What will they think of next? (February edition)

[William M. Dowd photo]

• For this month's collection of cocktail recipes, I've chosen to start with one of my own devising, then jump to the West Coast and up to Canada for the others. Enjoy.

THE UPSTATE MANHATTAN

The borough of Manhattan, on Manhattan island, is the center of the universe for most people. So, they like to think of that area when they drink their Manhattans. However, after attending a recent trade-only seminar on New York State's emerging craft-distilling scene, it occurred to me to jump on the "Pride of New York" bandwagon that promotes state-produced food and drink to come up with my own cocktail using only Upstate ingredients.

3 parts McKenzie Rye Whiskey or Tuthilltown Baby Bourbon
1 part Warwick Valley Sour Cherry Cordial
2 dashes Fee Brothers Old Fashioned Aromatic Bitters
1 Montmorency cherry

Put whiskey, sour cherry cordial and fresh ice cubes in a cocktail shaker. Stir several times, then add bitters. Stir vigorously to chill the mixture, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with Montmorency cherry. If not in season, you may use a traditional maraschino cherry. (For a tangier cocktail, substitute Fee Brothers Rhubarb Bitters.)

THE DiVINE

One of the nicest new spirits to come on the market in the past few years is G'Vine, the French grape gin distilled in the Cognac region. (See my Tasting Notes here.) Michael McDonagh, beverage director at Fisherman's Wharf-adjacent bar/club The Parlor in San Francisco has come up with a cocktail featuring it.

2 ounces G'Vine Gin
½ ounce Dimmi Italian liqueur
4 lemon slices
¼ ounce simple syrup
5 drops La tourment Vert Absinthe

Muddle lemon slices with simple syrup in a mixing glass. Add gin & Dimmi. Fill with ice. Shake and fine strain into cocktail glass. Drop absinthe over the cocktail. Garnish with lemon twist.

BACON RYE OLD FASHIONED

No, this is not a sandwich. It's a drink created at the Hoot Café in Toronto in response to the current craze for infusing spirits with bacon. It uses Canadian bacon, which Americans will argue isn't really bacon,, resembling ham instead. Your choice on what to use.


2 ounces bacon rye (recipe below)
5 milliliters Black Hoof bitters (or Angostura bitters diluted with 3 parts rye)
1 teaspoon cherry syrup
Generous length orange zest (cut with knife, not zester)
Preserved cherry for garnish

Add syrup from a jar of preserved cherries and a small piece of orange zest to a rocks glass and muddle. Add ice to fill the glass half way, then bacon rye. Stir with a bar spoon until very cold. Add ice to fill. Splash in bitters and give a final stir. Rub rest of orange zest around rim of glass and twist to extract oils. Drop zest in to drink. Garnish with skewered cherry.

Makin' Bacon Rye

Fry 2 slices high-quality smoked bacon. Let cool slightly. Put in jar along with 24 ounces high-quality rye. Let sit at room temperature for 3 days. Then put in refrigerator until completely chilled. Strain through a coffee filter. Discard bacon.

[Go here for all the monthly installments of this feature.]


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LI Spirits spreading its wings

[William M. Dowd photo]

Rich Stabile (right) and his cohorts at Long Island Spirits are developing a reputation for never standing pat.

In addition to the LiV Vodka that has been getting strong reviews (like this one), the facillity has just started making Sono Rinata, a brandy made from Merlot grapes grown at the nearby Peconic Bay Winery.

On top of that, a line of Sorbetta Liqueurs -- lemon, orange and strawberry -- are just now coming on the market.

Stabile, who was on a Saratoga Springs panel during a seminar on New York craft-distilled products earlier this week, told me he has just put the line on sale at the Long Island Spirits distillery store in Baiting Hollow. Its major public debut, however, will be in Manhattan next week at a trade-only event called "Spirits In the City."

The liqueurs are no artificially-hyped product. Take the lemon, for example.

"It took 4,500 lemons to make 300 gallons of the lemon sorbetta," Stabile told me. "And, we peel every one of them by hand.

