New distillery near completion on St. Croix

ST. CROIX, American Virgin Islands -- The Cruzan Distillery, currently the island's lone such facility, soon will be joined by one owned by Diageo USVI.

Diageo said today that construction of its rum distillery and barrel warehouse is nearing completion, and is on schedule to become operational by January 2011. Construction began last August.

It will have the capacity to distill up to 20 million proof gallons of rum for Diageo's Captain Morgan brand per year, and is expected to generate an estimated $130 million in new tax revenue for the Virgin Islands government.

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Go here for a report on my visit to the Cruzan distillery.

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In June 2008, Governor John P. deJongh, Jr. and Diageo USVI jointly announced a public-private initiative for the construction and operation of a high capacity rum distillery, part of a 30-year commitment to provide a major economic stimulus for the USVI, which includes St. Thomas and St. John.

Beginning in 2012, the distillery will supply all rum used to make Captain Morgan branded products for the U.S. market. The brand is the world's second largest seller.

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Industry groups rap proposed alcohol law

A joint letter this week from major alcohol supplier trade associations to members of the U.S. House of Representatives calls the proposed "CARE Act" discriminatory and anti-competitive.

The bill, H.R. 5034, would radically alter the business landscape if passed. It has been pushed by the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) and the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA).

It is formally called the Comprehensive Alcohol Regulatory Effectiveness (CARE) Act of 2010. In essence, supporters say the proposed legislation is necessary to protect a state’s ability to collect taxes, and to prevent minors from access to alcohol. Opponents say it would get around a Supreme Court decision limiting states’ regulatory powers.

This is a complex issue, in that the bill actually would modify several statutes. David Honig wrote an excellent analysis of it for Palate Press, the online wine magazine. You can read it here.

The letter from the industry groups reads:

"Dear Member of Congress:

"We, the undersigned beer, wine and spirits associations representing virtually all alcohol beverages produced in the 50 states respectfully request you to preserve the effectiveness of the existing state-based alcohol regulatory system -- and support the constitutional principles that protect the marketplace against discriminatory and anti-competitive state laws -- by rejecting H.R. 5034.

"The current system of alcohol beverage regulation in the U.S. provides a proven and effective balance between states and the federal government that allows for local flexibility while providing necessary consistency and fairness on a national basis. This allows producers, distributors and retailers to conduct business in an efficient and effective manner that best serves the interests of the American public.

"The National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) and the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) seek to dramatically alter the current system of alcohol regulation. With H.R. 5034, NBWA and WSWA want to put brewers, wineries, distillers and retailers at a competitive disadvantage; allow states to unfairly and arbitrarily enact protectionist laws against out-of-state beer, wine and spirits producers; and effectively eliminate federal oversight of alcohol. Specifically, H.R. 5034 would allow states to pass laws that violate the dormant Commerce Clause, federal antitrust laws and any other Act of Congress.

"We fully support existing state alcohol regulatory systems and believe they provide an effective and efficient balance of control that serves the interests of consumers, producers and the marketplace as a whole. We strongly oppose H.R. 5034 and respectfully ask that you refrain from supporting this unnecessary legislation."

It was signed by the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. (DISCUS), Wine Institute, Beer Institute, Brewers Association and WineAmerica.

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Summertime is the best gintime

It was a hot summer-like evening and I was enjoying a Hendrick's Gin martini at the Blu Stone Bistro, a sleek lounge and good restaurant near the Albany (NY) International Airport.

The icy moisture on the glass and the cucumber wheel garnish matched the coolness of the blue, silver and green color palette of the establishment. Appealing to the eye as well as the palate.

Hendrick's is a small-batch Scottish gin that stands on its own in a crowded market niche thanks to its pronounced notes of rose petals and cucumber -- especially the cucumber. It was created in 1999 by a very old distillery, William Grant & Sons which was founded in 1886.

The official Hendrick's Martini recipe is simple: 2½ parts gin and ½ part dry vermouth (I recommend only Noilly Pratt) stirred together with ice in a mixing glass), then strained into a chilled cocktail glass and garnished with a cucumber wheel. Simple, delicious.

However, each time I drink Hendrick's, I'm reminded of a summer garden. And when that happens, my taste buds begin wandering beyond that unique gin to encompass flavorful recipes from distillers as large as Bombay inn the UK, as middling as Citadelle in France or as small as Finger Lakes Distilling in upstate New York which has a nice concoction called Seneca Drums. Each brand can be appreciated for its own special qualities.

