What will they think of next? (February edition)

This month's selection of cocktail recipes consists of a trio of goodies taken from brand-sponsored competitions. Such events usually draw the most inventive of mixologists.

• LaCOLA NOSTRA

Averna is distilled in Italy from an all-natural blend of herbs, dried flowers, spices and licorice. Traditionally it is a digestivo, or after-dinner drink, known for its distinctively bittersweet taste profile. New York mixologist Don Lee created this drink in a competition sponsored by Averna.

1½ ounce Zacapa 23
1 ounce Averna
¾ ounce lime juice
½ simple syrup
¼ ounce Pimento Dram
2 ounces Moet White Star Champagne

Shake ingredients with ice, strain into a long glass with ice. Top with champagne.

• ONE HOT MINUTE

This spicy conconction was created by San Francisco cocktail star Jacques Bezuidenhout to win the "Tabasco Brand Hottest Bartender Contest."

1¾ ounces Partida Silver Tequila
2 ounces cucumber and apple juice puree
½ ounce Lillet Blanc
¼ ounce agave nectar or simple syrup
1 teaspoon Tabasco Green Jalapeño Pepper Sauce
1 cucumber
1 ounce unfiltered apple juice

To make the puree: Peel cucumber, cut into slices, place in a blender and blend into a puree. In proportion. mix equal parts of cucumber puree with unfiltered apple juice.

To make the drink: Shake all ingredients together and strain over fresh ice into a highball glass. Garnish: Thin cucumber slices fanned and one chile pepper placed on the side of the glass.

• CRYSTAL BOUQUET

Nikko Hotels International recently held a competition among its hotels in Japan to find the best drink recipes. Cocktails were judged in short drink and long drink categories. The top six drinks then were featured at all Nikko hotels in Japan. This is one of the winners, using the sponsoring Marie Brizard products.

1 ounce Marie Brizard Charleston
⅓ ounce Marie Brizard Lime Citron
1/6 ounce curacao
1/6 ounce anisette
2/3 ounce pineapple juice

Shake and serve in a goblet.

[Go here for my archive of monthly cocktail recipe collections.]

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State of the spirts industry (Part 2)

• Miss Part 1 of this report? Go here.

NEW YORK, NY -- One of the bright spots in a slow year for the spirits industry is the "premiumization" of the field.

"Premiumization continues," with many consumers "trading around, not trading down," Peter Cressy, CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), said yesterday at the industry organization's annual review for media and analysts at the New York Yacht Club.

He cited growth in premium rums, high-end premium and super premium American, Canadian and Irish whiskeys, and super premium tequilas. He also noted continued growth in the largest category of sales, vodka, which accounts for about 24% of all spirits sales.

My question for Cressy (right) was, given that this is not an industry that makes quick, sharp turns in different product directions, how does DISCUS view the near-term health of what I see as an industry push toward super premium priced spirits? Will distillers pull back from that push, given the way consumers are cutting back in so many other aspects of discretionary spending.

"Well, it's difficult to speak for the industry in the aggregate," he said, "and premiumization has slowed, but it still continues. We no whave three categories for that -- premium, high end premium and super premium. Even though the economy was weak in 2008, we still saw some increases in sales in those niches, so I suspect many distillers will continue considering them as a strong option."

In the overall distilled spirits industry, 2008 showed growth, albeit slower than in 2007, in spirits sales, with revenue growth of 2.8%, or $18.7 billion, and volume growth of 1.6% to 184 million cases. That is well off the average annual industry growth rate of 6% since 2000.

In his remarks, Cressy cited several key factors in the industry's recession resiliency, One of them was "the continuing fascination with the cocktail culture and spirits premiumization."

From my own perspective, spirits in the premium, high end premium and super premium niches are getting a major share of industry advertising and marketoing efforts. Part of that stems from the perceived profit margin such products offer, but part of it also stems from stiffer penalties for drinking in driving in virtually every state. Consumers may be drinking less in volume, but they are spending their money on better quality offerings.

In addition, the graying of America is making its influence felt. As the population ages, more people reach legal drinking age.. And, many of those who have been legal consumers longer tend to move toward pricier labels as their tastes mature and they experience more possibilities.

As the chart above shows, even when some pricier niches falter a bit overall, some of the super premium niches continue experiencing double-digit growth. Thus, it stands to reason that in an industry that must plan years ahead to allow for maturation of much of its inventory, the outlook is for continued creation of the highest-priced expressions.

DISCUS is the national trade association representing America’s leading distillers and nearly 80% of all distilled spirits brands sold in this country. It also serves as the distillers’ voice on policy and legislative issues in Washington, DC, and state and foreign capitals.

Cressy became DISCUS president and CEO in 1999 after a career in the military and in academe. He is a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral and for six years was chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. He also was president for two years of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy as well as numerous teaching assignments.

He is a graduate of Yale University, has a master's in international affairs from George Washington University, an MBA from the University of Rhode Island, and a doctorate in education from the University of San Francisco.

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French court slaps 'tezcal' distributor

William M. Dowd photo

When it comes to taking people to court to protect terms applied to wines and spirits, the French take a backseat to no one. Woe to any competitor who misuses such terms as “champagne” and “cognac.”

