snakes On a Plane'

After a three-Manhattan evening and seeing Samuel L. Jackson on "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart, the perfect sequel to Jackson's movie "Snakes On a Plane" occurred to me:

"Snakes On a Submarine."

Just saying.

Bombay Sapphire looking for design talent

I've long been a fan of Bombay Sapphire Gin. The company's line of exotic and artsy cocktail glasses hasn't been around as long as the liquor, but I sometimes have found it as appealing as the gin itself. And, that's saying something.

Various established designers such as Michael Graves, Jonathan Adler and Yves Behar have been commissioned over the past few years to create unusual cocktail glasses to be used in Bombay print ads. Now, Bombay is looking to discover up-and-coming "no name" designers as part of its just-announced "Designer Glass Competition."

The competition rules were drawn up to encourage aspiring designers 21 or older from around the United States to interpret the classic martini glass in their own distinctive style. Up to 10 U.S. finalists will be selected by a panel of design experts and pared down to three. They will be flown to a glass blowing studio somewhere in the U.S. where their glasses will be created. The grand prize winner will be flown to Milan, Italy's Salone del Mobile in April to compete in the global finals.

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Brown-Forman swallows tequila company

There isn't much that adult beverage giant Brown-Forman doesn't have in its portfolio. Now, it's even broader with the announcement that it will buy the assets of the Mexican tequila company Grupo Industrial Herradura for $876 million.

That will put the Herradura and El Jimador tequila brands and the tequila based New Mix ready-to-drink brand in the Brown-Forman lineup along with such familiar labels as Jack Daniel's, Southern Comfort, Finlandia Vodka, Canadian Mist, Old Forester Kentucky Straight Bourbon, Fetzer wines, Korbel California Champagne, Pepe Lopez Tequilas, Bolla Italian Wines, Appleton Estate Jamaica Rum, Durbanville Hills South African Wines, Chambord Liqueur and on and on and on.

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Don't card him in a bar

A lot of bartenders think they've seen it all. Hoy C. Wong probably has.

Wong has been working at the legendary Algonquin hotel in Manhattan as a bartender for the past 27 years. But, he has plenty of other experience on his resume. He should. He's 90 years old and has mixed drinks for everyone from tourists to show biz personalities to royalty.

Management at the Algonquin, where writer Dorothy Parker and other wits of the 1920s-40s held forth at their famous "Round Table" dinners, think he is the city's oldest active bartender, still coming in to work on a daily basis.

Fame is nothing new to Hong. In the 1970s, he was featured on the cover of Life magazine as the best of America's great bartenders.

"I like this job because one man behind the bar can make everybody happy," Wong said at the time.

The Daily Record in Morris County, NJ, just across the river from New York, offered this profile of Hong that I found quite informative.

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A $1,400 Mai Tai is no gimmick

When you open a new upscale hotel, it's understandable that you want to offer something attention-getting. A glorious lobby, phenomenal service, special package deals.

But, a $1,400 Mai Tai at the hotel bar?

The Merchant Hotel in Belfast, Northern Ireland, which opened six months ago and began serving the Mai Tai special just this month, already has applied to the Guinness Book of World Records for recognition as the most expensive cocktail -- without gimmicks -- in the world.

I've previously reported on the proliferation of ludicrously priced drinks in various cities, some going for as high as $10,000, but they all are served with extras such as diamond earrings or jewel-encrusted swizzle sticks.

The reason for the Merchant's Mai Tai price tag is its basic rum component, an ultra-rare bottle of J. Wray Nephew from Jamaica. The 17-year-old distillation went into a mere six bottles of 700ml size, and the Merchant Hotel somehow got hold of one.

General manager Adrian McLaughlin declines to say how his people got the bottle or what they paid for it. He does confirm that it's kept in the hotel safe between drinks.

And just how many drinks has head bartender Sean Muldoon made so far? Only two. Which stands to reason. If you want a pricey cocktail in Ireland for a better price and with add-ons, you can always nip down to the Westin Hotel in Dublin for a "Minted" at a mere $640.

The vanilla and chocolate martini, served at the Westin's Mint Bar, includes vanilla-infused vodka and 200-year-old cognac. Its extras: It includes flakes of 23-carat gold and is served in a designer crystal glass with chocolate truffles on the side.

