Leblon cachaça hits 50-state market

As cachaça, the Brazilian sugar cane liquor, gradually ramps up its U.S. presence, more consumers are demanding specific brands rather than making a generic request.

Leblon, introduced to the U.S. 16 months ago, has been grabbing an increasing share of the niche market and now is available in all 50 states.

Among other brands available in various U.S. markets are Pitú, Fazenda MÃE de Ouro, Volúpia , Seleta and Maria Izabel.

Leblon's distribution is an impressive benchmark for such a small segment. Steve Kuttmann, founder and CEO of Leblon, claims suc cess because "Leblon spearheaded the way for the cachaça category in the U.S. by first targeting the major metropolitan markets of Miami, New York and Los Angeles. By the end of 2006, as the words cachaça and caipirinha had spread into every major metropolitan area from coast to coast, we set about taking the brand national and have finally achieved our goal."

Leblon is an ultra-premium white cachaça named for its place of origin, Leblon Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The rum-like spirit is made from fresh-pressed Brazilian sugar cane that is then rested in cognac casks and blended.

Cachaça is the main ingredient in the caipirinha, the national drink of Brazil, but works just as well in place of vodka, rum and tequila in other cocktails.

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A batch of better bitters

Bitters are the Rodney Dangerfield of the cocktail world.

Most old cocktail recipes will specify use of one type of bitters or other -- orange, angostura, etc. Modern recipes tend to neglect this intriguing ingredient. More's the pity. They add depth and nuance to virtually any sort of alcoholic drink, as well as to soups and stews.

The New York Times has an excellent update on bitters and their small resurgence across the country. Recommended reading.

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Two Mexican icons joined at the bottle

Celebrity labels are not uncommon on wine and spirits bottles in the U.S. In Mexico? Not so much.

However, that is being addressed with a new super-premium niche tequila to be introduced in the fall: Frida Kahlo Tequila, named for the late iconic Mexican artist and political activist.

The creation is a joint venture of the Frida Kahlo family estate and Dorado, Pizzorni & Sons, LLC, Importers. U.S. distribution of the brand will be handled by Southern Wines & Spirits, with initial introduction to the New York, Miami and Los Angedles markets. The 100% pure blue agave tequila will be available in several styles.

• Blanco: Fermented for up to four days, double-distilled in antique copper stills and bottled un-aged. Suggested retail price: $50.

• Reposado: Aged after fermentation in American Oak casks for six to nine months before bottling. SRP is $65.

• Añejo: Aged after fermentation in American Oak casks for at least three years before bottling. SRP is $90.

The tequilas are being made in Jesus Maria, in the highlands of Mexico's Jalisco state, center of the tequila industry.

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Storms interrupt postings

To Our Readers:

A series of vicious thunderstorms that killed one person on Wednesday and left tens of thousands of homes and businesses without power affected this site as well.

Postings we planned for Wednesday and Thursday have been delayed while we rebuild part of the database.

We'll get back online with new material as quickly as possible.

Thanks for your patience.

Costa Rica's guaro remains an elusive star

A reader in Florida e-mailed me for help in locating guaro, a sugar cane-based liquor from Costa Rica.

"I saw a posting you made regarding ... guaro, originally from Costa Rica. After a trip there I have been trying to locate it. I live in Florida, but travel to California frequently. Please let me know if there is anywhere I can purchase guaro. Thank you."

Guaro is an elusive liquor to purchase in the States. A year ago, I introduced my readers to S Guaro, a 70-proof liquor that was the first American branding for the pure cane sugar liquor that usually sells for under $20 for a 750ml bottle. Like vodka in Poland and Russia and tequila in Mexico, the clear, odorless spirit once was the province of the poor drinker. However, fancier bottling and additional filtering have raised both its image and its popularity among tourists.

Guaro tastes more like a vodka than it does anything else, and its distributors recommend it as part of a mixed drink rather than straight.

It began in the U.S. as essentially a California drink, with a marketing campaign by distributor S Spirits of Malibu that began by creating a word-of-mouth buzz from serving guaro at parties orbiting the Golden Globes, Grammy and Academy Awards shows.

The thought was that such a campaign worked a year earlier for Hpnotiq, a pale-blue French concoction of cognac, vodka and fruit juices.

