20090730

Glenfiddich 50 year old? $16k, please

William M. Dowd photo illustration

This is part of "Gotta Have ...", a series of occasional postings on unusual products at unusual prices.

William Grant & Sons Distillers Ltd. today released a half-century-old whisky it is selling for $16,000 a bottle.

The Glenfiddich 50 Year Old is being released in 500 numbered, hand-blown glass bottles decorated with Scottish silver and packaged in leather-bound cases.

"I’d expect interest from Asia to North America for a 50 year," said Campbell Evans, director of government and consumer affairs at the Scotch Whisky Association in Edinburgh. "A few might drink it, but I suspect most would keep it for the investment."

The new release is the second most expensive whisky ever, by most accounts. A 60-year-old Macallan sold for a little over $10,000 (US) in 1991 but today is valued at nearly $38,000 (US).

William Grant had aged only two casks of this particular single malt since the 1950s at its Dufftown, Scotland, facility.

Peter Gordon, William Grant’s chairman and a fifth-generation family heir, said in a statement that the Glenfiddich maker now has "more aged stock than any other distillery."

The 50-year-old will be distributed in 50-bottle lots over a 10-year period, selling at airports for two months and then at other retailers.

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Gin time at Scotch whisky distillery

The first spirit one thinks about when Scotland is mentioned is malt whiskey, hands down. But, a new Scottish gin will hit the UK market this weekend.

It is Caorunn (pronounced ka-roon), the makers of which can say with certainty that their gin tastes unlike any other and comes in a unique bottle.

The recipe is secret, as these things usually are, but International Beverage says it contains the requisite juniper berries, plus orange peel, "four traditional gin botanicals," and "five Celtic botanicals."

You and your friends can amuse yourself guessing what they might be. (Answer below.)

As to the bottle, it was designed for the branding agency Navyblue as a five-sided container "influenced by the Scottish Art Nouveau movement. ... The symbolic asterisk represents the five Celtic botanicals."

Iby Bakos, brand manager, said, "We’re extremely excited to be launching Caorunn this summer, a truly Scottish gin, the only one which is made at a working malt whisky distillery. ... We’re confident it will attract the attention of bar tenders and mixologists alike."

International Beverage already distributes several alcohol brands in the UK, including Chang beer, Speyburn single malt whisky and MacArthurs blended malt whisky.

As to those five "Celtic botanicals," they are heather, bog myrtle, rowan berry, dandelion and coul blush apple. Just what you guessed? I thought so.

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20090728

Famous Grouse losing its famous blender

The Famous Grouse and the rest of its flock will have to get along without John Ramsay (right).

The master blender has completed a handover process of more than two years that allows him to retire and Gordon Motion to take over as master blender for the Edrington Group, headquartered in Perth, Scotland.

Ramsay's is renowned for his talented nose and palate in creating whiskies bottled under the Grouse and other labels such as The Glenrothes, The Macallan and Highland Park. However, he will officially retire on July 31.

The master blender is one of the few people who knows the recipe for the Famous Grouse. Motion now has been entrusted with that secret. he also will be in charge of managing the Edrington labs and sample rooms as well as stock management and cask selection.

Ramsay told the Perthshire Advertiser, “Looking back, there are a number of highlights that really stand out, from creating Highland Park 18, 25 and most recently 40 year old expressions and moving The Glenrothes whisky to a vintage.

"I’ve had an immensely enjoyable career with The Edrington Group which has taken me all around the world and I would like to extend thanks to all of my colleagues who have been such a fantastic support."

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20090727

'True Blood' breaks out the real-world drinks

Blurring the lines between fantasy and reality is commonplace in Show Biz and The Real World.

The parade of drinks moving from fiction to reality is flowing unabated. This is the fourth time I've been able to report on such possibilities.

• The first was Pawtucket Patriot Ale from the animated TV series "Family Guy."