"We came up with a way to do that by using a hand-held electric drill. At first we tried it with just a peeler, but it was murder in the arms."

I had the opportunity to try both the orange and lemon expressions at the seminar, and enjoyed both. Go here to read my "Dowd's Tasting Notes" review of them and a batch of other NY-made spirits.

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Springbank half-bottle may bring big bucks

A half-bottle of one of the world's rarest whiskies is expected to bring $6,400 to $9,600 at an upcoming auction in Glasgow, Scotland.

It's a 1927 Springbank, distilled by J&A Mitchell and Co. in 1900 and drawn in 1927, It will be among 500 bottles to be auctioned off at the McTear's Winter Rare Whisky Sale.

"You don't find too many half bottles coming to auction, but it is very rare indeed to find one of this quality," Andrew Bell, McTear's whisky specialist, told The Scotsman newspaper. "Springbank is an extremely collectable whisky, and I'm sure there will be a lot of interest in this outstanding example."

Also being offered at the February 3 event are a 1938 Macallan and a 1964 Bowmore.

Springbank was named "Distiller of the Year" in Whisky Magazine's "Icons of Whisky 2009."

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NY craft distillers hitting high notes (Part 2)

William M. Dowd photos

• Second of two parts. (Miss Part 1? Click here.)

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — New York’s winemakers like to extoll the virtues of the differences in soil and weather that affect the grapes they use to make their wines. New York’s distillers don’t make as much of a distinction.

"Marketing our products really depends on selling the overall high quality and handcrafted nature of what we make,” said Jeremy Kidde (right), owner of American Fruits Distillery, a division of Warwick Valley Winery in Orange County.

Speaking as a panelist at a seminar and tasting of New York craft-distilled spirits at Longfellows restaurant Tuesday, Kidde said:

“We got into marketing early to promote our eau de vie products, mostly in Manhattan. Retailers were anxious to take us on. But the scale was surprising. We sold two cases in a year, and they told us some of the major imports sold only four cases a year for things like Trimbach and eau de vies.

"We saw it wasn’t a big market here, so we went into fruit liqueurs. We sell some things, such as our apple liqueur, as an after-dinner drink, or others, like our sour cherry cordial, as mixers."

Of course, getting started in the business is no slam-dunk.

Ralph Erenzo (left), co-founder in 2001 with Brian Lee and Vicki Morgan of Tuthilltown Spirits in Ulster County, the state’s first whiskey distillery founded since Prohibition, related an anecdote about setting up his German-made still.

"We started unpacking all the crates and realized the set-up instructions were all in German," he said. "None of us spoke German, but we thought we could figure it out.

"When we unpacked some chairs, I thought, 'I wonder if Brian ordered chairs so we could sit and watch the still working.' Then we came across all sorts of glass items, and finally we realized what we had received was equipment meant for a hair salon. In Queens!"

The mixup eventually was fixed, of course, and each business got the proper equipment. But, until that happened, “We wondered what the hair stylists thought when they started unpacking a still.”

What is the future of such products, given their relative infancy in the market, particularly the liqueurs and cordials that have always been a niche product compared to whiskies, vodkas, gins and bourbons?

"Dekuyper" — mass-manufacturer of a huge variety of cordials and liqueurs used mostly for cocktails — "has had its day," Kidde said. "People want high quality, handcrafted ingredients."

His fellow panelists agreed: Erenzo, Richard Stabile of Long Island Spirits, Derek Grout of Harvest Spirits and Brian McKenzie of Finger Lakes Distilling, who brought a variety of their products to the event. co-sponsored by the New York Craft Distillers Guid and the New York Wine & Culinary Center. Hidden Marsh Distillery and Mazza Chautauqua Cellars sent samples as well.

My tasting notes of the three flights of spirits samples — unaged spirits, aged spirits and cordials:

UNAGED SPIRITS

• LiV Vodka: This spirit, utilizing the region’s signature potatoes, gets your attention immediately with its slightly citrusy nose, its pleasing oiliness and its hints of grapefruit and rose petals. I’d put LiV right into the top echelon of potato vodkas I’ve sampled in recent years. From Long Island Spirits.