"We're trying that grass-roots thing, too, before we try to go nationwide," Shari F. Levanthal, marketing director for S Spirits, told me at the time.

The campaign was aimed at a hip, club-hopping market. The images of the ads were to be in that vein, such as the poster shown here by graphic artist Jerrel Conner, the first commissioned by S Guaro.

So, how has S Guaro, or any other type of guaro such as the 60-proof Cacique fared since them?

Results are mixed. For example, last year when I judged an international cane spirits competition in Tampa, FL, I was surprised to note that there wasn't a single example of guaro among all the rums and cachaças. On the other end of the spectrum, the Four Seasons hotel chain recently embraced guaro by adding a drink made with it to its cocktail lists -- the guaro sour.

Richard Lovrich, art director of the historic Proctor's Theater complex in Schenectady, is a friend and former colleague who visited Costa Rica and brought me a bottle of the liquor, a product he quickly came to enjoy with regularity during several weeks cavorting in Central America.

"I like the fact it blends so well with fruit juices, or just a little ice and lime," Lovrich said, "and, the fact that it's only 70 proof makes it much easier to take. It's almost as common as Coke or Pepsi in Costa Rica."

If you're fortunate enough to find guaro, here's the recipe for the Four Seasons cocktail:

FOUR SEASONS GUARO SOUR
2 ounces guaro
2 ounces simple syrup or 2 teaspoons raw sugar
5 to 6 lime wedges
Ice cubes
Sugar cane stick for garnish

Put guaro, sugar and lime wedges in a rocks glass. Muddle all the ingredients until you get lime juice. Add ice cubes. Yield: one drink.

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A new whiskey from an unlikely place

Think whiskey, or whisky, and you're likely to be thinking Scotland, U.S., Ireland or Canada. But Alsace?

Uberach Alsace Whisky is produced by Distillerie Bertrand in the village of Uberach, located in the French province west of the Rhine River. It was launched in France earlier this year and its maker already is looking to markets abroad. Attention from American buyers attending Vinexpo in Bordeaux helped raise such hopes.

The spirit is aged at least three years in barrels that once held Banyuls fortified wine. It then is sold as two different products: a single malt, blended from a range of casks, and the Single Cask, the product of one selected barrel.

Pascal Dubois, managing director of the parent company Wolfberger, told Drinks International: "We have a lot of experience in fruit distillation, and we think we can bring that experience to the world of whisky. We are looking for a fruity expression, with a very rounded character."

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England's first distillery has Scottish flavor

England is getting its first distillery.

Scotland is losing one of its top distillers.

Coincidence? I think not.

Iain Henderson, 69, who has created malts for Laphroaig and Chivas, has been overseeing establishment and startup of the St. George's Distillery in Norfolk, UK. Under his guidance, St. George's already has produced 250 casks, which equals 100,000 bottles. It has been put into oak casks for a three-year maturation before being put on the market.

Henderson (seen here), the holder of an industry lifetime achievement award for services to whisky, had been working at Edradour, a distillery in Perthshire, before taking the new post. Before that, he had been manager of Glenlivet, Ardbeg and Bladnoch.

"I must admit I took up the invitation to come south with some trepidation," Henderson told The Scotsman newspaper, "but I was completely intrigued by what they are doing down here and decided to give it a shot. It's been a lot of hard work to get a distillery up and running from scratch, but the results have been well worth it."

He added, "Lots of people have told me I've been disloyal in heading south of the border to make the first English whisky. It doesn't bother me one jot."

The new spirits has not yet been named, but we do know it cannot be called Scotch despite using traditional Scottish methods. Henderson, to mark the fact the new whisky is English, used East Anglian malt barley and yeast in his recipe.

The usually prickly Scotch Whisky Association hasn't objected to the newcomer, saying, "The fact that countries outside Scotland, including England, are keen to produce whisky is testament to Scotch whisky's success around the globe."

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Milwaukee distiller releases new-recipe gin

A little more proof that the gin revival is for real: Rehorst Premium Milwaukee Gin.

It's a new product from Great Lakes Distillery, maker of Rehorst Premium Milwaukee Vodka. The little Milwaukee company, which has all of three employees, has delivered the first bottles of the new gin to liquor stores in the area.