• The second was Booty Sweat, the energy drink created in the Ben Stiller action/comedy film "Tropical Thunder."

• The third was Slurm (motto: "It's Highly Addictive"), the official soft drink of the 31st Century, in the process of moving from the animated TV series "Futurama" to our very own dimension. Twentieth Century Fox has filed for the "Slurm" trademark which would cover (prepare yourself) "carbonated and non-carbonated soft drinks; fruit drinks; fruit juices; mineral and aerated water; bottled drinking water; energy drinks; syrups and powders for making soft drinks and other beverages, namely soft drinks, fruit drinks and tea; coffee-flavored soft drinks; Ramune (Japanese soda pops); powders used in the preparation of isotonic sports drinks and sports beverages."

And, now, courtesy of HBO's latest pop cultural hit "True Blood," comes. ... well, Tru Blood.

In the show it's a synthetic blood replacement vampires can use to avoid wasting humans. In the real world, it is a blood orange (of course) carbonated drink in a bottle that is identical to the one used in the Sunday night TV series.

A few suggested recipes for using it:

• The Fangbanger: Tru Blood and vodka.

• Death On the Beach: Tru Blood, peach schnapps, pineapple juice and vodka.

• Plasmapolitan: Tru Blood, Citron, Cointreau and fresh lime juice.

It is packaged in a four-pack, carrying a suggested retail price of $16. Tru Blood will hit the market on September 10. You can pre-order it online at HBO Shop.

The new product was unveiled at ComicCon, the annual convention that draws fans of sci-fi, fantasy and the like from every segment of society. You can see the video of the intro below:



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20090726

Van Gogh tops 'Dowd On Drinks Quickie Poll'

More than 250 votes were cast in the first Dowd On Drinks "Quickie Poll," a limited-time balloting for your favorite unflavored vodkas.

Twenty-two possibilities were listed on the online ballot form, although participants were allowed to add brands not on the original list.

Van Gogh, a super premium spirit from the Royal Dirkzwager Distilleries (above) in Schiedam, Holland, was the runaway winner.

It is handmade in small batches by Master Distiller Tim Vos through a multiple distillation process that takes six weeks. It is a family-owned business, passed down since 1891. In 2005, Dirkzwager received a Royal Appointment by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, for 125 years of consistent excellence and reliable quality.

Here is the Top 10 (actually, top 11 because of a tie at No. 10), with the percentage of the votes garnered:

1. Van Gogh 16.1%
2. Stolichnaya 11.9%
3. Grey Goose 9.2%
4. Ketel One 8.3%
5. Svedka 7.3%
6. Smirnoff 6.4%
Absolut 6.4%
8. Ciroc 5.5%
9. Finlandia 5.1%
10. Chopin 4.6%
Tru Organic 4.6%

Interestingly, Finlandia was not on the original ballot, but obviously fared very well with the write-in crowd.

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20090725

Do NOT try this at home

The National Cocktail Competition in Singapore each year draws some of Asia's best mixologists. And some of its showiest.

The "flair" part of the competition always is good watching, and somewhere along the way some good cocktails get created.

Take a look at this pair of videos of some flair work in the finals of this year's event. The first features "Kenny," the second one "Max."





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20090724

Diageo Korea relaunching Windsor whiskey

From the Korea Times

Diageo Korea, the Korean arm of the world's largest alcoholic drinks maker, is preparing for the debut of a new version of its local best-selling whiskey brand, Windsor, on the global market next month ... .

"The renewed Windsor is the outcome of our efforts for years to make it a global brand," Diageo Korea CEO Kim Jong-woo said in a statement disclosing his plan for the company to launch the premium-class product in duty-free shops in several Asian countries.

Earlier this month, the company said it will focus on several new non-whiskey products, including beers and ready-mixed low-alcohol drinks. ...