However, a court in Paris this week put a spin on that situatuation when it ruled that a French firm must cease selling a spirit it calls "tezcal" because the word is too similar to "mezcal," a version of tequila.

The suit was brought by the DCE Ultramarine company, which distributes mezcal in France. It said LaMartiniquaise, the company distributing the controversial spirit, were likely to confuse shoppers.

The term "mezcal" is protected by the International Denomination of Origin status for agricultural products and foodstuffs.

The court fined La Martiniquaise $40,000 and ordered it to remove all "tezcal" bottles from shops.

Mezcal is one style of drink made from the agave plant and, by international agreement, is a Mexican-only beverage. At one time, it was a low-end drink, with 100% blue agave tequila on the opposite end of the scale.

However, as the global market for agave-based spirits has steadily grown in recent years, more distillers have been producing purer and more flavorful mezcals. There are eight varieties of agave approved for mezcal production. The most commonly used is the espadin agave.

The Beverage Tasting Institute offers a succinct history and explanation of agave spirits.

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Champagne house embraces new vodka

Pol Roger, the noted champagne house, has added a vodka to its wine-and-spirits portfolio.

The label is DQ vodka. The product is made in Sweden by the Nordic Spirit Co. from Swedish winter wheat and spring water. It will initially be aimed at top-end bars and clubs, then marketwide later this year.

The vodka is packaged in an Italian glass and aluminium bottle designed to resemble a fuse.

Nordic Spirit says it is the first Swedish company to release for export limited volumes of an undiluted vodka formula based "solely on these finest Swedish raw spirits."

"The resulting vodka," it says, "is smoother, subtler yet more complex than any other super-premium vodka. ... By presenting this fine vodka in a package that incorporates precious materials that are beautifully engineered we aim to give the consumer a rewarding, multi-sensory experience that goes far beyond the taste."

To get that, you'll probably have to meet the expected retail price of $48 for the 750ml bottle once DQ goes marketwide.

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DISCUS updates ad/marketing code

The Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. (DISCUS) today announced several changes to its "Code of Responsible Practices" governing the advertising and marketing of more than 2,800 spirits, beer and wine brands marketed by DISCUS members.

Among the key changes:

• Detailed product placements guidelines for movies, television programs, music videos and video games.

• No supplier-sponsored promotions in licensed establishments on college/university campuses.

• No drinking games rewarding or encouraging excessive/abusive consumption as part of supplier-sponsored promotions.

• More detailed “buying” guidelines for radio and new guidelines for newspaper placements.

• Code compliance seminars on placement and content for members and non-members.

“These new provisions reflect the spirits industry’s continued commitment to responsible advertising,” said Peter Cressy, DISCUS president and CEO. “As marketing communications evolve, so too does the industry’s 74-year-old code. We remain steadfast in our commitment to abide by the code regardless of the medium.”

First adopted in 1934, the code has periodically been revised as the marketplace and technologies have changed. It was last updated in 2003.

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State of the spirits industry (Part 1)

NEW YORK -- Anyone who thinks the world market isn't interested in American products as much as usual may want to look over the chart above, listing the 2008 buying habits of the top 10 foreign markets for U.S. spirits.

The figures were released today in a news conference held at the New York Yacht Club by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), its annual review of the state of the industry for analysts and media.

Seven of those 10 markets show an increase in purchases of U.S. spirits. That totaled an overall increase of 49% over the prior year, or $392.3 million in just those markets. Overall, the industry experienced record exports for the sixth consecutive year. And, it is projected that once final figures are compiled, spirits exports will top wine exports for the fourth consecutive year.

The biggest market for U.S. spirits exports was Canada, up 21.2% to $171.9 million. Sales in the United Kingdom, while down 15%, ranked No. 2 at $136.5 million.

Those statistics are from the U.S. Department of Commerce, as compiled by the U.S. International Trade Commission.

In the overall distilled spirits industry, said DISCUS CEO Peter Cressy, 2008 showed growth, albeit slower than in 2007, in spirits sales, with revenue growth of 2.8%, or $18.7 billion, and volume growth of 1.6% to 184 million cases. That is well off the average annual industry growth rate of 6% since 2000.

He cited several key factors in the industry's recession resiliency:

• Holding the line on new hospitality taxes.

• Expanding market access.

• The continuing fascination with the cocktail culture and spirits premiumization.

• Continuing to push the idea that spirits are an affordable luxury, even in tough financial times.

In particular, DISCUS, as the major industry organization, takes the stance that because distilled spirits, and all beverage alcohol, is a major component of hospitality industry profitability and -- particularly for the hard-hit on-premise segment of restaurants, bars and hotels -- new hospitality taxes could have a devastating impact on employment and actual tax receipts.

"Our message is simple," Cressy said. "We are not seeking a bailout; just do no harm."

[Tomorrow: I'll take a look in the crystal ball to see what might lie ahead for the industry and its consumers this year.]

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'Pop' goes the moonshiner

• Excerpted from the Associated Press:

GREENEVILLE, TN -- A federal judge turned aside public pleas for leniency and sentenced famed Appalachian moonshiner Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton (right) to 18 months in [federal] prison.

