Antiguan rum a true rarity

Antigua Distillery plans to send a pair of new bottlings of its English Harbour rum to market.

The company, located in the Caribbean islands-nation of Antigua & Barbuda, has announced the release of a 10-year, slightly spicy reserve at $199, and a dark, smoky 25-year-old at $399, aged in ex-whiskey and ex-bourbon casks. There are only 90 bottles of the older rum available.

The premium product is named after the Antiguan naval port that now is home to numerous yachts and crusie liners as well as tourists looking for a little water action. If you're curious what the real English Harbour looks like, here's a great view of the spot that was the main anchorage for British Admiral Nelson's Caribbean fleet in the 18th Century:

April L. Dowd photo

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A celebri-quote: Prince Charles

• Prince Charles, upon visiting the Bushmills distillery in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, as part of the whiskey maker's 400th anniversary celebration (it was granted a license to distill by King James I in 1608):

"It's a great joy to be able to visit. Having visited a few distilleries in my time I am fascinated to see what you do here.

"I'm glad that an ancestor of mine had the good sense to grant a license!"

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In distilling, size doesn't always matter

William M. Dowd photos

When it comes to producing new make spirits, it really doesn't matter whether you're high- or low-tech. The initial result is the same, as these photos show.

The differences between a "moonshine" operation and a commercial facility are a matter of scale, then the process of aging and, in some cases, combining aged spirits to create a special blended whisky. However, the chemical process remains the same.

Ian Logan (below), brand manager for The Glenlivet, put on a demonstration of scaled-down distilling for visiting U.S. journalists on a recent tour of Scottish distilleries co-sponsored by the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) and the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. (DISCUS). The first step was showing off The Glenlivet's towering stills (top photo); the second was setting up a specially-licensed "personal" still for comparison purposes.

Logan stokes the wood fire burning beneath the still to get to the proper temperature.
Logan explains the process that has been used by distillers in many parts of the world for centuries, creating vapors that rise from the still into the coils submerged in cool water to condense into a liquid distillate.
Nothing tricky about checking on the temperature of the liquid, just an old-fashioned touch of the apparatus to be sure the heat level stays uniform.

Large amounts or small, this is the final pre-aging product -- a crystal clear distillate with a rich nose of spicy grain and a hint of sweetness on the palate. The raw whisky begins with a light strawberry note, then moves to banana. At this point it is about 70% abv, or 140 proof, obviously far from the finished product consumers will find on shelves.

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This organic vodka expansion slow but sure

Three down, only 47 to go.

Peak Spirits, the Hotchkiss, CO, maker of CapRock Organic Vodka and CapRock Organic Dry Gin, have expanded their market to include Nevada. Earlier, the company had begun selling its line in New Mexico as well as its home state.

Tim Wilson, beverage director for Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group, said, “Peak Spirits is the real McCoy when it comes to artisan spirits. Their philosophy, practices, and product quality are exactly what we’re looking for in our supplier-partners.”

The Peak distillery makes its organic gin, vodka, and eaux-de-vie from locally grown, organic fruit and unprocessed mountain water drawn. Its products now will be used at such Las Vegas spots as Spago, Postrio and CUT.

Peak Spirits is a certified-organic distillery located on Jack Rabbit Hill in Colorado's North Fork Valley, a community known for organic farms and ranches. Founded in 2004, the distillery is a partnership between two local, family-owned organic farms: Jack Rabbit Hill Estate Winery and Gunnison River Farms.

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How to hold a cocktail bash, responsibly

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The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) expends a lot of effort in educating the public about responsible consumption of alcoholic beverages.

Here is the latest list of its "tips for hosting a responsible cocktail party."

1. Designate a bartender who can serve your guests and keep an eye on how much everyone is drinking. The Federal Dietary Guidelines define moderate drinking as no more than two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women.

2. Remember, alcohol is alcohol. It is important to understand that a standard serving of regular beer (12 ounces), wine (5 ounces) and spirits (a cocktail with 1.5 ounces of 80-proof spirits) each contains the same amount of alcohol.

3. Make sure you provide food to complement your cocktails. Consider food pairings to enhance the flavor of your chosen cocktails: fresh seafood and breads accentuate vodka cocktails; spiced and smoked meats and cheeses complement bourbon and Scotch whiskies; and fruit enhances rum and tequila flavors.

4. Make available non-alcoholic beverages for your guests. Create festive non-alcohol punch for those guests who choose not to drink alcohol.

5. Make sure your guests have a safe way home either through a designated driver or a taxi. Have local taxi service numbers available for your guest.