The new Windsor will now have Douglas Murray as a master blender for its 12-year- and 17-year-old products. Using malts distilled at the Royal Lochnagar Distillery in Scotland, Murray will blend the signature elegant and smooth flavor of the whiskey, Diageo Korea said. The new edition also will boast a new bottle created by British designer Gordon Smith, adding a modern and cubic twist to its traditional design.

Unlike former editions, the latest Windsor will not be labeled by the year. Though its price has not been fixed, the product is likely to sell for a higher price than the 21-year-old Windsor, which is the current high-end product.

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Distillery/arts project for Upstate NY

BETHEL, NY -- Drinks and music go together very nicely, so the husband/wife team of Stacy Cohen and Monte Sachs (right) are planning on making a business of it for themselves. And, what better way to go about it than being supported through a $295,000 grant?

They are planning to build the Dancing Cat Distillery on Route 17B near Bethel Woods, a project that would include a tasting room for their distilled spirits, plus a venue for music and other art forms.

The Sullivan County Industrial Development Agency announced it secured a Rural Business Enterprise Grant for the project from the U.S. Department of Agricultural. It will purchase the distilling equipment, and lease it to the distillery. The leasing fees will go into a revolving fund used to finance other local agricultural projects.

The 5,000-square-foot building is targeted for a spring 2010 opening. Groundbreaking will take place in September, and Sachs and Cohen intend to begin production this winter. Their plans call for the production of distilled spirits utilizing crops from local farmers, as well as from on-site fruit orchards. The distillery will produce vodka, baby bourbon, gin, whiskey, brandy and grappa for sale to visitors and local establishments, and will also offer tasting tours.

"I am still amazed at the way everyone came together to make this happen," Sachs said. "There were so many people on the state, county and town level who are behind this project and played a part in the grant process. In the end, everyone in the county wins because of this renewed support of agricultural development."

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20090719

Vote for your top vodka

Vodka is, by far, the most popular "white" spirit in the world.

It tops gin, pisco, cachaça, rum, tequila ... you name it.

One of the reasons is that it is so versatile as a base ingredient in cocktails. The other is that so many distillers have been so clever marketing their brands when, some would say, there is little difference among many of them.

Bearing all that in mind, I'm interested in which vodka(s) you prefer. Join in by casting your vote below. You can votye for more than one brand, and add any others to the list.

20090714

Big Apple entries head 'Tales' awards

PDT, a New York City cocktail lounge, was named "World's Best Cocktail Bar" at the 7th annual Tales of the Cocktail convention.

Not only that. Co-owner Jim Meehan was named "American Bartender of the Year."

PDT is located at 113 St. Marks Place in Manhattan, near First Avenue.

New York magazine calls it "the hot-dog joint for grown-ups. Actually, it’s the cocktail-lounge annex to Crif Dogs, an East Village mainstay known for its deep-fried Jersey-style franks. Accessed through a vintage phone booth within Crif Dogs, PDT (short for Please Don’t Tell) is a snug, sexy speakeasy with a twist: Along with its high-quality classic cocktails and a well-chosen selection of beer and wine, patrons can order food from Crif’s kitchen next door. Oddly, it works. ...

"As well as rendering classic cocktails with unparalleled expertise, mixologist Jim Meehan (formerly of Gramercy Tavern and Pegu Club) offers up irresistible seasonal creations ... ."

The Merchant Hotel of Belfast, Northern Ireland, won three awards:

• World's Best Hotel Bar
• World's Best Drink Selection
• World's Best Cocktail Menu

Other winners:

• World's Best New Cocktail Bar: The Clover Club, Brooklyn, NY
• Best American Cocktail Bar: Pegu Club, New York City
• International Bartender of the Year: Tony Conigliaro, England
• Helen Davis Lifetime Achievement Award: Peter Dorelli, manager, American Bar, The Savoy Hotel, London

Tales of the Cocktail is an annual event held in New Orleans, where bar professionals, enthusiasts, writers, chefs and others gather to share information in a variety of seminars and demonstrations. This year's Tales ended Sunday night.

