Louisville to host ADI Spirits Conference

The 9th annual American Distilling Institute's Spirits Conference & Vendor Expo is set for April 1-4 in Louisville, KY.

The focus this year will be on whiskies and rum. The schedule includes hands-on distilling classes and judge certification program, a disillery tour, an internship benefit dinner auction, and the conference itself that will include such topics as spirits judging awards, tax reduction, marketing, distillery construction, raw materials, yeast, blending and maturation.

Venues for the conference are Huber's Starlight Distillery and The Brown Hotel.

Registration now is open online.

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New tequila book delivers more than promised

¡HOLA TEQUILA! By Colleen Graham. Sellers Publishing. 128 pages, 75 color photographs by Shannon Graham. $15.95.

It's always a pleasant surprise to find a book that provides more than its cover promises. That is the case with "¡Hola Tequila!"

Colleen Graham, a professional bartender who writes the cocktails column for About.com, promises "Ninety creative cocktails and inspired shooters" -- and that they are -- in her subtitle, What she delivers, however, also includes 10 pages of how to set up a "tequila bar" that, in reality, can be the basis of any good home bar. She also provides variations on every recipe in the book, a true bonus.

In addition, Graham includes small essays on "Tequila Through Time," the distillery process for the agave specialty, and thorough explanations of each type of agave product -- tequila, mezcal, sotol, raicilla, bacanora and agave spirits.

Dotted throughout are excellent photographs by her husband/business partner Shannon Graham, nicely enhanced by the glossy paper stock and handy 6-by-8½-inch format.

This is a nicely-done book, due for release in March, that should gain a toehold in a crowded publishing niche. And, it should go a very long way to erasing the long-held but misguided lore that tequila is only for college benders. The noble spirit can hold its own against any fine liquor, and Graham holds her own against any other cocktail recipe specialty writer.

A few examples:

CHIMAYÓ COCKTAIL

1½ fluid ounces tequila
1 fluid ounce unfiltered apple cider
½ fluid ounce fresh lemon juice
¼ fluid ounce créme de cassis

Build the ingredients in an old-fashioned glass filled with ice. Stir well, garish with thin apple slices and serve.

ENVY

1½ fluid ounces blanco tequila
¾ fluid ounces blue curaçao
¾ fluid ounce pineapple juice
Dash of orange bitters

Pour the ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into a frozen cocktail glass filled with cracked ice. Garnish with a pineapple flag or a single maraschino cherry.

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Skinnygirl introducing big lineup expansion

The Skinnygirl brand will be expanded this spring when owner Beam Inc. introduces vodkas, wines and piña colada to the market.

The ready-to-drink (RTD) products are predominantly targeted at the female market, claiming lower-calorie and fruit-flavored offerings appeal most to that niche.

Sales of the Skinnygirl brand that Beam purchased last year from "Real Housewives" TV personality Bethenny Frenkel jumped an astonishing 486% last year.

The brand line already offers RTD margaritas, sangrias and white cranberry cosmopolitans, also will add wines.

Skinnygirl vodkas will feature a non-flavored (called “Naked”) vodka, as well as tangerine, coconut and cucumber flavors, all will be under per one-ounce shot. Most other major brands are in the 100+ range.

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Jim Beam adds to Red Stag portfolio

The new flavored bourbons.

Jim Beam has announced the addition of two more flavored bourbons to its Red Stag portfolio.

Red Stag Honey Tea and Red Stag Spiced, which join Red Stag Blck Cherry, are being delivered to markets this month. Like the cherry flavor, each uses a Jim Beam four-year-old bourbon as a base, but instead are honey tea and cinnamon flavored.

"My family has a history of making bold choices by consistently challenging itself to embrace innovation while honoring the tradition of our world famous bourbon," said Fred Noe, seventh-generation Jim Beam family distiller and a great-grandson of Jim Beam. "We've done a great job of pushing the envelope and trailblazing the innovative bourbon category while still staying true to our roots with an authentic 80-proof, Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey."

Rather than using liqueurs to flavor the bourbon, Beam infuses them with natural flavors through a proprietary process.

Each of the flavored bourbons is available for a suggested retail price of $17.99 for a 750ml bottle.

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Swedish whiskey debuts today in Canada

The Swedish company Mackmyra Distilleri, please with the reception it received when it introduced its malt whiskey to the U.S. last spring, today made its debut in Canada.

The Société des Alcools du Québec (SAQ) launched Mackmyra's The 1st Edition through its outlets in Montréal and Quebec city.

1st Edition is made in Sweden entirely from Swedish ingredients, then stored in ex-bourbon casks and new Swedish oak casks, the latter to add a distinctive spiciness to the bourbon-touched spirit.

SAQ is a government-owned corporation responsible for the trade of alcoholic beverages within the Province of Quebec.

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Battle of Mexico: Who owns the word 'agave'?

Yours truly harvesting agave in Mexico.

• From The New York Times

Who owns the word "agave"?

A select group of tequila and mezcal producers would if a controversial piece of legislation in Mexico wins approval.

Both tequila and mezcal -- tequila’s older, smokier cousin -- are made from agave, a breed of succulent that has been grown and distilled in Mexico for centuries.

But agave is the root material of many other indigenous Mexican spirits. That, say opponents to the proposed regulation, is the problem. If the new regulation passes, these liquors would be barred from using the word agave, or even from making their spirits within government-designated areas reserved for tequila or mezcal. Instead, they would have to call their products "agavacea aguardiente" or "distilled agavacea," the family of plants that include the agave.

As Mexican spirits have risen in popularity in recent years, the phrase "100% agave" is seen as a sign of quality. The legislation would prevent distillers outside the appellations from using that marketing device. (Although labels for bacanura, a separate mezcal-like spirit, could have the word agave.)

The legislation would not affect who would be able to call their liquor tequila or mezcal. That matter has long been dictated by Mexican law, which says only liquors made in Mexico’s official appellations of origin for tequila and mezcal can use those names. (Tequila has five appellations, mezcal seven.)

[Go here for the full story.]

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