It's an 88-proof, nine-botanical recipe, with sweet basil and ginseng the two most prominent. As the company notes, "We use Wisconsin ginseng. Long recognized as the worlds finest quality ginseng, the majority of this crop is exported to Asia where it is revered by herbalists. We use it to add an earthiness to our gin that gives it a uniquely Wisconsin flavor."

Why gin? Says Doug MacKenzie, distiller and production manager, "Good vodka is good vodka, but you can differentiate yourself with a gin. It gives us a clean slate to work with."

Rehorst gin is priced at $29.99 for a 750 ml bottle. Plans are for one or more flavored vodkas-- probably cranberry as an initial offering -- to be added to the Rehorst line in the fall, with a whisky product to follow later on.

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Vodka Belt vs. the world in labeling flap

That clanging sound you hear way off to the east is the crossing of swords being wielded as the European Parliament battles over what, precisely, constitutes a vodka.

Since the potent distillation has been with us for centuries, you might think a squabble over a definition is a little late in coming. But that's only if you ignore the matter of money.

As more and more distillers, from major comglomerates to one-person operations, bring their vodka to market, what they've made it from has been at issue.

Traditionally, grains or potatoes have been the base of vodka, sometimes a mix of the two. But in recent years makers have been trying to separate themselves from the pack in the race for success in the world's largest-selling spirits category. I'm not speaking about flavored vodkas --the fruits, spices, peppers, herbs, etc. -- but of the so-called colorless, odorless, tasteless neutral spirit that is the base of it all.

The styles veering away from grains or potatoes certainly are imaginative. Grapes have come into vogue, particularly in France where Ciroc is the leader. Maple syrup is the base of the new Vermont Gold vodka. Sweet potatoes are used in Korean soju vodka. Rice is used in some other Asian styles.

In Florida, Touch vodka is made from local, natural wildflower honey. Elsewhere, distillers following the rum mold use sugar cane or molasses. If it is organic matter, it can be transmuted into vodka of some sort.

The "Vodka Belt'' countries such as Poland, Lithuania, Russian, Finland and Sweden feeling the heat of increasing competition, have been campaigning to prohibt any vodka not made from grain or potatoes from being labeled as vodka. Other EP members, particularly from the south where grapes and apples are often used, oppose such a sweeping change. Likewise,
our own U.S. industry wants to protect its non-traditional vodka makers, so lobbying pressure has been exerted even though we're not in the EP.

The most recent bump in the negotations was reported by the indignant Polish media when a representative of the German government sent a letter to 24 countries asking for their support for defining vodka to include products made of different ingredients. However, the letter was not sent to the Polish delegations.

But, looking past all the competition for dollars, it eventually comes down to what we consumers will buy and enjoy.

We each have our own favorites. Mine is Chopin, an elegant, traditional Polish potato vodka. I tend toward potato vodkas because I find them more full-bodied, less harsh than many grain-based distillations and that they hold their character either well chilled straight or in a simple martini.

However, a word of advice. If you're using vodka in a Cosmo or some other multi-ingredient cocktail, drop down a few price grades. No sense wasting an ultra-premium.

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There's always another contender

Right after I had submitted a story on the rye whisky rebound to the English magazine Whisky, something happened that totally changed my mind on which was the best. I had a birthday.

Not a remarkable occurrence in itself, since it seems to happen about once a year or so. The difference this year was that my wife surprised me with a bottle of an elusive distillation, Black Maple Hill 23-year-old Straight Rye Whiskey.

It is, without doubt, the finest rye I've ever experienced. From a Bardstown, KY, distiller, owned by CVI Brands of San Rafael, CA, this hand-barreled gem comes in at 95 proof. It is like the perfect woman: stunning at first, then surprising in depth and allure. My gift-giving wife didn't even object to this sexist description, that's how good the rye is.

I immediately dashed off a "Stop the presses!" e-mail to the magazine editor, along with an insert for the story and an addition for the tasting notes accompanying it. For an advance look at those tastings notes, go here.

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Drought may threaten Jack Daniel's water supply

PHOTO BY WILLIAM M. DOWD
(Double-click to enlarge image)



The main distillery at the Jack Daniel's Distillery.