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Time for a down-to-Earth 'Moonwalk'


Monday, July 20, will mark the 40th anniversary of astronaut Neil Armstrong’s historic walk on the moon.

The publicity mill at Grand Marnier is making sure everyone remembers its liqueur was part of the first cocktail Armstrong and his crew enjoyed upon their return to Earth in 1969.

The cocktail, called the “Moonwalk,” was created by Joe Gilmore, who was the head barman at the Savoy Hotel in London. Here is the recipe:

1 part Grand Marnier
1 part fresh grapefruit juice
2 dashes rosewater
Moët & Chandon Champagne

Shake ingredients well and strain into a wine glass. Top off with Moët & Chandon.

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20090713

Johnnie Walker closures sparking anger

William M. Dowd photo

The last battle on Scottish soil was at Culodden in 1746, during the Stuart uprising. The long peace may be broken if the uproar over the loss of jobs in the country's whisky industry heats up much more.

As the Scottish newspaper the Daily Record reports, "Whisky bosses sparked fury [Friday] night when they told 900 Scots workers there was no hope of saving their jobs."

Diageo, the international drinks giant that owns Johnnie Walker, had announced the closing of its distillery and cooperage in Port Dundas, Glasgow, and the closure of the bottling plant in Kilmarnock. (See earlier story here.) Work from the plants to be closed is to be transferred to other facilities.

"Diageo's European president Andrew Morgan dashed workers' hopes of a reprieve for the Johnnie Walker bottling plant in Kilmarnock. But he promised to leave the town a legacy, possibly in the form of a museum.

"Unite's John Quigley said: 'It's very kind of them to plan a wreath for us, but we aren't dead yet. The death of the plant is being exaggerated. We will continue to campaign to save the plant for our members, the local community and Scotland. We are going to keep on working to ensure that Johnnie Walker stays in Kilmarnock'."

Morgan reiterated the corporation's plans, saying, "Our current plans are very clear. We have done the review and our current plans would say the best alternative, from a competitive angle, is to come out of Kilmarnock.

"We didn't take that decision lightly. And, of course, we are sorry for all the people affected. We have done it to protect the 4,000 people who will remain with us and keep Scotch in Scotland."

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Dry Fly's new whiskey will be a tough buy

Liquor bottle designs have become a true work of art in recent years. The increase in the number of craft distilleries has much to do with that as companies try to draw attention in a crowded market.

One of the most attractive, to my eye, recent ones contains Washington wheat whiskey
from Dry Fly Distilling.

The perfume bottle-shaped decanter is adorned with a fly fishing lure in brilliant red, accented by a red cap and a label with a somewhat metallic-looking background.

What does it taste like? Not many people know at the moment. The first bottles of the two-year-old spirit are being sold to restaurants and bars. What's left of the limited batch then will go on general sale only in the state. So, if you're not a resident of Washington and you're interested in obtaining a bottle of Dry Fly, you'd be well advised to pull any strings you can find with someone who lives in the state to make the purchase for you. You can get a list of the stores that will handle Dry Fly online.

The company says of the rollout, "We will be doing our first release of Washington Wheat Whiskey the first week of August. On August 3rd, Class H license holders (Washington State Licensed Bars and Restaurants) will be able to secure product at the stores listed below. On August 7th those stores will sell their remaining stock to retail customers. Also on August 7th, we will sell our inventory from the distillery. We expect to have about 20 cases at the distillery and expect it to sell out in hours. A limit of 2 bottles per person will be in effect."

Dry Fly, owned and operated by Don Poffenroth and Kent Fleischmann, has been producing gin and vodka in its Spokane craft distillery since 2007. Its German-made Christian Carl pot still has a 450-liter capacity.

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Burnett's unveils ready-to-drink cocktails

RTD. That's an an acronym growing in meaning to those in the beverage industry.

It stands for "ready to drink," a niche being targeted by more and more companies with a wide variety of products.