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'Sex & The City' goes global

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After a four-year drought, "Sex and The City" is back -- in movie form, rather than the TV series. But that's good enough for cocktail lounges and home parties looking to celebrate the return of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte.

For some marketing reason I'm unclear about, the film debuted in London even though it's a New York City creature through and through. The "S&TC" craze stretched throughout the United Kingdom as I found out when I dropped in at Tigerlily,the trendy boutique hotel and cocktail lounge in Edinburgh, Scotland, last week.

I was there during a tour of distilleries for beverage writers, co-sponsored by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) and the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA). Colleague Camper English, a spirits writer who lives in San Francisco, and I were doing as "pub crawl" to see what cocktails were being created in the Scottish capital known for its nightlife.

Tigerlily not only had posters out for the movie, it had sprinkled rose petals on the bar and tabletops and was pushing Cosmopolitans, the ubiquitous cocktail connected with the TV series.

I shied away from the Cosmo, manly man that I am, and instead opted for something called the Swedish Mohican (seen above), It's actually a vodka sour made with Cape North vodka from Sweden, touches of lemon and cumber juice and a bit of fresh thyme plus muddled apple slices, along with an apple garnish. Superb.

Closer to home, "S&TC" events dot the social calendar. One example, in the Fort Lauderdale, FL, suburb of Aventura, the Bourbon Steak restaurant and Lobby Lounge are offering half-priced Cosmos from May 30-July 1 to anyone with a ticket stub from the movie from May 30 through July 1.

DISCUS, the major U.S. industry trade organization, has come up with a set of cocktail recipes in support of "Sex & The City" mania.

“As the popularity of ‘Sex and the City’ has grown, we have definitely seen the trend move towards bold, stylish cocktails,” said Omar Muhammad, mixologist at Teatro Goldoni, winner of Washington, DC’s “Best Cocktail of 2008” award which is one of the DISCUS recipes. “People are experimenting with new flavors and moving away from your traditional martini.”

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GOLDINI

1 ounce vanilla vodka
Shot and a half of espresso
¼ ounce white chocolate liqueur
¼ ounce dark chocolate liqueur

Stir together and serve in a chilled cocktail glass.

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WHITE SATIN

1¼ ounce white chocolate liqueur
¼ ounce hazelnut liqueur
2 ounces milk or half-and-half

Pour all ingredients over ice and stir. Garnish with nutmeg. Serve in a cocktail or rocks glass.

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MANHATTAN
1 ounce blended whiskey
½ ounce sweet vermouth
2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Pour ingredients over ice in a mixing glass and stir. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry.

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COSMOPOLITAN

1 ounce vodka
½ ounce triple sec
¼ ounce cranberry juice
Splash of Rose’s lime juice

Shake ingredients in a shaker with ice. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.

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Cruzan introducing guava rum

Rum sales traditionally rise in the summer months, and Cruzan is counting on that to help acceptance of its new guava-flavored rum.

It is believed to be the first guava-flavored spirit introduced to the U.S. market. Flavored rums are the second-fastest growing segment of the rum category, growing nearly twice as fast as unflavored rums.

Cruzan Guava Rum will be available nationwide for a suggested retail price of $11.99 per 750 ml bottle. It is the ninth flavored Cruzan 55-proof rum, following black cherry, coconut, mango, pineapple, banana, citrus. raspberry and vanilla.

A suggested cocktail from Cruzan's mixologists:

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CRUZAN CORAL REEF

1½ parts Cruzan Guava Rum
2 parts mango juice
1 part Cruzan Coconut
1 part apricot juice
2 parts pink grapefruit juice

Shake ingredients in ice, then strain over ice into a highball glass. Garnish with a slice of fruit (guava, grapefruit, mango or apricot).

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Be on the lookout for a vodka from ... Mongolia

Well, why not? Everyone else has gotten into the act.

A company called APU, which is the Asian nation's largest manufacturer of alcoholic beverages, plans to introduce a pair of its vodkas to the international market.

So, what's the gimmick? Every vodka maker needs one to stand out in the overcrowded field. APU plans to take advantage of its duty-free status to maintain a price advantage. Right now, APU's Soyombo is the leading high-end vodka sold in Mongolia, going for a bargain-rate $20 US. Its other brand is called Bolor, and sells for less than $20. Its top-selling vodka goes under the brand name of Chinggis Khaan.

Dambinyam Bolortsetgeg, APU head of export, told Drinks International, "Our strategy is based on two main factors: the first being the rapid sales growth of white spirits and vodka in the world with the trendy culture to drink cocktails. Secondly, Mongolia is getting significantly popular as a new travel destination among tourists. People are interested not only in our unique culture and untouched nature, but in ecologically clean products made here in Mongolia, too."