• Harvest Spirits Core Vodka: This apple-based clear spirit is true to its origin with a vaguely apple note and a hint of spice. Smooth, warm and clean finishing. From Golden Harvest Farms in Columbia County.

• Hidden Marsh BEE Vodka: A honey-based spirit with a bit of a sting. Not that acrid sharpness lower-priced vodkas have, but a pleasant note on the tongue, and a warm, smooth finish. From the Montezuma Winery in Seneca Falls.

• Mazza Chautauqua Plum Eau de Vie: This is a delicate spirit, with floral notes and touches of cardamom and orange. An excellent product. From Mazza Chautauqua Cellars in Chautauqua County.

• Seneca Drums Gin: This is an extremely distinctive gin, with botanicals that provide the imbiber with clover, menthol and spice, all things that will hold up to a dry vermouth or a fruit juice when mixed into a cocktail. From Finger Lakes Distilling in Burdett.

• Tuthilltown Spirits New York Corn Whiskey: A delightfully robust and smooth product, not at all the “moonshine” its name might connote. Powerful alcohol notes, typical of the genre. From Tuthilltown Spirits in Orange County.


AGED SPIRITS

• Tuthilltown Spirits Manhattan Rye Whiskey: Spicy, floral, a great nose. At once robust and clean on the palate. An excellent addition to the category.

• McKenzie Rye Whiskey: A pronounced caramel and clove yin-and-yang that makes this rich spirit distinctive. From Finger Lakes Distilling.

• Harvest Spirits Cornelius Applejack: A nicely old-fashioned style to this recipe, which results in touches of apple, cloves, caramel and violet.

• Hidden Marsh Queen’s Flight Honey Brandy: A multi-level taste profile, with eucalyptus on top and warm honey notes below. An underlying smoothness to the overall taste.

• Warwick Valley Bourbon Barrel Apple Liqueur: This is a hard cider with aged apple brandy added, finished in once-used bourbon barrels. There is a buttery feel to it, with pronounced flavor of Jonagold apples. A gentle, refined spirit.

CORDIALS

• Mazza Chautauqua Grappa of Steuben: Steuben and vidal are the two most-used grappa base ingredients among New York distillers. This version is clean, slightly floral and has a honeyed finish.

• Long Island Spirits Sorbetta Lemon: Immediately reminiscent of French pastille candies in the aroma. A lovely lemon yellow color, fruit forward but with a distinct touch of butterscotch in the finish.

• Long Island Spirits Sorbetta Orange: Orange cake frosting comes immediately to mind. A touch cloying in the middle notes, but the citrus then comes to the rescue and the finish is clean and refreshing.

• Warwick Valley Sour Cherry Cordial: This is the way I like cherry pie to taste — a hint of cinnamon and cloves, a touch of the tartness of the New York Montmorency cherries, made with a brandy of cherries, grapes and apples. Superb.

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Early Whisky Live NY tickets available

April L. Dowd photo

Whisky Live New York 2010 isn't for more than two months, but tickets have gone on sale. That's good to know, since the event was close to a sellout last year.

The show is scheduled for Wednesday, April 7, at Pier Sixty, Chelsea Piers, in Manhattan.

That scheduled coincides with Tartan Week and will offer a wide range of whiskies for sampling, from Scotland, the U.S., Canada, Ireland and Japan.

In addition, food, entertainment and master classes are offered.

There are several ticket options. This year, a free subscription to the sponsor, Whisky Magazine, will be included.

Further details and ticket options are available online.

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NY craft distillers hitting high notes (Part 1)

William M. Dowd photos

• First of two parts

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY -- The outdoor setting was enhanced by lights twinkling on the bare branches of a tree, crisply-painted white framing around windows on green clapboard storefronts, and the French doors on other facades were snugly closed against the winter air.