The 62-year-old Parrottsville author of the book "Me and My Likker" was sentenced ... for illegally producing distilled spirits and being a felon in possession of a handgun. ...

The Greeneville Sun reported that hundreds of people from North Carolina and Tennessee signed petitions supporting Sutton. "We trust him in any matters of great importance in our everyday lives and would welcome him as a neighbor," the petitions said.

But the judge doubted many would think that placing a man convicted five times on probation again would serve their interests. Most would say, "No," he said.

Sutton has been running afoul of the law at least since 1974, when he was charged by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms with multiple violations of liquor tax laws. He was convicted in 1981 and 1985 in Haywood County, NC, on charges of possessing controlled substances and assault with a deadly weapon.

In 2007, firefighters putting out a fire at his Parrottsville property discovered 650 gallons of untaxed alcohol, leading to a probationary sentence from Cocke County for untaxed liquor.

In March 2008, he told an undercover agent he had 500 gallons of moonshine in Tennessee and 400 gallons in Maggie Valley, N.C., ready for sale. Federal authorities arrested him days later, leading to Monday's charges.

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Beam, Southern expand partnership

Beam Global Spirits & Wine and Southern Wine & Spirits of America have formalized a long-term agreement giving SWS the exclusive distribution rights to Beam Global's portfolio in 21 states.

The agreement expands the two companies' prior agreement by adding Kentucky and Arizona. SWS will utilize what it calls a "focused sales division" to distribute all of Beam Global's leading brands such as Jim Beam Bourbon, Hornitos Tequila, Canadian Club Whisky, Courvoisier Cognac, Maker's Mark Bourbon, Laphroaig Scotch Whisky, Cruzan Rum and DeKuyper Cordials and Liqueurs.

Southern is the nation's largest wine and spirits distributor.

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Glen Breton wins another court round

Glenora Distillery has won the latest round in its ongoing legal battle with the Scotch Whisky Association over its use of the word "glen" in the name of its whisky.

The Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, distiller scored a victory in the Federal Court of Appeal that upheld its registration of Glen Breton as the trademark of its single malt.

"It takes a big monkey off our back and financial burden," Glenora Distillery president Lauchie MacLean said. "It allows us to plan and distribute and work with our agents around the world to sell our product."

Glenora introduced Glen Breton to the market in the autumn of 2000, and it has been selling well. Immediately, the Scotland-based SWA, known worldwide for its zealous attacks on any suspected infringement of names that might hinder the Scotch whisy industry, launched legal action.

The SWA contends the name Glen Breton misleads consumers into believing the whisky is distilled and matured in Scotland.

A Canadian federal court initially agreed with the SWA. Then Canada's Trade-Marks Opposition Board sided with Glenora. So, the SWA took its case to federal court again, where it now apparently has lost.

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French vodka about to make its move

Dragon Bleu, the triple-grain French vodka, doesn't seem to be in much hurry to makes its way into cocktail glasses across America.

While it is featured in numerous top-echelon watering holes in Europe, and has picked up silver medals at several prestigious international competitions, it is marketed in all but 49 of the United States.

That's right, it is sold in precisely one state. Michigan; 400 locations in Michigan, as a matter of fact.

However, that should be remedied in the coming months. Dragon Bleu is about to be rolled out to markets around the nation, according to the company.

The vodka is made from wheat, barley, rye and water from the Gensac Spring in the southwestern French province of Aquitane. Dragon Bleu was founded by Patrick Brissett, president of the International Centre for Spirits and Liqueurs. It retails at a suggested $32 for the 750ml bottle.

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Ad agencies gone wild

The new partying face of Belvedere Vodka (right) and the girl-on-girl faces of Jim Beam Bourbon (below).


Has the liquor industry lost its collective mind?

Right in the middle of an industrywide -- nay, global -- push to drink responsibly rather than drinking just to get trashed, and to stop acting like idiots and actually contribute something to society, a couple of new advertising campaigns threaten to lay waste to the whole mindset.

Belvedere Vodka, for example, has signed up Young Jeezy, a rapper whose 2001 debut album was called "Thuggin' Under the Influence," to be its spokesman. I viewed the ad and had trouble with only two things:

(1.) I could barely understand a word he muttered, and

(2.) I could not comprehend how Belvedere thinks such sleazy stuff will make anyone buy their product. In my case, it will send me screaming into the arms of a competitor. Any competitor.

And Jim Beam has come up with a series of short commercials apparently based on two things:

(1.) All men are pigs, and

(2.) Beautiful women are attracted to pigs. (If not, they may be attracted to other BWs, which pigs usually like.)

On top of that, Beam -- my "house bourbon" and, therefore, a bigger disappointment to me than it may be to some others -- is soliciting people to "remake" the ads and win some prizes.

You can get all the gory details of that gimmick online as well as view the series of original ads.

Note: You can read the "Code of Responsible Practices for Beverage Alcohol Advertising and Marketing" from the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. (DISCUS) here.

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Ferguson on whiskey and coffee

Craig Ferguson, the hands-down best standup act/talk show host on television, offers excellent riffs nearly every weeknight.

Here's one that fits into this blog's drinks genre, ranging from whiskey to coffee.