The last time I stood next to Cave Spring, the gurgling water supply for the Jack Daniel's Distillery in Lynchburg, TN, was running strong.

The coolness coming off the water and the wetness of the rock outcropping were refreshing on what was an unseasonably warm day.

That was in February. Today, the ongoing Tennessee drought may, in the views of some, be threatening the distillery's sole water supply.

Jerry Hamilton, plant manager, is quoted in the Louisville (NY) Courier-Journal as saying the issue is threatening whiskey production since Cave Spring has been supplying all the water for the facility for more than a century. Company officials have always credited the iron-free spring for the unique taste of the Tennessee sipping whiskey, the world's largest-selling distillation.

"The water flow is down substantially," Hamilton said. "I would say at least a third to a half of what we normally see. ... If we can’t use what it takes to make Jack Daniel’s, I suspect we won’t make Jack Daniel’s until we get all the ingredients we need.”

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Hot new tequila has more going than just a bottle

In a little cafe just the other side of the border ...

Wait. That's the opening line to the Jay & The Americans classic "Come a Little Bit Closer." But, it's true.

I was spending a few relaxed hours with a group of people in an old cantina in dusty downtown Tequila, Mexico, discussing the explosion in the town's namesake liquor among U.S. consumers and others and the merits of the various brands and styles.

It was the perfect setting for the topic. A few tiny tables for two. Long, dark wooden tables. Plum-colored walls. Faded posters that had been pasted to them long ago. A dark bar with a pleasant, weather-beaten bartender presiding, pausing from time to time in his chats with other customers to deliver little tapas plates of soft, fresh cheese, crisp nuts and salted pineapple chunks to go along with our glasses of cerveza and tequila.

As the tapas and drinks were downed, the opinions ranged far and wide: Tequila is by nature a raw drink, so the younger stuff is truer; like food right from the microwave, tequila needs to settle down a bit before it is consumed; tequila tastes smoother and classier after at least a few months in wooden aging barrels. And on it went. Ultimately, only three things were unanimously agreed upon:

1. The industry standard that the liquor must be made 100% from the blue agave plant to be called pure tequila is an excellent rule, particularly when one drinks it straight.

2. The mixto version that combines agave juice with other sugars is OK for mixed drinks, but only a few labels are good for straight imbibing.

3. When tequila is aged beyond a certain point, the possibility arises that it turns into something other than tequila.

In my view, the first two points are givens. The third is perhaps most pertinent to the expanding tequila field. Javier Orendain Lopez agreed. The brand manager of Tequila Orendain de Jalisco told me, "It's a topic that is being discussed and debated more all the time.

"As distillers try to separate themselves from the competition they want to keep turning out new and different tequilas. So, many of them age them in different wooden barrels for different amounts of time. A lot of people are saying the taste is so different after long aging that even though the results can be wonderful they may not truly be tequila anymore."

By law and industry decree, tequilas fall into one of five categories:

• Blanco (white, or silver) is unaged and bottled immediately after distillation.
• Joven (gold) is a blend of unaged tequila with aged.
• Reposado (rested, or aged) has been aged in oak containers for at least two months.
• Añejo (extra aged, or vintage) has been matured in oak containers of a maximum capacity of 600 litres, for at least a year.
• Extra Añejo (ultra-aged), the emerging category and the one in which prices are skyrocketing, aged for at least three years in direct contact with oak.

The tinkering is all over the place. For example, Jose Cuervo, the industry's top seller, ages its Black Medallion in new charred oak barrels just as bourbon distillers do. It's done for about 12 months or so, years less than bourbons but enough time to pull out a bit of the oak flavor and color.

Elsewhere, aging generally runs from 90 days to a year or two. In my experience, the longer the barrel aging the more floral and fruit notes begin to emerge along with the caramel coloring and flavoring that naturally come from oak. Sauza Tres Generaciones, as just one example, is a super-premium aged a full year in wood and winds up with a gold coloring and notes of pineapple and citrus although I find it lighter on the nose and with a comparatively short finish.

It's getting difficult to distance products from each other, so any nuance is trumpeted.