But, back to the Mai Tai, a Polynesian-sounding drink actually invented in the U.S. It was whipped up in 1944 as the signature drink at Trader Vic's in California by owner Victor Bergeron for his South Seas-style restaurant and bar.

Over the years, other Trader Vic's were started all over the world, known for their South Pacific decor, elaborate drinks menus (the cover of the 1965 edition is shown here) and live entertainment. Some eventually went off under non-Bergeron ownership and the credit for creating the Mai Tai was claimed by many other people.

In 1970, Bergeron, who died in 1984 at the age of 82, got fed up with people laying claim to his drink and wrote the following:

"Many have claimed credit. ... This aggravates my ulcer completely. ... In 1944, after success with several exotic rum drinks, I felt a new drink was needed. I thought about all the really successful drinks; martinis, Manhattans, daiquiris, all basically simple drinks.

"I was at the service bar in my Oakland restaurant. I took down a bottle of 17-year-old rum. It was J. Wray Nephew from Jamaica; surprisingly golden in color, medium bodied, but with the rich pungent flavor particular to the Jamaican blends. The flavor of this great rum wasn't meant to be overpowered with heavy additions of fruit juices and flavorings. I took a fresh lime, added some orange curacao from Holland, a dash of rock candy syrup, and a dollop of French Orgeat, for its subtle almond flavor. A generous amount of shaved ice and vigorous shaking by hand produced the marriage I was after. Half the lime shell went in for color.

"I stuck in a branch of fresh mint and gave two of them to Ham and Carrie Guild, friends from Tahiti, who were there that night. Carrie took one sip and said, 'Mai tai. Roa ae". In Tahitian this means "Out of this world. The best.' Well, that was that. I named the drink Mai Tai."

Today, there are Trader Vic's in places ranging from Dallas to Dhubai. In the U.S. alone, they are in Scottsdale, AZ, Beverly Hills, Atlanta, San Francisco, Chicago, Houston and Las Vegas, among other places, and abroad they are in such locations as London, Berlin, Tokyo, Shanghai and Beirut. The surfacing of the rare 17-year-old J. Wray Nephew in Northern Ireland brings back a key original ingredient, but any high-quality rum will do in trying to concoct as closely as possible the original 1944 Mai Tai recipe.

It's a fitting homage to the name Trader Vic's, which has popped up in films, books and in such unexpected places as the lyrics for the late Warren Zevon's song "Werewolves of London." To wit, "I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's. His hair was perfect."

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A book of stamps, an address form and ... some vodka, please

In the remote Republic of Tatarstan -- yes, there is such a nation -- the post office has gotten into the vodka business.

The autonomous nation within the Russian federation has pretty much run out of the traditional alcohol. In July, state legislation forced individual vendors and traders to either obtain a license to sell alcohol or close up shop. Faced with the overwhelming bureaucracy and the new cost of doing business, many folded.

The demand for vodka, however, has not diminished. It has just made the alcohol a de facto unit of currency in the barter-dependent economy.

"Vodka has been established as a very good currency," explains Alsu Kurmasheva of the Tatar-Bashkir Service unit of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Rustem Arslanov, deputy head of Tatarstan's State Alcohol Inspectorate, says, "The lack of places selling alcohol in the villages is leading to illegal trade -- that's to say, trade has begun in bootleg alcohol. So, we need places that are licensed to sell alcohol."

The village post office serves many needs in rural Tatarstan -- post office, library, general goods store, and general meeting place. Olga Kuznetsova, director-general of the nation's postal service, says, "We have 58 shops and we are selling alcohol in 24 of those. When we have shops, they sell everything: milk, bread, and alcohol."

She plans to expand alcohol sales to 1,058 post offices around the country.

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Another Cuban revolution in the making

The island nation of Cuba remains an enigma to most Americans, but the current precarious health of dictator Fidel Castro has thrust it back into the news once more.

Blocked off from the one-time Caribbean playground by a U.S. political and economic embargo that is nearly a half-century old, we're more familiar with its athletes, its cigars and rum, and the iconic face of Castro than any other aspects of Cuban culture.