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G&T is a piece of cake

Not all good things end up in glasses. Not even gin and tonic.

Thanks to Annie Bell, author of "Gorgeous Cakes," we can have our drink and eat it, too.

I came across her Gin & Tonic Cupcakes recipe on the YumSugar.com Web site. Have at it!

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Rooftop bar braves Manhattan winter

NEW YORK -- Manhattan's largest rooftop bar and enclosed penthouse lounge isn't shying away from the chills of winter.

The 22,000-square-foot bar, called 230 Fifth, has installed an array of high-powered heaters surrounding its West Bar, the larger of the two rooftop garden bars.

The heaters are augmented by a wardrobe of about 1,000 "signature heavy-duty over-sized hooded red robes and an extensive selection of thermally hot cocktails served in extra large 18 ounce hand-warming mugs," as the management explains it.

230 Fifth has come up with a menu of cocktails for its first outdoor winter season, based on artisan fruit cider bases. They include:

• Hot Apple Cider with Apple Pucker
• Hot Raspberry Cider with Stoli Razberi Vodka
• Hot Peach Cider with Absolut Apeach Vodka
• Hot Pear Cider with Grey Goose Poire Vodka

In addition, a broad range of coffee-oriented drinks is offered, including the "Wired" double espresso topped by Van Gogh Double Espresso Vodka.

The bar is located at 230 Fifth Avenue between 26th and 27th streets. Hours: 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. Phone: (212) 725-4300.

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500 cocktail recipes on latest app

The aptly-named Fizz Software on Monday released the latest iPhone/iPod touch application that provides cocktail recipes.

One of the more interesting aspects of the application is that one need use only 14 readily available key ingredients to create as many as 500 different drinks.

The application is available on iTunes for $2.99. Simon Difford, the Glenfiddich Award-winning writer, includes his personal ratings and comments on each of the drinks, which are explained step by step.

A few other aspects of the application:

• All recipes are accompanied by photos of the finished drinks.
• Mark in the "Cocktail Cabinet" the bottles you have at home and what you can make from them.
• Add your own cocktail ratings and notes.
• Shake the iPhone or iTouch to get a random cocktail recipe.
• Search for cocktails by name, rating or ingredients.
• View all screens in landscape or portrait mode.
• E-mail recipes to others.
• Operate without an Internet connection.

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Scotch may rely on French barley

• Jenny Haworth, environment correspondent for The Scotsman newspaper, reports:

"Scottish whisky may have to be distilled from French barley in the future as a result of EU laws banning at least 22 pesticides from fields across Europe, it has been claimed.

"Controversial legislation passed in Brussels yesterday aims to reduce the amount of products deemed harmful to human health or the environment used on crops.

"Supporters argue that the measures, which have been watered down in the past few months to allow the continued use of pesticides for which there is no alternative for up to 10 years, do not go far enough. But critics warn that they could cause crop yields to plummet and food prices to rocket. Some say yields of potatoes, wheat and carrots, which rely on pesticides to ward off diseases associated with the UK's damp conditions, will suffer.

"Struan Stevenson, a Tory MEP for Scotland, said he was 'appalled by the decision' and claimed Scotland would have to import products from warmer countries that had less of a problem with disease."

[Go here for the complete story.]

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DC hotel opens bar inside a bar

In Washington, DC, there is something new besides an administration.

The prestigious Willard Intercontinental Hotel's Round Robin Bar is now featuring its own bar, The Scotch Bar.

It's a special alcove with its own intimate bar, small seating area and a very broad selection of newly compiled Scotch whiskies, including dozens of labels and ages from each of the regions of Scotland.

You can get all the details on The DCist.

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Russian heads going ... head-to-head

Funny how things work out.

In the United States, it is illegal to use the likeness of a living person for commercial purposes without their permission. Brewery Ommegang in Upstate New York discovered the truth of that when it tried making a one-time-only batch of ale it called "Obamagang."

In the Russian Federation, however, it apparently is quite legal to do that. Thus, competing vodkas named after the two most powerful men in the Federation are going head-to-head for consumer attention.

The spirits are named after President Dmitry Medvedev and the man he succeeded, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. For those who are not up on their foreign affairs news, Putin hand-picked Medvedev to become president because he could not succeed himself, but still pulls the strings behind the scenes.

"Medvedeff" vodka went on the shelves last month but has not been as successful as "Putinka," which appeared shortly after Putin became president and now has 4.4% of the very splintered Russian vodka market, according to the daily business newspaper Vedomosti.

"Unlike Putinka, Medevedeff sounds a bit non-Russian, non-popular, it doesn't have the same kind of oomph," marketing expert Alexander Yeremenko was quoted as saying, referring to the French-sounding -eff ending of the name.

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Luxury list has a champagne topper

The Luxury Institute today released its annual Luxury Brand Status Index (LBSI) for the wine and spirits industry.

The results of the index compiled by the independent New York-based company "are utilized by consumer-centric luxury brand executives to independently monitor how target consumers truly rate their brands in terms of critical luxury metrics," according to the Institute announcement.