The catch was, this was indoors, in a meeting room at Longfellows, a popular rustic restaurant/inn on Route 9 east of the iconic Saratoga Race Course.

The Tuesday afternoon occasion was a seminar and tasting, an event that dealt with anything but facades and misdirection. The subject: craft-distilled New York State spirits.

It's a fledgling industry in the Empire State, yet it already is growing by leaps and bounds.

Some New York State wineries are spinning off their own distilleries. Other distilleries are standalone operations. The licensed distilleries are scattered across the state, but they may be popping up in clumps if what is going on in Brookly is any indicator. In that borough, four licensees are in the process of developing distilleries.

Last year, the fact that there were a dozen or more licensees led to creation of the New York Craft Distillers Guild, formed to help lobby the state as needed on behalf of a group rather than having individual distillers troop in one at a time to try getting attention.

The New York Farm Bureau, which works to support family farms and related small busineses, has been supportive of the move. And, the first meeting of the new Guild was organized by The Hudson Valley Agri-Business Development Corporation.

“We want to make the firm statement that spirits production in New York is an agricultural undertaking,” Todd Erling, executive director of HVADC, said at the time. “Distillers use agricultural products, and craft distilleries have the potential to create new markets for New York-grown fruits and grain while also creating a new tax source for the state.”

New York now has the highest concentration of distilleries of any state east of the Mississippi, according to the Guild.

In recognition of this, the New York Wine & Culinary Center, headquartered in Canandaigua, has undertaken a program of spirits tastings as part of the "Sample New York" project to push the state's food and beverage products.

The first was held here for the trade and media, with tasting flights covering unaged spirits, aged spirits and cordials. Future sessions will be held in New York, Buffalo, Rochester and Canandaigua.

I can say unequivocally that of the 15 products I tasted, I would not be reluctant to try any of them again. As a veteran of hundreds of such events and dozens of national and international tasting competitions, I've never had that experience before.

Even though even the most experienced New York craft distillers are relative rookies in the field, the quality level of their wares as displayed here is excellent.

Samples were provided by Long Island Spirits, Harvest Spirits, J=Hidden Marsh, Mazza, Finger Lakes Distilling, Tuthilltown Spirits, Hidden Marsh and Warwick Valley.

They included vodka, eau de vie, gin, corn whiskey, rye whiskey, applejack, brandy, apple liqueur, grappa, cherry cordial and a pair of "sorbetta" citrus liquers.

NEXT: The proof's in the tasting.

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What is Bill drinking?

I've just added a trio of products to my Dowd's Tasting Notes site.

Join me there to get the lowdown on three products you won't come across every day -- a liqueur, a whiskey and a wine. Specifically:

• American Fruits Sour Cherry Liqueur

• McKenzie Rye Whiskey

• Domaine de la Mordorée Tavel

On Dowd's Tasting Notes, you'll find a large archive of comments on wines, whiskies, brews and other adult beverages, Feel free to post your questions or comments.

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Beer, whisky and survival

From The Guardian, London:

On Tuesday 12 January, Wismond Exantus was at work in the ground-floor shop of the four-storey Napoli Inn in Port-au-Prince. At 4.53pm, when the magnitude 7.0 quake hit, the 24-year-old cashier had the presence of mind to squirrel himself under a desk as the building tumbled down around him.

By Saturday, 11 days later and hours after the government declared search and rescue operations to be officially over, he was pulled alive from the ­rubble. The story of Exantus – the last known survivor to emerge from Haiti's shattered ruins – is a remarkable tale of crisps, beer, whisky, Twitter, a riot and a diminutive Scottish woman rescuer.

[For the rest of the remarkable story of survival, go here.]

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Welcome to Hotel California

We're not talking an Eagles song here. We're talking about a tequila that won double gold in its first major competition now coming on the market.

Sipping Spirits LLC, headquartered in Glastonbury, CT, is launching its ultra-premium Hotel California Tequila -- initially in the Northeast and, of course, California. It is available in the full range of blanco, reposado and añejo expressions.