APU, founded in 1942, bottled 4 million litres of vodka and 18 million litres of beer last year.

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Fever-Tree a flavor tree, too

William M. Dowd photo

There are a lot of tonic waters on the market, but the makers of Fever-Tree Premium Indian Tonic Water have figured out a way to set their product apart from the others.

First, what it doesn't contain:

• Artificial preservatives
• Artificial ingredients
• Sweeteners
• Coloring

Now, what it does have:

• Natural botanicals
• Spring water
• Cane sugar

Fever-Tree's "natural botanicals" are cold-pressed Tanzanian bitter orange oils, coriander and lime oils and African marigold, combined with the cane sugar and spring water, plus natural quinine from the fever-tree (Cinchona ledgeriana) itself.

It has a clear look, a slightly fruity nose, and a hint of natural sweetness followed by a slight bite on the tongue from the quinine and botanicals.

It retails for a suggested $5.99 for a four-pack of 200ml bottles.

I've tried Fever-Tree at home (clean, bracing), and spotted it in bars abroad -- at the trendy Tonic bar on North Castle Street in Edinburgh, Scotland, last week, as just one example. Bar manager Sam Kershaw (above), who splits his time between Scotland and New York, was using it to whip up such drinks as the "Mint Chocolate Chip Russian," the "Cherry Blossom Buck" and the "Clover Tree."

The Fever-Tree folks, however, suggest first trying their product in this classic cocktail:

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GIN & TONIC

1 part premium gin
2 parts Fever-tree tonic
Fresh lime
Fresh ice or tonic ice

Keep gin in freezer until use. If desired, make ice cubes ahead of time using the tonic water to prevent dilution.

Mix gin and tonic in a chilled red-wine balloon glass, stirring over several tonic ice cubes. Garnish with either a sprig of fresh mint, a wedge or wheel of lemon or lime, or even a wheel of cucumber. If using citrus, use only the peel to prevent introduction of unwanted oils.

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Tracking the perfect pour

Harry Denton at home in his San Francisco lair
Drinks managers concerned about the accuracy of their alcohol pours now have a new way of ensuring staff consistency. They control them by radio frequency identification (RFID).

According to the RFID Journal, several bars and restaurants have been using an RFID-enabled system to train bartenders how to pour the right amount of liquor, and to measure their progress. The training program is part of the Capton Beverage Tracker system, which records the amount of liquor used to make drinks.

Sandia Resort & Casino in Albuquerque, NM, and Harry Denton's Starlight Room in the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco are among the early adopters of the technology.

"Capton provides bar owners with a system for tracking how much a bartender pours," the RFID Journal reported. "The system includes a sensor and battery-powered RFID tag in a bottle's spout that first measures the amount of a pour, then transmits that amount to an interrogator usually installed on a bar's ceiling, cabled to a server where it can be tracked remotely — either in real time, or later.

"Because only one bartender is typically assigned to a specific station for each shift, a bar's management knows who is responsible for those specific pours. But making a bartender accountable for each pour isn't always enough if that person is unable to accurately pour every drink. That's where the training comes in."

Go here for the full story.

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A Scottish curiosity

William M. Dowd photo

Curious what these wall hangings are?

A hint: They're in an "ethical" bar and restaurant in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Now you're probably also curious what constitutes an "ethical" establishment.

Go here to find out.

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All that glitter: World Whiskies Awards are out

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More than 200 whiskies were considered for this year's edition of the World Whiskies Awards, sponsored by Whisky Magazine, the U.K. publication that sets the pace for the international whisky coverage.

I was priviliged to be one of just four American judges on the 15-judge international panel, chaired by Dave Broom. Three rounds of blind tastings were held to come up with the top category winners. Our process was simple but laborious, given the size of the field.

The first round was conducted by the editorial panel at their homes, with sample bottles telling us only the category and the alcohol by volume (ABV) strength. The whiskies that scored the highest in that round provided the subcategory winners, which then moved to the second round of tastings, held in London where category winners were picked. Then it was back to the editorial panels to decide the overall titles.

You can get the full rundown on the judges, the category and subcategory winners plus selected tasting notes from judges on the Whisky Magazine online site. Meanwhile, here are the top winners:

• World's Best Whisky Liqueur: Wild Turkey American Honey.
• World's Best Grain Whisky: Compax Box Hedonism.
•  World's Best New Release: Glenrothers 25 Year Old.
•  World's Best Blended Malt Whisky: Blue Hanger 30 Year Old.
• World's Best Blended Whisky: Suntory Hibiki 30 Year Old.
• World's Best American Whiskey: George T. Stagg Kentucky Straight Bourbon.
• World's Best Single Malt Whisky: Yoichi 20 Years Old.