Rankings are derived from a survey of high net-worth consumers who rated more than 100 brands in 10 wine and spirits categories. The top-rated brands in each category are:

• Champagne and Sparkling Wine: Dom Perignon
• Cognac: Courvoisier
• Gin: Hendricks
• Liqueurs: Grand Marnier
• Rum: 10 Cane
• Scotch: Macallan
• Table Wines: Opus One
• Tequila: Patron
• Vodka: Grey Goose
• Whiskey: Woodford Reserve

A national sample of more than 1,200 wealthy American consumers was surveyed online by the Luxury Institute. The respondents had an average weighted income of $342,000 and an average weighted net-worth of $2.9 million. The LBSI asked them to rate the brands along four main "pillars" of brand stature:

1. Consistently superior quality.
2. Uniqueness and exclusivity.
3. Social status as a product consumed by people who are admired and respected.
4. Self enhancement, in that the brand makes the consumer "feel special" across all aspects of the customer experience.

In addition, the survey measures three critical "outcome" metrics, which are compared to the category LBSI:

1. Worthiness of a significant price premium.
2. Willingness to recommend brands to people they care about and why, or why not.
3. Brand preference as the brand most likely to be considered the next time a purchase is made.

"We've found that those brands committed to excellence are genuinely interested in where they stand in the mind of the high net-worth consumer," said Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute. "For the rest, we caution that this is not the time to 'fly blind' as the final verdict on whether, or not, you qualify as a luxury brand is that of the hard-core luxury consumer."

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Craft distillers to meet in April

The American Distilling Instiute's 6th annual Distilling Conference is scheduled for April 2-5 in Alameda, CA.

The topic: Brandy.

Brandy? Yup. ADI Director Bill Owens told me the number of member craft distilleries getting involved in making brandy keeps expanding, and he's created a conference schedule to take full advantage of the fact.

The event will be hosted by St. George Spirits, 2601 Monarch Street in Alameda. It will include a hands-on brandy distilling workshop at the Osocalis Distillery in Santa Cruz, various distillery tours in the area, and a "Meet the Makers Spirits Festival" on the final day with a special industry-only preview session preceding the public event.

The ADI was founded in 2002 and has more than 160 U.S. member distillers throughout the nation, as well as 10 Canadian members. To get the details, go here and click on "craft distillers."

To locate ADI-member craft distilleries throughout the nation, or to get the conference registration form, go here.

Heaven Hill Distilleries is the nation's largest independent, family-owned spirits producer and marketer.

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Have some tea or coffee in your vodka

Forget fruit infusions in the latest flavored vodkas to hit the market. Burnett's Flavored Vodka has added sweet tea and espresso styles to its line.

Heaven Hill Distilleries, which owns Burnett's, now offers 18 flavors: blueberry, cherry, citrus, coconut, cranberry, grape, lime, mango, orange, peach, pomegranate, raspberry, sour apple, strawberry, vanilla, watermelon and the new flavors.

Given that most competitors are using various fruits or a variety of them in their infusions, why did Burnett's go the tea and coffee route?

"These newest flavors are the result of considerable interest among consumers and retailers alike," said Reid Hafer, senior brand manager. "We have generally tried to push the envelope of innovation but always within the desires of our truest focus groups."

The new vodkas are available in 1.75 liter and 750 ml sizes, bottled at 30% alcohol by volume (60 proof). Recipes using them are available on the company Web site.

Heaven Hill Distilleries is the nation's largest independent, family-owned spirits producer and marketer.

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Beam Global names top mixologist

There is little logic to producing great spirits and not knowing a myriad way of utilizing them. Thus, Global Spirits & Wine Inc. has added a "national accounts mixologist" to its staff in the person of Philip Raimondo.

"As a former bartender, I understand what mixologists and consumers are looking for in cocktails," Raimondo said. "I believe you can only make great drinks with the finest and freshest ingredients and am committed to teaching Beam Global customers fun and flavorful ways to mix with our brands."

Raimondo has nearly two decades' experience in the beverage operations and hospitality industries. Prior to his new role, he was the beverage director for Ruth's Hospitality Group, which owns and operares the Ruth's Chris Steak House and Mitchell's Fish Market restaurants. He began his career as a bartender at a TGI Friday's unit.

He has won a number of industry awards, including placing third in the world in the Belvedere International Mixology Competition.

Raimondo will support the entire Beam portfolio in his new role, but will concentrate on Jim Beam Bourbon, DeKuyper Cordials and Liqueurs, Cruzan Rum, Courvoisier Cognac and (rí)¹ Whiskey.

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Sazerac expands KY bourbon holdings

April L. Dowd photo

Barton Brands is about to disappear, for real. As an entity, that is, not as a portfolio of spirits.

The Bardstown, KY, company is being purchased by Sazerac Co. of New Orleans.

Sazerac already owns Buffalo Trace bourbon in Frankfort. In the deal it will acquire 1792 Ridgemont Reserve and Very Old Barton. The sale is expected to close by late next month.

Once the deal is complete, Sazerac will rank as Kentucky's third-largest holder of aging distilled spirits, with 17% of the state's overall inventory, according to the Kentucky Distillers' Association.