St. Martin, Antigua and Puerto Rico have better resort facilities. Honduras produces cigars many aficionados say are just as good. And rum comes from so many places you may not think of Cuba first anymore. Earlier this year, for example, I helped judge a cane spirits international competition in Tampa, FL, that drew rums and similar
sugar-based drinks from more than 60 different producers from around the globe.

But that has not stopped producers of Cuban-"style" rum from building their consumer marketing plans around the legendary pre-Castro mystique.

The latest example is from Bacardi USA which is re-launching the Havana Club brand rum in the United States. It had been making rum under the Havana Club name but pulled it off the market because of legal issues. What it wants to do now is block Cuba from eventually selling the rum to the U.S. market.

The rights to the brand name have always been precious to opposing economic forces. In 1993, Cuba signed an agreement with the French beverage giant Pernod Ricard SA to sell Havana Club rum in 80 countries. Because of the trade embargo, the U.S. was not among the 80.

The Cuban government had acquired the trademark in 1974 when, it said, the original owner let it lapse. However, the Arechabala family said Castro forces that overthrew the government in 1959 had confiscated the distillery and products in 1960 and forced them to flee the island. On the other side of the debate, Bacardi said it purchased rights in the 1990s to the name and recipe from the Arechabalas, who created them in 1935.

U.S. courts recently ruled that the Cuban-French joint venture had no rights to the trademark in the U.S. So, on Aug. 3 this year, the U.S. Patent and Trademark office finished the 10-year legal tussle by declaring Cuba’s Havana Club trademark registration is “cancelled/expired.”

Bacardi’s re-launch of the legendary Havana Club brand will mean stiff competition for such comparative high-end newcomers as Grand Havana and Marti that were moving into a vacuum in readily available premium rums in the U.S..

Grand Havana has a strong, legitimate Cuban link. Although it is being made on the Caribbean isle of Grenada by Cuban-Americans from Miami, they are descendants of Don Tirso Arregui, a Cuban businessman whose rum distillery operated on the outskirts of Havana in the late 1800s.

The Arregui family, who also fled to the U.S. after Castro came to power, began last year to create small-batch offerings under the Grand Havana name. At their distillery, which boasts old-fashioned copper kettles, they double-distill the rum, then age it in sherry casks bought in Spain.

Marti, named for the 19th-century Cuban rebel leader and poet Jose Marti, actually was developed by the New York company Chatham Imports, working with rum makers in the Dominican Republic to craft a basic rum recipe. Their products are bottled by the Marti Autentico Rum Co. of Lewiston, Maine.

The resuscitated version of Havana Club is being viewed with great anticipation by rum aficionados. Bacardi has been making it for several years in anticipation of winning the trademark suit. It now is available in Florida in limited quantities, but a nationwide rollout is planned.

“It's based on the secret recipe that we gave to Bacardi so they could make it the same way we used to make it in Cuba,” said Ramon Arechabala, one of the original owners.

The blenders begin with traditional black-strap molasses made from concentrated, caramelized sugar cane, go through a fermentation process three times slower than classical fermentation, distill the liquid five times and age it up to three years in American white oak barrels.


It is presumed Cuba and Pernod Ricard will continue distributing some form of the Havana Club it has been selling. But that doesn't seem to worry the Arechabala family.

In a Miami Herald interview, Arechabala said, "Fidel lacks the formula of the right Havana Club. That's the only thing he couldn't take from me."

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International Wine & Spirits results are in

The results are in for the International Wine and Spirit Competition, held in London
each year.

Here are the best-in-class gold medal winners in the wine competition. For winners in the wine competition, go to Dowd's Wine Notebook for a complete rundown.

• Absinthe - 72%
Absinthe Duplais, Switzerland

• Aquavit - Golden - 40%
O.P. Anderson, Sweden

• Aquavit - Golden - Over 40%
Gammel Opland Aquavit, Norway

• Bitters - Non Flavoured
1-Enkelt, Denmark

• Bourbon - 12 YO
Van Winkle Special Reserve, U.S.

• Bourbon - Overproof - 60-65%
William Larue Weller Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, U.S.