I recently wrote about Southern Comfort's Sweet Tea Vodka and Hurricane Cocktail RTDs. Now, Heaven Hill Distilleries has unveiled Burnett’s Cocktails. The first three flavors in the line are the cosmopolitan, margarita and mojito.

The prepared cocktails were developed from traditional recipes that feature quadruple-distilled, triple-charcoal filtered Burnett’s Vodka and natural ingredients.

“In-home entertaining and flavor experimentation are incredibly popular trends today, particularly as the economy draws consumers away from the on-premise," said Reid Hafer, senior brand manager for Burnett's. "Consumers may now embrace the cocktail culture off-premise with this new range of cocktails ... ."

Burnett's Cocktails are available in 1.75-liter bottles. They are 15% alcohol by volume, or 30 proof.

Heaven Hill, headquartered in Bardstown, KY, is the nation's largest independent, family-owned and operated spirits producer and marketer. Its Burnett's line has 19 different flavored vodkas.

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20090710

Guadalajara to host World Tequila Conference

William M. Dowd photo

Guadalajara's Teatro Degollado

GUADALAJARA, Mexico -- The first World International Tequila Conference will be held here September 13-18.

The conference will be presented in English and offer industry professionals an insider's perspective about the tequila industry, its history, culture, and internal workings. The conference will cover facts about regulations, production techniques, and future challenges faced by the industry.

The deadline for discount registration is July 31, at $450 per person. Regular registration begins on August 1 at $495. Registration costs include entrance and transportation to all the events and distillery tours, conference materials, luncheons and receptions. Registrations after August 31 will be accepted depending on space and availability. Air travel and hotel are not included in the fee.

The conference coordination is being provided by TequilaTours.com. It is registered with the Mexican Secretary of Tourism as a destination management and event organization, specializing in the tequila industry.

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An extremely limited Oregon vodka

What's made in Oregon, for sale only in Virginia, and you have to make a special request for it?

Introducing Black Lab Vodka.

You can get the vodka by requesting it at a Virginia ABC store, product code number 952378.

And, if you don't live in Virginia? As the Black Lab folks say on their Web site:

"If you are unlucky enough not to live in Virginia, and would like to know when it will be in your area, you can contact us or sign up as a Club Lab member. Updates are sent out to all members and anyone else who asks to be notified. We'll also be posting the news of our territorial expansion right here ... . Liquor retailers and distributors can check out the distributors' page for more information."

Black Lab is named after Waterdog Spirits owners Melissa Zeppa's and Kerry Schmelzer's favorite breed of dog. They founded the company in 2007 when the economic decline hit their gift ware niche market business. Zeppa is an artist and designed the vodka bottle.

Black Lab Vodka is a five-times-filtered spirit utilizing water from the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. Its makers note "We could tell you all about how Black Lab Vodka is filtered ... through charcoal and crushed lava rocks and uses only the finest grain and pure clear water ... for a really smooth vodka sipping experience. Even though it's all true, it isn't what is going to make your customers buy it.

"They are going to buy it because the bottle has a Labrador Retriever on it."

Time will tell.

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Montana's first legal whiskey to debut

RoughStock Distillery, the only legal craft distiller in Montana -- ever, is about to unveil its first batch of single malt whiskey.

The facility, located in Bozeman and run by fourth-generation Montanans Bryan and Kari Schultz, has been in operation for two years. Their whiskey is made from Montana-grown and -malted barley, water from fresshwater streams fed by snowmelt, and aged from six months to two years in new, charred oak barrels.

RoughStock's 250-gallon copper pot still was custom designed and manufactured by Vendome Copper and Brass Works in Louisville, KY. The owners plan to produce 3,000 cases a year, with the intent to ratchet up production to 5,000 to 6,000 cases annually.

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20090707

KY cooperage will begin welcoming visitors

Brown-Forman announced today it is opening its world-famous cooperage to visitors for the first time in its history.