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Limited-run Irish whiskey coming

Cooley Distillery, an independently owned Irish whiskey distiller, has launched a 15-year-old small-batch bottling of its Greenore Single Grain Whiskey.

The company claims it is the oldest bottling of an Irish grain whiskey ever released. It is aged in ex-bourbon barrels and matures in the 200-year-old granite warehouses of the Old Kilbeggan Distillery in County Westmeath.

Cooley's previous release is Greenore 8-year-old, which will be maintained as a permanent brand. The 15-year-old will be limited to 5,000 bottles.

Greenore Single Grain won a gold medal in 2007 at the International Wine and Spirits Competition and a double gold at the 2008 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Noel Sweeney is the company's master blender.

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Report from the Highlands

I'm nearing the end of a 10-day tour of Scotland, with stops at seven different distilleries and countless tastings included in the itinerary.

Fair warning: You'll see a raft of postings beginning next week about what I've found on my travels through an industry that is in the midst of a global boom despite its homeland's rising financial problems and growing rate of inflation and joblessness.

The Scotch whisky industry employs 40,000 people, quite a large slice of a wee national population that barely hits 5 million, without even counting people involved in the retail end of things.

Look for stories and photos here on the "Spirits Notebook" site as well as related postings on my "Tasting Notes" blog beginning Monday.

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New Utah distillery on drawing board

The National Garage in Park City, UT, will become the home of High West Whiskey within the next year, part of a plan to move from temporary quarters to a permanent spot that also will host a restaurant and bar.

Owner/distiller David Perkins plans to have the new facility become one of the state's first legal whiskey distilleries since Prohibition.

"We started in earnest (on the distillery) three years ago," Perkins told the Park Record, a local newspaper. "We've reached a lot of milestones. From the get-go the city has been really supportive.

"This is an old livery building and some people think it should have been taken down a long time ago," he said. "The idea of taking something that was a garage and turning it into a living structure means a lot needs to be done."

Perkins agreed to pay the city more than $1.4 million for the garage and adjacent house. There, in addition to whiskey, he plans to make vodka, gin and scotch.

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Caymans' underwater rum debuts

Most people think "Caribbean" when they think of rum. But the Cayman Islands never could lay claim to its own such spirit.

That has changed with the debut of Seven Fathoms Premium Rum, the first commercially–made distilled rum made entirely in the Caymans.

Walker Romanica, a co-founder of Cayman Islands Distilleries with Nelson Dilbert, said the rum is made using an underwater aging process thought to be the first ever used with a spirit. After distillation, the rum is put into oak barrels, taken out to sea and dropped to a depth of 42 feet, or seven fathoms.

“By aging our spirits underwater, we are able to take advantage of the kinetic properties of the ocean tides and currents to create a very unique flavour profile and a remarkably smooth rum,” Romanica said at a press conference.

Dilbert brushed off any suggestion the aging process is a gimmick.

"It works very well with marketing, but there is actually science to it,” he told the Cay Compass newspaper. “The product is always moving and is also subjected to sound waves, which is excellent for the aging process. There is a Japanese company doing it with sake and the French are doing it with wine.”

As a result of the unique kinetic maturation process, he said, Seven Fathoms rum takes on characteristics of rums aged much longer using traditional methods. He added that the idea that motion could help in the aging process of rum goes back centuries. The rum produced in the Caribbean in earlier days was found to be quite harsh but mellowed while being transported across the Atlantic to England.

The 80-proof small-batch rum will be made in limited supply with limited distribution. Information on availability is available by e-mail at sales@sevenfathomsrum.com.

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A celebri-quote: Sarah Brightman

• Singer Sarah Brightman has sold more than 26 million albums since her 1978 debut. Her newest is the operatic album "Symphony." Here's one comment she made during an interview with the London Telegraph.

"I had my first-ever Bellini in the Hotel Splendido in Portofino. It has remained my all-time favourite drink ever since. It's often hard to get fresh peach juice, though, because it's seasonal and I'm not nearly as keen on it if it's made with tinned peach pulp.

"If I can't have a proper Bellini, then I'll have a Kir Royale, which I find almost, but not quite, as uplifting."

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Let's call them drink-me pumps

From the delightfully snarky Gawker.com blog:

"Did you know that the hit HBO television series 'Sex and the City,' about a self-centered clotheshorse and the women who indulge her, has been made into a movie, to be released nationwide on May 30th?

"Well, yeah. It's happening. And in an effort to promote the film, little shoeboxes containing a bottle of Skyy vodka are being sent around to various bloggers, reporters, shut-ins, and ladydrunks."

Tempted to read the details? Go here.

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