• Cognac - VS
Gronstedts VO, France

• Cognac - VSOP
Courvoisier Exclusif 6-12 YO, France

• Cognac - VSOP - Fine Champagne
Cognac Otard VSOP Fine Champagne, France

• Cognac - VSOP - Grande Champagne
Reserve Prince Hubert de Polignac, France

• Cognac - VSOP - Grande Champagne
Reserve Prince Hubert de Polignac, France

• Cognac - XO
Courvoisier Initiale XO Cognac, France

• Cognac - XO - Grande Champagne
Hine Triomphe Grande Champagne Cognac, France

• Flavoured Spirits - Aniseed
Arak Wardy, Lebanon

• Fruit Spirits - Blackberry
Zwack Erdei Szeder Palinka Blackberry, Hungary

• Fruit Spirits - Mulberry
Zwack Fehereper Palinka Mulberry, Hungary

• Gin - 43%
Consulate Premium London Dry Gin, South Africa

• Gin - 47%+
Finsbury Platinum Gin, England

• Grape Brandy - Solera - South Africa
Nederburg Potstilled Solera Brandy, South Africa

• Grape Brandy - South Africa - 10 YO
Van Ryn's 10 YO Vintage Brandy, South Africa

• Grape Brandy - South Africa - 12 YO
Van Ryn's 12 YO Collection Reserve, South Africa

• Grape Brandy - South Africa - 20 YO
Van Ryn's 20 YO Collection Reserve, South Africa

• Grape Brandy - Spain - 20 YO
Torres 20, Spain

• Irish Whiskey - Deluxe Blend
Tullamore Dew Heritage Irish Whiskey, Ireland

• Irish Whiskey - Single Malt - Peated
Connemara Peated Malt Whisky, Ireland

• Liqueur - Aniseed
Puccini Sambuca, The Netherlands

• Liqueur - Cassis
Crème de Cassis Gabriel Boudier, France

• Liqueur - Cherry
Wenneker Cherry Brandy, The Netherlands

• Liqueur - Cream - Non Flavoured
El Dorado Cream Liqueur with Golden Rum, Guyana

• Liqueur - Cream - Toffee
Dooley's Original Toffee & Vodka, Germany
Dooley's Original Toffee Liqueur, Germany
Dooley's Original Toffee Liqueur 70cl, Germany

• Liqueur - Cream - Wild Fruit
Amarula Cream Liqueur, South Africa

• Liqueur - Nut
Frangelico Hazelnut Liqueur, Italy

• Liqueur - Triple Sec
Stiernan Triple Sec, Sweden

• Liqueur - Tropical Fruit
Polar Limes Passionfruit, Germany

• Liqueur - Whisky/Herbal
Glayva, Scotland
Glayva Liqueur

• Rum - 100% Pot Still - 15 YO
15 YO El Dorado Rum, Guyana

• Rum - Blended - Venezuela
Santa Teresa 1796 Ron Antiguo De Solera, Venezuela

• Rum - Blended - West Indies - No Age Stated - 45%
Havana Club Barrel Proof, Cuba

• Rum - Fiji - 100% Pot Still - 57%
Inner Circle Rum General Manager's Reserve, Fiji

• Rum - Fiji - 100% Pot Still - 75%+
Inner Circle Rum Black Dot, Fiji

• Rum - White - 63%
Wray and Nephew White Overproof, Jamaica

• Scotch Whisky - Blended - 12 YO
Dimple 12 YO, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Blended - 18-21 YO
Buchanan's Special Reserve 18 YO , Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Blended - No Age Stated
Buchanan's Red Seal, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Blended Malt - 10 YO
Sainsbury's Islay Malt, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Blended Malt - 12 YO
The Famous Grouse 12 YO Blended Scotch Whisky, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Blended Malt - 14-15 Y0
Johnnie Walker Green Label 15 YO , Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Blended Malt - 17-18 YO
Bennachie 17 YO Pure Malt, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Blended Malt - no age stated
The Compass Box Peat Monster, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Deluxe Blend - 10-12 YO
Matisse 12 YO Blended Scotch Whisky