The Louisville, KY, barrel-making facility also has had its name changed, from Blue Grass Cooperage to Brown-Forman Cooperage.

Barrels are crafted there from American white oak for the aging of spirits owned by Brown-Forman, such as Jack Daniel’s, Woodford Reserve, Old Forester, Early Times, Canadian Mist, El Jimador and Herradura. Brown-Forman is the only spirits company in the world to make its own barrels.

Tours must be arranged in advance online through Mint Julep Tours or by phone at (502) 583-1433. Mint Julep Tours also is offering an “All Woodford, All Day Tour” which includes transportation to both the Brown-Forman Cooperage and Woodford Reserve Distillery, a guided tour, admission to both venues, and lunch.

Is it worth the trip? Having visited Woodford several times as well as having a private your of the cooperage, I'd definitely say yes. The cooperage, which Brown-Forman founded in 1945, turns out more than 1,500 barrels per day,

Here's a small photo tour of thefacility.

William M. Dowd photos



Workers known as “barrel raisers” assemble 32 staves into barrels.



As part of the process of a zero-waste manufacturing stream, some scrap wood is made into dowel pegs to hold together barrel headers.


Barrel headers are coated with beeswax, then run through a charring apparatus.



Finished charred headers are stacked up until the remainder of the barrels come off the assembly line.

Meanwhile, the barrels are “toasted.” Wood begins to ignite at 482°F, creating a controlled char of the inside of each barrel.
Once barrels are fully processed, they are put on conveyer belts and head for their final destinations.


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A celebri-quote: Emma Shulman

Emma Shulman, 96, is a world-famous gerontologist at the NYU Langone Medical Center. From 1981 to 2005 she was a senior social worker and research associate at the Center for Excellence on Brain Aging and Dementia. She did some of the first research on how to care for Alzheimer’s patients and lectures widely on memory retention. She was interviewed by the New York Times, and this subject came up.

Q: What are your vices?

A: I smoked. Seventy-something years. I just quit three months ago. Cold turkey. I quit because I got a bronchial infection.

I like red wine, a glass with dinner.

And, I used to drink Scotch. I was a Scotch maniac.

[Go here for more celebri-quotes.]

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20090706

Tenn. entrepreneurs targeting distilleries

From KnoxvilleBiz.com

Entrepreneurs across Tennessee are chomping at the bit for the chance to get into the whiskey-making business.

A new state law that allows legal production of whiskey and other distilled spirits has investors ready to pump millions of dollars into new distilleries that can capitalize on Tennessee's reputation for moonshining and creating whiskey.

Several entrepreneurs are interested in opening legal distilleries in East Tennessee counties, according to Nashville developer Jim Massey, who plans to open a distillery in Nashville and possibly start a side business helping other distillers with the startup process. ...

Prior to the law, production of distilled spirits was only legal in Moore, Coffee and Lincoln counties where distillers Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey, George Dickel Whisky and Prichards' Rum operate. Under the new law, about 44 counties are now eligible for distilleries.

[Go here for the full story.]

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A Johnnie Walker collectible in the making

William M. Dowd photos


Drinks multinational Diageo's decision to close a distillery and a nearby packaging plant in Scotland will give collectors an opportunity to make a small investment.

The company's packaging plant in Kilmarnock, where the line of Johnnie Walker whiskies is completed, had been affixing labels and/or caps bearing the "Kilmarnock" name on every bottle since 1820.

That obviously will have to change, and the presence or absence of the "Kilmarnock" name will be an indicator to consumers of whether the whisky they are buying was pre- or post-closing.

A year before it would have marked its 200th anniversary, the Port Dundas Distillery in Glasgow will be closed.

Diageo announced plans to shutter the facility, in the process eliminating 140 of the 220 jobs. They are among the 900 jobs Diageo is eliminating across Scotland.