The brand won double gold in the 2009 International Spirits competition in San Francisco.

"With one taste of Hotel California Tequila, you will discover how evocative tequila can be. Silken, elegant floral, sweet, and toasted vanilla. It is a brand of exquisite, artisan tequila that will set a new standard of excellence,” said Paula Whitney vice president of Sipping Spirits.

By the way, a company representative tells me this Sipping Spirits company has no connection with one of the same name that produces Resolute Vodka in its boutique distillery in the Indian state of Goa.

Its Resolute Pink is infused with strawberries and raspberries. Its Resolute Black is dark from the infusion of the Black Catechu, an African-Burmese herb. And, its Resolute Crystal is a more traditional style of grain-based vodka, charcoal filtered.

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Haiti quake doesn't stop rum distiller

Robert A. Burr, publisher of the Gifted Rum Guide, passes along this information:

"Here's the news from the Gardere family at Barbancourt in Haiti:

"Our reporter Hank Tester reports from Haiti that Barbancourt has suffered minor damage at their distillery and aging warehouses from the recent earthquake activities.

"There is plenty of aged rum to continue operations, although it's a struggle for employees who have been adversely affected to come to work.

"The company believes they have enough stock to remain viable for some time while they work hard to get their operations restored to full capacity soon. At the present time, there is plenty of Barbancourt Rhum in the United States and no shortage is anticipated."

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The Great Bitters Shortage goes on

It's not the same as last year's Knob Creek shortage, when the bourbon distiller reported it was temporarily out of enough aged whiskey to bottle.

In this instance, the folks who make Angostura Bitters apparently have plenty of product, What they don't have is enough bottles to put it in.

The globally popular cocktail ingredient has been in short supply since the second half of 2009 because of an ongoing dispute between the House of Angostura in Trinidad and Tobago and the company that supplies its bottles. Production was halted in November, although since then a limited number of bottles have been delivered.

Some bars and restaurants have been hoarding their supply until the pipeline reopens. At the moment, the manufacturer is being vague about when that may be.

The House of Angostura has been undergoing a financial restructuring. It is owned by CL Financial, a Caribbean conglomerate that purchased it from Bacardi in 1997. CL is suffering through a liquidity crisis that necessitated an emergency bailout last year by the government of Trinidad and Tobago.

Angostura Bitters is the largest bitters seller in the world. Its sales in the U.S. alone are about 750,000 of the four-ounce bottles. The product, made from a proprietary recipe of spices, herbs, roots, barks and rum, was invented in 1824 by German doctor Johann Siegert as a tonic to ease tropical ailments. It was named for the Venezuelan town where he lived at the time.

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She can see vodka from her window

She has no known connection with the wine and spirits industries, but Alaska ex-governor Sarah Palin has been scheduled to deliver the keynote speech at the 67th annual Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) convention in Las Vegas in April.

The former Republican vice presidential candidate was chosen because she "is a great supporter of America's free enterprise system and understands that industries like the beverage alcohol industry play a key role in driving our national economy," said Craig Wolf, WSWA president and CEO.

"We expect she will share with the convention attendees her analysis of the current political environment and her vision for America's future."

Normally, prominent figures in the industries are selected as keynote speakers.

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Roof collapses trap Chivas Regal stock

More than 100 million gallons of whisky may have been buried when the roofs of 21 football field-sized whisky warehouses in Scotland collapsed under the weight of snow Thursday night.

Metal roofs gave way on the Chivas Regal brand buildings at the company’s 120-acre maturation site called Malcolmburn at Mulben, near Keith. It is owned by the French company Pernod Ricard, which also owns the Strathisla Distillery at Keith.

The Aberdeen Press & Journal reported that the company is considering spraying de-icing chemicals that are normally used on airport runways and using ton-sized heaters in their battle against the ice that froze on the roofs and could not be handled by the drain pipes.

Roof collapses have been reported throughout the region, hit hard by a series of snowstorms. No deaths have been recorded.