The Barton Brands name began disappearing after it was purchased by Constellation which changed the name to Constellation Spirits. Its facilities in Bardstown include the Tom Moore Distillery.

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A celebri-quote: Alex Kapranos

• Alex Kapranos is the frontman for the rock group Franz Ferdinand, whose new album, "Tonight," is set for a January 26 release. In an interview with the Scottish newspaper The Daily Record, he discussed his new attitude toward drinking.

"I drink one night on and one night off now. Otherwise I'll lose my voice. I've got to watch it if I drink too much whiskey, which I'm kind of prone to do on tour, especially when I come off stage. You've got so much adrenaline and you're like, 'What are we going to do now?'

"We have a bottle of whiskey on our [contract] rider which maybe we should get taken off because I just tear into it every night."

[Go here for more celebri-quotes.]

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Belated birthday in a bourbon bottle

The annual release of Old Forester Birthday Bourbon finally has been accomplished, extending the program to a sixth consecutive year.

The program marks the birthday of George Garvin Brown, founder of Old Forester, America's first bottled bourbon. However, his birthday is September 2, so this edition must be regarded as a belated birthday gift for consumers.

Actually, the delay was not unexpected. Chris Morris, master distiller for Old Forester, told me some months ago in Louisville, KY, that work being done on a one-time product -- Old Forester Repeal Bourbon that marked the 75th anniversary of the end of Prohibition -- and supply complications with the company's bottlemaker would delay this year's Birthday Bourbon.

Morris has stored this special bourbon in stainless steel tanks since its maturation ended several months ago, so it tastes the same as it would have had it been released in September.

"This year's Birthday Bourbon is crafted from a 62-barrel batch that was distilled and barreled in the late summer of 1995," Morris said. "These barrels were entered on the sixt floor of Warehouse H on September 6, 1995. This is an upper floor location which builds heat in the summer months, ensuring a robust, complex barrel character will develop.

"The result is a taste profile that is much more chewy in terms of rich fruit and caramel character than the 2007 and 2006 releases."

Standard Old Forester is a blend of whiskies from different years. Birthday Bourbon us a vintage-dated bourbon, hand selected by Morris from one specific day. Its decanter style glass echoes the sort of bottles first used in the late 1800s.

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Mmmm, Russian whisk(e)y

In Russia, it seems, everyone has an angle. Since the fall of the USSR, the battle for the almighty ruble has been going full-bore in many consumer categories. Now, it may cut into the business of Irish and Scottish distillers.

Rival distilleries in the northern Caucasus region have begun making brown spirits, one copying the Scotch model, one the Irish.

The market for such whiskies is there, tripling between 2005 and 2007, while consumption of native vodka, the iconc Russian tipple, has been in a slow but steady decline. The country's National Alcohol Association says vodka sales are so far off that the amount of it warehoused rather than being released to market has hit 82 million liters, up 600% from the prior year.

"Making bad whiskey is a crime," Boris Pakhunov of Praskoveya, a winery (right) in the province of Stavropol that is making the Irish-style whiskey, told the newspaper The Scotsman. "Whiskey, like cognac, is a natural, professionally made, high-quality drink. We would never allow ourselves just to make it any old how."

Whisky of Russia, located in the largely-Muslim Russian republic of Dagestan, is the other whiskeymaker. It is making the Scotch-style spirit.

Some industry watchers say the new whiskies will be more of a curiosity than major sellers since the distilleries in Ireland and Scotland can easily outproduce them. Pricewise, there doesn't seem to be much difference between the Russian expressions and some imports that are major sellers in Russia.

For example, a bottle of Praskoveya whiskey retails for about $12 US,, about the same as a bottle of White Horse, a Diageo blend.

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A celebri-quote: Kate Hudson

• Actress Kate Hudson is appearing in "Bride Wars," a new film about two friends who turn on each other when they plan to get married the same day. She said she and co-star Anne Hathaway spent a lot of evenings together in New York bars. As she said to ShowBizSpy.com:

"I'm always doing something. I'm either dancing or doing Pilates or biking or running. I'm quite active so I wasn't concerned with losing weight. Just having fun.

"So, for this movie, we were actually doing a lot of drinking. I'm a tequila girl. We like our champagne, though, too."

[Go here for more celebri-quotes.]

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Grand Marnier picks cocktail winner

'Beverage Arts Challenge' winner Diane Silvey is flanked by the final-round judges (from left) Dale Degroff, Jim Meehan, Tony Abou-Ganim and Eben Freeman.
BEVERLY HILLS, CA -- Diane Silvey, representing the Bellagio of Las Vegas, knows her Grand Marnier.

Competing against Malachi Topping of the Charleston Place Hotel of Charleston, SC, and Alexander Velez from Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas in the final round of the "2009 Beverage Arts Challenge" at the new SLS Hotel, Silvey wowed the judges with her original cocktail, appropriately called the Grand Finale.

Grand Marnier and Travel + Leisure magazine co-sponsored the event, which required all contestants to create an original cocktail using the orange liqueur as one of its components.

Judges were:

• Tony Abou-Ganim, owner of The Modern Mixologist company and co-owner of the new Bar Milano in New York.
• Dale DeGroff, writer/mixologist and president of the Museum of the American Cocktail in New Orleans.
• Eben Freeman of Tailor in New York.
• Jim Meehan of PDT, also in New York.