Here a few gin-centric cocktail recipes for you to play with. Bear in mind your choice of gin will alter the outcome of each.

MY FAIR LADY

This cocktail was created at London's Savoy Hotel in the 1950s to coincide with the production of "My Fair Lady," the musical stage play based on George Bernard Shaw's play "Pygmalion."

1½ measures gin
2 teaspoons orange juice
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon creme de fraise
1 egg white

Thoroughly shake all ingredients together with ice,, strain into cocktal glass and garnish with an orange peel.

STAR TESTED

Audrey Sanders, who owns The Pegu Club in New York City's SoHo neighborhood, is known for selecting imaginative, fresh ingredients for her lengthy line of drinks. Sanders is big on gins, with about 30 brands on hand. Here's one of her recipes:

2 ounces gin
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
3/4 oz. orange curaçao (or Cointreau if you omit bitters)
1 or 2 dashes orange or Angostura bitters

Put all ingredients in an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake and strain into a chilled glass. Garnish with lime wedge.

SOUTHERN EXPOSURE

I came across this creation in a report in the San Francisco Chronicle on Daniel Wyatt, the young bar manager at the city's iconic Alembic bar on Haight Street. Many of his drinks are culinary-inspired, and he's heavily into offbeat creations that have helped build both a reputation and a dedicated following.

1 1/2 ounces Junipero gin
Juice of half lime
3/4 ounce simple syrup
3/4 ounce fresh celery juice
7 or 8 mint leaves

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice, shake vigorously for 20 seconds. Double strain into chilled cocktail glass, garnish with single mint leaf.

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1937 a very good year for Glenfiddich

There's something about a rare old Scotch whisky that brings out the big money.

A bottle of Glenfiddich has gone for more than US$37,000 in an Edinburgh, Scotland, auction held by Bonhams.

The bottle of whisky is believed to have fetched one of the highest prices ever for such a spirit. It was one of 61 produced by the Dufftown distillery in 1937, and one of just 10 released as a batch in 2001.

It was bought by an unidentified purchaser over the telephone. The world record for a bottle of Scotch was US$43,485, set in Glasgow in 2007.

Bonhams in November sold the Dalmore Oculus, made from whisky malt vintages as much as 141 years old and stored in a crystal decanter, for US$40,824.

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Why tasteless vodkas actually do taste different

There finally is some scientific evidence that one's preference in vodkas is based on something more than a pretty bottle and a clever marketing campaign.

An article published in the American Chemical Society's bi-weekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry says vodka differs from simple water-ethanol solutions in ways that could alter the imbiber's perception of its taste.

By definition, vodka should be colorless, odorless and tasteless. However, it is not always so. The veritable flood of new vodkas hitting the global market in recent years has seen the use of just about any sort of organic matter as its base component, from grains to potatoes to grasses to honey to milk to nuts ... and its filtration through precious stones, charcoal, woven grass mats, stainless steel ... and on and on. And, that is not even touching on the subject of flavor infusions. And with it all, the price points of what are deemed premium vodkas keeps going up.

The article said researchers used high-tech instruments to analyze the composition of five popular vodka brands. They found that each brand differed in its concentration of ethanol hydrates which may help the drinker perceive this internal structure or structurability of vodka, rather than taste in a traditional sense.

Dale Schaefer’s group at the University of Cincinnati worked with colleagues from Moscow State University in Russia on the topic. According to the ACS, they knew that Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev, noted for work on the Periodic Table of the Elements, made a key observation on alcohol solutions in his 1865 doctoral dissertation.

Mendeleev believed that a solution of 40% ethanol and 60% water would develop peculiar clusters of molecules, called hydrates. That solution became the global standard for vodka, which usually is sold as an 80-proof (40% alcohol), beverage.

A century later, the Nobel Prize-winning chemist Linus Pauling speculated that the hydrate clusters might consist of an ethanol molecule sequestered by a hydrogen-bonded framework of water molecules.

“We began this discussion with the statement that vodka is a colorless, tasteless water-ethanol solution," Schaefer said. "So, how do vodka drinkers develop brand preference? Our answer is structure.