Diageo, which employs more than 4,000 people in the country, said work now handled at Port Dundas will be handled through expansion of its Cameronbridge Distillery in Fife.

The plant, located on a 21-acre site, supplies grain spirit for about 39 million liters of alcohol each year. It was rebuilt twice, after fires in 1903 and 1913. Production was halted during World War II, but re-started in 1945.

As far as the packaging plant in Kilmarnock, a 7% sales drop in the first quarter of the year forced cutbacks, Diageo says.

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20090704

'Tequila detector' a Cornell spinoff

 From the Latin American Herald Tribune

MEXICO CITY – A Mexican specialist in environmental agriculture and chemistry has invented a device to detect a tequila’s authenticity and quality and the manner in which it was processed.

In an interview with Efe, Mercedes Guadalupe Lopez Perez, an expert with the National Polytechnic Institute’s Research and Advanced Studies Center in the central city of Irapuato, acknowledged that this technology -- first built in the mid-20th Century at Cornell University in the United States -- has been used extensively with wines but not tequila.

The device is capable of “measuring the potency of the different aromatic compounds in any given product,” making it useful for determining the authenticity of a food or beverage, the researcher said.

Lopez Perez has been working since the mid-1990s on developing the apparatus -- known as a gas chromatography-olfactometry, or GC-O device -- both in the Mexican state of Guanajuato and in Germany and New Zealand.

[Go here for the full story.]

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20090703

A celebri-quote: Shia LaBeouf

Actor Shia LaBeouf ("Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen") says he has given up drinking whisky at age 22. He was injured in a car accident last summer, arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, but later cleared. He suffered such a severe hand injury it had to be written into the "Transformers" script. He is quoted on the Web site theBosh.com.

"I had to give up scotch, because it turns me into a werewolf -- and cigarettes, too.

"I seem to like to kiss trouble on the forehead and then try to back away. I test my limits quite often. I guess that's what 22-year-olds do. But I'm fallible and human and I'm figuring it out."

[Go here for more celebri-quotes.]

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Southern Comfort RTDs a very nice mouthful

William M. Dowd photo

In the world of ready-to-drink cocktails, known in the trade as RTDs, what once was a largely unpalatable option is becoming a viable one.

For decades, Holland House was the market leader with its various pre-mixed manhattans, whiskey sours and the like. I found them of the same caliber as “cooking wines,” those hideous concoctions laden with excess salt and aimed at consumers who didn’t know anything about cooking with wines and spirits. Or, in the case of the cocktails, people who didn’t know what quality drinks were supposed to taste like.

However, that is changing. Stirrings, for example, with its varied portfolio of mixes that can be enjoyed over ice as-is or with a spirit added, is perhaps the best of the non-alcoholic bunch.

Now, the long-popular Southern Comfort brand has come up with a pair of RTD offerings, 15% alcohol by volume (abv) or 30 proof.

Whoever came up with the Southern Comfort's Sweet Tea Cocktail and Hurricane Cocktail flavors is to be commended from both marketing and flavor profile standpoints.

Southern Comfort (I refuse to bend to that silly "SoCo" nickname its ad agency has given it in recent years in an effort to be attractive to the young bar crowd) has immediate name recognition as, indeed, an iconic Southern U.S. liqueur.

It's been around since the late 19th Century when it was developed by Martin Wilkes Heron, an Irish immigrant who became a bartender and "rectifier" in New Orleans.

In those days, a rectifier was someone who modified the rough-edged spirits with a variety of ingredients to make them more palatable.

Heron whipped up his own recipe utilizing cinnamon, peach, vanilla and sugar to create a liqueur he called "Cuffs and Buttons," a takeoff on the "White Tie & Tails" liqueur a competitor made.

In 1898, Heron changed the name to the more sedate Southern Comfort in an effort to appeal to the crowd coming to the Big Easy for the New Orleans Cotton and Industrial Exposition, a huge event of the time. He eventually began bottling Southern Comfort, and it made its way to the top of the sophisticates' list of choices, eventually winning a gold medal at the Paris World Exposition in 1907.