• Scotch Whisky - Deluxe Blend - 13-15 YO
Grant's Deluxe 15 YO, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Deluxe Blend - 17-18 YO
Dimple Original Deluxe 18 YO, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Deluxe Blend - 19-20 YO
Whyte and Mackay Old Luxury 1940 Blended Scotch Whisky, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Deluxe Blend - 21-22 YO
The Antiquary 21 Year Old Superior Delux Scotch Whisky, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Deluxe Blend - 30 YO
Whyte and Mackay 30 YO Oldest Aged Blended Scotch Whisky, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Deluxe Blend - No Age Stated
Dewar's Signature, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Grain - Cask Strength
The Invergordon Single Grain Stillman's Dram Cask Strength 1973, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Cask Finish - 15-16 YO
Dalwhinnie Distillers Edition , Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Highland - 10 YO
Morrison's Single Highland Whisky 10 YO, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Highland - 12 YO
Old Pulteney 12 YO Single Malt Scotch Whisky

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Highland - 14 YO
Clynelish 14 Year Old Highland Malt, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Highland - 15 YO
Glenmorangie 15 YO, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Highland - 21 YO
Glen Garioch 21 YO Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Highland - 35-38 YO
Balblair 38 YO Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Highland - Cask Finish - 12 YO
Glenmorangie Port Wood Finish, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Highland - Cask Finish - 30 YO
Glenmorangie 30 YO Oloroso Cask Finish, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Highland - Cask Strength - 28-36 YO
The Stillmans Dram 33 Year Old Tamavulin Single Speyside Malt, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Islands
Talisker Distillers Edition, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Islands - 10 YO
Talisker 10 year old, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Islands - 15-16 YO
Highland Park 16 YO Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Islands - 18-21 YO
Talisker 18 Year Old, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Islands - 25-30 YO
Highland Park 30 YO Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Islands - Cask Strength - 25 YO
Talisker 25 Year Old, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Islay - 10 YO
Laphroaig 10 YO, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Islay - 12 YO
Bowmore Enigma Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky 12 YO, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Islay - 14-17 YO
Lagavulin Distillery Edition 1989, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Islay - Cask Strength - 10-12 YO
Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength 10 YO, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Lowland - 10-14 YO
Glenkinchie The Distillers Edition 1991, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Speyside - 10 YO
Aberlour 10 Year Old, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Speyside - 12 YO
The Glenlivet 12 Year Old First Fill, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Speyside - 14 YO
Glenfiddich 1991 Vintage Reserve, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Speyside - 16 YO
Aberlour 16 Year Old Double Cask Matured, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Speyside - 17-18 YO
Glenfiddich Ancient Reserve 18 YO, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Speyside - 20-22 YO
The Glenlivet 21 Year Old, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Speyside - 25 YO +
The Macallan 25 YO Old Fine Oak Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Speyside - 30 YO +
The Balvenie Thirty, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Speyside - Cask Finish - 12-14 YO
The Balvenie Rumwood 14 YO, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Speyside - Cask Strength - 13-15 YO
The Balvenie Single Barrel 15 YO, Scotland

• Scotch Whisky - Single Malt - Speyside - Cask Strength - 28-33 YO
Convalmore 28 year old, Scotland

• Shochu - Barley - Aged - 38%
Long-term stored Mugi Shochu Aya Selection, Japan

• Shochu - Buckwheat - 38%
Long-term stored Soba Shochu Mayan No Tsubuyaki, Japan

• Shochu - Sweet potato - 25%
"Yaemaru" Sweet Potato Shochu, Japan

• Tequila - 100% Agave - Anejo
Don Eduardo Anejo, Mexico

• Tequila - 100% Agave - Reposado
Don Eduardo Reposada, Mexico

• Tequila - Silver - 100% Agave
Don Eduardo Silver, Mexico

• Vodka - 40%
Vodka Arsenitch, Latvia

• Vodka - Non Flavoured - 42%+
42 Below Vodka, New Zealand

• Vodka - Non Flavoured - 43%
Mainstay Cane, South Africa

• Vodka - Non-flavoured - 37%+
Renat Vodka, Sweden

• Worldwide Brandy - Jerez - Gran Reserva
Carlos I Imperial, Spain

• Worldwide Whiskey - Blended - 17-30 YO – Japan
Suntory Whsiky "Hibiki" 30 Year Old, Japan

• Worldwide Whiskey - Single Malt - 18-25 YO - Japan
The Yamazaki Single Malt Whisky 18 Year Old, Japan

• Worldwide Whiskey - South Africa - 5-10 YO
Three Ships Single Malt 10 YO, South Africa
Sazerac 18 YO Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey, South Africa

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