"Beverages with low structurability are likely to be perceived as watery, because the fraction of water clusters is higher than in brands with high structurability. Beverages with high structurability, on the other hand, harbor transient cage-like entities where the ethanol molecule is sequestered by surrounding water molecules. At high alcohol content, clusters of alcohol molecules appear. ...

"These ethanol clusters undoubtedly stimulate the palate differently from either water or the E•5.3H2O cage structure. Even in the absence of 'taste' in the traditional sense, vodka drinkers could express preference for a particular structure."

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NY distiller joins William Grant & Sons

Photo by William M. Dowd/P>William Grant & Sons, the Scottish distiller and distributor, has agreed to market and distribute the Hudson Whiskey range produced by an Ulster County, NY, distiller.

Tuthilltown Spirits' portfolio of whiskies -- Hudson Baby Bourbon, Hudson Manhattan Rye, Hudson Single Malt Whiskey, Hudson New York Corn Whiskey, and Hudson Four Grain Bourbon -- is the first American whiskey to join the William Grant & Sons line. Grant already has such familiar brands as Glenfiddich, The Balvenie, Hendrick’s Gin, Milagro Tequila, Sailor Jerry Rum, Frangelico Hazelnut Liqueur and Stolichnaya vodka.

“We are extremely happy to be working with a family company that shares our philosophy.” said Ralph Erenzo, distiller and partner for Tuthilltown Spirits. “This new relationship will enable us to maintain the high quality of our products and allow us to continue to meet the high level of demand, without sacrificing any of the principles that make us what we are."

Erenzo, who said the agreement is not a takeover of his company, and partner Brian Lee founded the Tuthilltown micro-distillery in 2006 in a former gristmill in the town of Gardiner. Although there now are a number of micro-distilleries in New York, Tuthilltown made the first whiskey distilled in the state since Prohibition and the first ever New York state-produced bourbon.

Said Simon Hunt, Grant's managing director/North America:

“When our founder William Grant first built his distillery by hand in 1886, he had one dream: to create the best dram in the valley. That dram became Glenfiddich and that valley was the Valley of the Deer in Speyside. More than a century later, history is repeating itself as the Hudson Whiskey range becomes a part of the ... family. This time, the dram is Hudson Whiskey and the valley is the Hudson Valley. We are delighted to see that the spirit endures into the 21st Century.”

[Go here for my Tasting Notes on the Tuthilltown portfolio.]

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Glenmorangie gets kosher certification

Glenmorangie Original, Scotland’s top single malt whisky, has been kosher-certified by the Orthodox Union, the world’s largest kosher certification agency. Its comparatively new expression Glenmorangie Astar also received the certification.

In addition, Glenmorangie's sister distillery, Ardbeg, has received kosher certification for its Ardbeg 10 Year Old expression.

The Orthodox Union monitors all aspects of production. It supervises the process by which the whisky is created, examines the raw ingredients used, and regularly inspects the distilling and bottling facilities to make sure its standards are met.

"We are very pleased to have Glenmorangie Single Malt Scotch Whisky become the first major single malt scotch brand to attain OU certification. It was also gratifying for OU to guide the Glenmorangie Company through the certification process and bring this famous single malt brand to the growing kosher market place," said Rabbi Eliyahu Safran, OU kosher vice president of communications and marketing.

New packaging and promotional materials bearing the OU symbol will be distributed nationwide over the next few months.

[Go here for my Tasting Notes posting on Astar.]

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Custer's last liquor stand to close

• From The Wall Street Journal

CUSTER, SD -- Citizens of this small Black Hills city voted 349-218 Tuesday to terminate the municipal ownership of the Custer Liquor package store, ending an era of public entrepreneurship here dating back to the 1890s.

The store, which operated at the same location on Custer's main thoroughfare since the early 1960s, likely will close before the end of November, one city official said.

"The determination of when to close is up to the city council," said Rex Harris, city administrator.

The fate of more than $850,000 in accumulated store profits, the so-called "liquor fund," has also to be determined by the council. It was that asset -- and Custer's plan to build a new, much larger, retail outlet for beer, wine and distilled spirits -- that caused a stir in the city of 1,800 residents last year. The matter was settled in a ballot issue the same day South Dakota held its statewide primary.

"I was disappointed," said Kim Conwell, one of two full-time employees at the store. She said she hoped to remain on the city's payroll in some other capacity. The store's manager, who also doubles as Custer's parks director, will remain employed by the city.

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