Heron died four months after the start of Prohibition -- some might say that was cause-and-effect -- and willed the secret recipe for Southern Comfort to Grant Peoples, his protegé. Peoples sold it to the Fowler family of St. Louis after Prohibtion was repealed. In 1979, the brand was purchased by industry giant Brown-Forman of Louisville, KY. Through all this turmoil, Heron's original recipe, which the company says is known to fewer than 10 people, was adhered to.

But, all that is history. What about today?

Southern Comfort probably has gotten all the advertising mileage it can with its "SoCo and lime" push. The Sweet Tea Cocktail and Hurricane Cocktail, both laden with "southern-ness," was a natural next step.

Sweet tea, a Southern drink of great popularity, has made its way into the spirits world in the past few years, spurred along perhaps most by the instant popularity of Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka from South Carolina and Burnett's Sweet Tea Vodka from Heaven Hill Distilleries.

The Hurricane Cocktail is a New Orleans staple, purportedly invented at Pat O'Brien's bar in the French Quarter. It should hit the palate of people who like a fruity taste to their light cocktails. The original contained both light and dark rums plus juices from oranges, limes and passion fruit.

Each carries a suggested retail price of $19.99 for the 1.75-liter bottle, the only size being marketed.

[Go here for my "Tasting Notes" report on both new cocktails.]

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20090701

'New' Tanqueray a mix of old and modern

Everything old is new again to some extent, especially in the tradition-heavy world of alcoholic spirits.

Diageo is relaunching its Tanqueray gin brand with its first global advertising campaign and new packaging.

The new bottle design returns to the cocktail-shaker shape first introduced in 1948, although the label itself has been changed to give it a more contemporary feel.

The campaign, entitled "Resist Simple," opens in the U.S. this week and will expand into the global market in September.

Shivaun Lucey, global brand director for gins at Diageo, said the activity encourages consumers to resist the bland and "enjoy the pleasure in the complexity and richness of life."

Preferably with a glass of Tanqueray, of course.

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What will they think of next? (July edition)

This month I've decided to stick very close to home for my trio of cocktail recipes you can add to your collection. How close? I created all three of them, intending them primarily for warm-weather entertaining. Let me know what you think.

• DOWD'S MARTEANI

2 oz. Arizona Green Tea w/honey and ginseng
2 oz. all-grain vodka (Blue Ice, Beldevere, etc.)
4 drops Angostura Bitters
Splash of Galliano or Strega
2 orange slices
1 mint leaf

In a metal cocktail shaker, combine tea and vodka. Add bitters and splash of Galliano liqueur, or the more herbal Strega if you prefer, plus a handful of ice cubes. Stir briskly, then strain quickly into a frosted martini glass. Twist the juice from an orange slice into the drink and let it meander through the solution on its own. Garnish with an orange slice and a mint leaf for color.

• JALISCO BREEZE

This was named for the Mexican state where more than 90% of the world's tequila is produced, and a place I love to visit.

2 oz. 100% agave tequila blanco
1/2 oz. Pama pomegranate liqueur
Juice of one-half fresh lime
1 1/2 oz. ginger ale

In a cocktail shaker, combine the tequila, Pama and lime juice with fresh ice. Shake vigorously over fresh ice in an old-fashioned tumbler, top off with ginger ale and a slice of lime for garnish.

• THE FLYBOY

I whipped this one up for a friend, an off-duty commercial airline pilot -- thus the name -- who usually doesn't venture much beyond a beer or a glass of wine.

2 oz. Michter's rye whiskey
1/2 oz. St. Germaine Elderflower Liqueur
1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
1 oz. Fever Tree tonic

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker over ice, stir 35 times (yup, 35) with a bar spoon to release just the right amount of water from the ice, and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a cherry or fruit slice as desired.

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

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