A company spokesman said, "There have been no injuries and no spirit loss has been detected. As a precaution Chivas Brothers’ two major maturation sites in Speyside (Mulben and Keith) have been closed to day-to-day operations until the weather abates."

A Scotch Whisky Association spokesman said member companies had been warned to be vigilant.

Whisky giant Diageo, which also has maturation warehouses in the area, said it is monitoring the situation but has had no issues.

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Beam Global names a whiskey exec

Beam Global Spirits & Wine Inc. has come up with something new. Not a product, but rather a position.

Byron Hoover has been named vice president of global whiskey, effective February 1, for the premium spirits division of Fortune Brands Inc.

Hoover will be in charge of Beam Global’s portfolio that includes Jim Beam Bourbon, Canadian Club Canadian Whisky and Teacher's Scotch Whisky among other brands.

Hoover joins Beam Global from Arnell, an advertising and design agency where he was vice president of client services. Prior to Arnell, he was the chief marketing officer of Jose Cuervo International. He also has held various senior marketing positions with The Walt Disney Company in France and with Procter & Gamble in Germany and Belgium.

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LI craftsmen create a new brandy

New York State's latest artisinal spirit, made entirely of Merlot grapes grown at Peconic Bay Winery in Cutchogue, Long Island, is hitting the market.

Sono Rinata, produced by the winery and Long Island Spirits, is an immature grape brandy -- not barrel aged -- styled between grappa and eau de vie types of clear brandies. In keeping with state and federal laws, the finished Merlot wine was sold in bulk to Long Island Spirits where the finished brandy was created and bottled, then legally sold back to Peconic Bay Winery at 42.5% alcohol by volume (85 proof).

Sono Rinata is available primarily at the winery's tasting room. It retails for $29 a bottle and can be tasted by the public at Peconic Bay.

“The owners of Peconic Bay Winery, Paul and Ursula Lowerre, are very fond of distilled spirits of all kinds, and the recent change of law [allowing retail sales of New York-distilled product by farm wineries] was an opportunity to experiment with this side of the business,“ said Jim Silver, Peconic Bay Winery general manager.

“We grow outstanding grapes here, and capturing the essence of our Merlot fruit so faithfully in a brandy is something we hoped would someday be possible. Now it is.

“This is as an extension of our business model and another potential use for our produce. We intend to produce more high-end spirit products from other grape varieties and fruit eau de vies later this year, and Rich Stabile has been a great partner to work with.”

Stabile is a founder and president of Long Island Spirits, the maker of LiV vodka.

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Sam's Club getting own-brand vodka

Sam's Club, the bulk-item discount chain subsidiary of Wal-Mart, will begin selling its own brand of vodka in more than 240 stores.

The Sam's Club store brand Member's Mark will carry a premium vodka under the name Rue 33. It will be sold in 1.75-liter bottles for about $28 beginning late this month. The maker is the French distiller Louis Royer, best known for its cognac.

Availability will depend on individual state liquor laws. Sam's Club has more than 600 U.S. locations, but due to state laws and other factors, including the size of likely vodka sales, Rue 33 will be sold in less than half of them.

Sam's Club already has wine made for its stores, but they do not carry the Member's Mark label.

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Snickertini, Skittletini ... On it goes at Gizzmos

From Heritage Newspapers of Michigan:

WYANDOTTE, MI -- Most people have heard of the traditional martini, typically made of gin or vodka and dry vermouth. But what about a “Snickertini,” a “Skittletini” or “Flirtini?”

Gizzmos Martinis & Memories offers these and more than 47 other variations of the classic cocktail, including “The Spicy One,” made with vodka, olive juice, Tabasco and jalapeño olives; the “Almond Joy,” featuring coconut rum, creme de cocoa, hazelnut liqueur and white Godiva; and the “DD Dirty Dog,” its best seller, which contains Absolut vodka, olive juice and bleu cheese-filled olives.

Al Fritz (top), who has owned the bar since 2003, takes great pride in the fact that Gizzmos is more than a typical neighborhood bar.

[Go here for the full story.]
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