Silvey is a frequent competitor in brand-sponsored cocktail combinations. Here's her winning recipe this time around.

GRAND FINALE

1 ounce Grand Marnier
1½ ounces guava nectar
1½ ounces Sence Rose Nectar
1 squeeze of fresh lemon wedge
Splash of Veuve Clicquot Champagne
Long, thin orange peel

Combine first four ingredients in ice-filled mixing glass. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Top with Veuve Clicquot. Garnish with orange peel scattered on top.

Grand Marnier was created in 1880 and is the world's top-selling liqueur. It retails at a suggested retail price of $38 for the 750ml bottle. It also is available in two higher marques -- Grand Marnier Cuvée du Centenaire ($155) and Grand Marnier Cuvée du Cent Cinquantenaire ($240).

A very good substitute for those seeking an orange liqueur on a budget is Gran Gala from Italy's Stock company. It goes for a suggested retail price of $19. Go here and scroll down for my tasting notes on Gran Gala.

[Go here for recipes on the two other finalists' drinks.]
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Case closed in seized Jack Daniel's

William M. Dowd photo

Here's the latest on the Case of the Jack Daniel's Bottles, as reported by the Nashville, TN, Tennessean newspaper and the Associated Press. (The JD visitor center is shown at right):

A Nashville-area plumber will get back most of his million-dollar collection of Jack Daniel's whiskey bottles in a settlement with the Tennessee state liquor board.

Randy Piper was indicted in January 2008 after the state seized 2,400 bottles in October 2007. The state said he was selling liquor without a license. Piper said he was collecting the whiskey for the vintage glass bottles.

The Tennessean reported Piper avoided jail time by agreeing to pretrial diversion. Now the Alcoholic Beverage Commission (ABC) has agreed to return most of the bottles, some of which are nearly a century old.

ABC Executive Director Danielle Elks said the state will keep and later auction off 400 to 500 bottles, mainly the less valuable green label whiskey and about one-third of the special reserve bottles.

[Go here and here for earlier postings on the topic.]

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More greats moments in governance

I can just picture the scene.

A concerned parent is out strolling with his/her offspring(s) through the park when, suddenly, a besotted pervert leaps out of the bushes and ... starts mixing a cocktail right in front of them.

Oh, the horror!

Well, Utah state legislators are pushing to be sure that never happens without a legal penalty being attached. They're actually trying to restrict restaurants from making mixed drinks in full view of minors.

Senate president Michael Waddoups says proposed legislation is necessary to protect the "safety and mental future of our children."

If he and any like-minded colleagues have their way, restaurants that serve drinks will be forced to remodel if their bar isn't screened off from the dining room.

Oh, the illustration above? One possible way to combat the phobia. Or, perhaps it's a serving staff training exercise.

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Sauza re-launches 3G tequila line

If you're used to quickly spotting Tres Generaciones Tequila on your favorite spirits shop's shelves, make sure you look a little closer next time you're shopping.

Sauza Tequila is re-launching its upper-niche line as triple-distilled spirits in a new packaging design that is just hitting the market this month.

Tres Generaciones (Three Generations) is named for Don Cenobio, Don Eladio and Don Francisco Javier Sauza, the pioneers of the family who helped define the quality of the industry along with other giants of the field that include the Beckmann (Jose Cuervo) and Orendain families.

Tres Generaciones uses 100% Weber blue agave as the base of its tequila, triple distilling it for smoothness to create its Plata (unaged) Reposado (rested two months in American oak barrels) and Añejo (aged 12 months or more in charred American oak).

The new bottles and labels of the 80-proof spirits portfolio will be available in 50, 375 and 750ml bottles, at suggested retail prices for the larger bottles ranging from $45.99 for the Plata to $47.00 for the Reposado, to $49.99 for the Añejo.

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Bar joke

• From Cecil Chandler on South Carolina's SCnow.com:

A businessman enters a tavern, sits down at the bar and orders a double Scotch on the rocks.

After he finishes the drink, he peers inside his shirt pocket, then he orders another double Scotch.

After he finishes that drink, he peers in his pocket again.

Finally, the bartender says, “Look, buddy, I’ll bring you drinks all night long. But you have got to tell me why you look inside your shirt pocket each time before you order a drink.”

The customer replies, “I’m looking at a photo of my wife. When she starts to look good, then I know it’s time to go home.”

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Time for 'change,' inaugural cocktail style

The upcoming January 20 inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joseph Biden will usher in a new period in American governance.

What better time to come up with ways to comemmorate the event? Obama won the election while calling for change. In the drinks world, any event calls for change in the form of new concoctions, of course. After all, business is business.

So, here are a pair of drinks whipped up just for the occasion. They were created for the inaugural ball scheduled for the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Washington, DC, for the Hawaii delegation by Bridget Albert, mixologist and author.

"When I got the call from PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur to create an official cocktail for this monumental event, I was truly inspired,” said Albert, the master mixologist at Southern Wine and Spirits and director of the Academy of Spirits and Fine Service in Illinois. “I want each Inaugural ball guest, and revelers around the globe, to experience the energy of the evening."