Vida ultra premium tequila, for example, has just launched in the New York, Chicago and Miami markets. The company notes that while other distillers toss away either the "head" or the "tail" of the blue agave heart, Vida tosses both and uses only the heart of the heart. This, it claims, gets rid of "the unpleasant tasting compound similar to the metallic taste found in many other tequilas."

But the hot number tequila aficionadoes are keeping a special eye on is a line of fine tequilas from a California-owned company called AsomBroso.

Owner Ricardo (Rick) Gamarra makes his tequilas in Tala, Jalisco state, near Tequila. He unabashedly refers to them as "the world's finest," and packages them in hand-blown Italian lead crystal decanters. Although there are variously decorated bottles, the basic design is patterned after an 18th century design.

And, what a design. One lady of my acquaintance took one look at what can only be described as phallic-shaped bottles and remarked, "Wouldn't these be better displayed in the bedroom than the kitchen?"

That first impression aside, the remaining impressions are, virtually without exception, high quality.

"I wasn’t your typical tequila drinker,” Gamarra says. “I don’t mean that I was a spirits snob, but I have always felt that many of the tequilas already on the market were too harsh and missing a level of sophistication to attract a broader market. With that first sip of AsomBroso, I knew I was tasting something truly special, something reminiscent of a fine brandy; certainly not a tequila I had seen in the market before.

"Ultimately, I was able to learn from the older, experienced artisans how to make the fine sipping style tequila, and to further refine the ultra premium tequila-making process.”

AsomBroso relies on multiple distillation and special filtration of the juice of the baked, aged agave. Its newest product is AsomBroso LaRosa Reposado (seen above), named for its reddish hue provided by aging in French oak wine barrels used in maturation of red Bordeaux wines. It's available in either 3-month or 11-month aged versions Gamarra describes as "like our El Platino (silver) gone off to a fine finishing school.”

A pair of 5-year-old tequilas are included in the line. AsomBroso del Porto, a five-year-old aged in vintage port wine barrels, was released to the market last November. El Carbonazado, extra aged in Tennessee whiskey barrels, will join the product line this year in limited quantities.

Go here for my AsomBroso tasting notes.

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Letters: Is my 54-year-old akvavit OK?

Dear Mr. Dowd

My husband found a bottle in the bar cupboard that he received in 1953 -- Taffel Akvavit, Dedanske Spritfabrikker Aalborg D.D.S.F. Is this still any good for drinking? Does it have any great value?

-- Linda Cully-Pines

Dear Linda:

That's a tricky question. There's only one way to know if it's drinkable since you probably don't know how many temperature changes the Danish liquor has undergone in its 54 years of existence, or how much direct light it's been subjected to. Both go a long way toward the condition, even if it has remained sealed.

As to value, I simply don't know. The recipe for Taffel Akvavit has remained unchanged since it was created in 1846. If it's a standard 84-proof, clear liquid, it's probably just an old bottle of liquor. If it's anything else, you may want to contact Danish Distillers, the maker, to see if there's anything special about your bottle.

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Ethanol demand will affect tequila supply

PHOTO BY WILLIAM M. DOWD
(Double-click to enlarge image.)

The blue haze is acre after acre of agave fields stretching for miles near Tequila town.

The tequila industry has made a tremendous comeback from an insect infestation that threatened the agave crop several years ago. Now, a shifting economy is presenting as great a threat.

Mexican farmers are burning fields of blue agave, the plant used to make tequila, and resowing the land with corn to take advantage of a sudden demand for corn for United States ethanol plants.

"Those growers are going after what pays best now," said Ismael Vicente Ramirez, head of agriculture at Mexico's Tequila Regulatory Council. Officials there estimate a 25-35% drop in agave growing over the next few years.

Agave plants take 8 to 10 years to mature to usable size, so even a sudden reversion to agave won't avoid a shortage in the near-term.

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Heaven Hill expands line

Heaven Hill Distilleries has added to its brand lineup, buying the Mohawk domestic distilled spirits portfolio from Boisset America, the U.S. branch of the French winemaker.

The company will acquire the Mohawk and Newport franchises, the Basilica Imported Liqueur line and Rosita Tequila. It already produces such brands as Evan Williams Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Whaler's Rum and Burnett's gin and vodkas.

Neither company would comment on the purchase price.

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