There is, by the way, no coincidence that the main ingredients in these drinks come from Heaven Hill Distilleries. They're paying the freight for the research and promotion.

• THE AMERICAN DREAM

1 ounce PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur
1 ounce black cherry rum
1 ounce POM WONDERFUL pomegranate cherry juice
½ ounce fresh sour
Garnish: white fondant stars and blueberries on a cocktail pick

Cut mini stars out of white fondant. Using water, gently wet the back of each star and press into the inside of the cocktail glass. Let sit for 5 minutes. Fill mixing glass with all ingredients add ice to tin. Shake well and strain into star studded cocktail glass. Garnish with blueberries on a pick.

• AIR FORCE ONE

2 ounces Hpnotiq
1 ounce citrus vodka
Juice from a lemon wedge
Lemon lime soda
Garnish: lemon spiral

Fill tall glass with all ingredients and add ice. Stir well .

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A celebri-quote: Peggy Alpaugh

• OK, this time it isn't a direct quote, but give me a break. Peggy turned 103 on New Year's Eve and prefers that her son, Chappy, speak for her about her imbibing habits. Here's what he told News Channel 7 in Panama City, FL, about his mom after a family night out with friends at a local restaurant.

"She has a drink of scotch about twice a year. We'll have one when we get home tonight.

"She's just hard working. She still works in the yard four or five hours a day and she irons all the clothes in the house."

[Go here for more celebri-quotes.]

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When one vodka isn't nearly enough

From DallasNews.com:

DRIPPING SPRINGS, TX -– A pair of brothers from Dallas is learning that vodka is a dangerous business -– and not because of one-too-many New Year's Eve shots.

The Kelleher brothers will celebrate survival and renewal this New Year's, grateful that their Dripping Springs Vodka distillery limped through a holiday season of tragedy and devastation wrought by fire.

By mid-January, they hope to have their family business, San Luis Spirits -– operating less than two years -– back up to 100%, shipping 3,400 cases a month into a market increasingly thirsty for Texan spirits.

But they look ruefully on the past 20 months, with two fires, and a flood during the epic rains of 2007, and wonder what else they'll have to overcome in order to make vodka, as their great-great-great-grandparents did.

[Go here for the full story.]

Note: Dripping Springs Vodka won a gold medal for best in class/non-European vodka, in the 2008 International Wine and Spirit Competition.

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What will they think of next? (January '09 edition)

• Considering that this week we began hitting historic notes -- ringing in a new year and leaving the year that marked the 75th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition in the U.S. -- I thought it appropriate to serve up for this month's recipes some cocktails with historic pedigrees.

• WARD 8

This concoction, sort of a variant on the whiskey sour (see that recipe below), was dreamed up in Boston at the Locke-Ober restaurant bar in 1898, according to the most persuasive version of the story. Ward 8 was the section of the city that consistently delivered a winning margin of votes to the powerful Democratic political leader Martin M. Lomasney, who reigned for a half-century. The drink supposedly was created to honor him.

There are variartions on the drink, using bourbon or rye or blended whiskey, and using lemon juice or lime juice or no juice. This is the original version re-introduced to legal drinkers at the Locke-Ober after Prohibition was repealed.

2 ounces rye whiskey
½ ounce fresh lemon juice
½ ounce fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon grenadine
Maraschino cherry

Shake the whiskey, lemon juice, orange juice and grenadine with ice. Strain over ice into a chilled Collins glass or Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with a cherry. (Originally, the drink was decorated with a small paper Massachusetts flag.)

• Tequila Sunset

Unlike its more famous cousin, the Tequila Sunrise -- which is nothing more than a splash of orange juice and a dash of grenadine in a glass of tequila, this drink that is popular in Mexico's high society has been around since the 1920s. Now, with tequila's increasing presence on the U.S. liquor scene, it would make an excellent holiday offering. Here's the recipe and procedure as it appears in Stuart Walton's "The Ultimate Book of Cocktails (Hermes House, London, 2005).

1 measure gold tequila (not 100% agave)
5 measures fresh lemon juice
1 measure fresh orange juice
1 or 2 tablespoons clear honey
2/3 measure créme de cassis

Pour tequila, lemon juice and orange juice in a chilled cocktail glass and mix well with a swizzle stick. Carefully trickle the honey into the center of the drink. It will sink and create a layer at the bottom of the glass. Add the créme de cassis, but do not stir. It will create a glowing layer above the honey at the bottom of the glass.

• Whiskey Sour

The "sour" in the name is a derivation of the old Anglo-Saxon surigan, which was eventually shortened to sour and stuck because of the taset of lemon or lime in the concoction. This recipe comes from "The OId Waldorf Astoria Bar Book," first published just before Prohibition.

½ lemon
½ teaspoon bar sugar
½ pony of water
1 jigger of whiskey
Fresh ice
Orange slice
Maraschino cherry

Put the water and whiskey in a cocktail glass, squeeze in the juice of the lemon-half, then the sugar. Stir vigorously until all ingredients are blended, pour over fresh ice in the glass, and garnish with the fruit.

[Go here for my archive of monthly cocktail recipe collections.]

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