Title: Pernod lifts whisky production

Source: The Herald

Date: October 31, 2007

Pernod Ricard said yesterday it is planning to expand its whisky production and storage facilities after announcing sales results that showed burgeoning demand for the Scottish product from emerging markets and less established markets such as France.

Sales of its 15 key brands rose an average of 16% in value between July 1 and September 30 but within that, its whiskies did particularly well. Sales of Ballantine's were up 22% while Chivas Regal rose 19% and The Glenlivet gained 13%. Overall, net sales rose 6.9% to 1.6bn (£1.1bn) In Asia, imported whisky brands led the way. The company reported that sales were up 30% driven by Ballantine's and Martell brandy. Ballantine's and Chivas Regal did particularly well in India.

In North America, The Glenlivet expanded strongly while Chivas Regal sales increased slightly. The latter also did well in Venezuela. Pernod Ricard reported sales rose by 34.1% across central and South America as a whole. The French, too, appear to be developing a taste for whisky. Overall sales in the country were up 5% to 157m, but while aniseed product sales actually declined because of bad weather during the summer. Chivas Regal, Aberlour and The Glenlivet soared, in part due to heavy promotion of the products.

Pernod also announced that it would increase its stocks of whisky products such as Chivas and Ballantine's this year to keep up with strong sales growth and said it plans to increase ints production and storage capacities for its whiskies as well as Martell and champagne. As a result, its debt reduction will be limited in its 2007-08 financial year.

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Title: Whisky plan pays off

Source: Press & Journal

Date: October 19, 2007

Scottish Development International's 2007 direct marketing campaign aimed at securing meetings with potential investors in Canada and the US has been recognised.

It won a silver award at the Direct Marketing Associations International Echo Awards held in Chicago.

An empty whisky decanter and documents outlining Scotland's key sales messages, was delivered to a prospect's address along with a note explaining that, if the recipient would agree to meet with an SDI manager, they would receive a bottle of rare malt whisky to accompany the decanter.

SDI's Americas president, Lorna Jack, said: "From the mailing in January to 217 targets we've secured 62 meetings so far. "That's nearly a 30% response rate which far exceeded the industry average and everyone's expectations."

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Title: Whisky group back in the black

Source: Press & Journal

Date: October 17, 2007

Whisky company Glenmorangie - which distills whisky at Glenmorangie Distillery, Tain; Glen Moray, at Elgin and Ardbeg, in Islay - continued to pay compensation in 2006 for terminating distribution agreements after integrating distribution channels with those of the much larger Moet Hennessy Group.

This followed the acquisition of Broxburn-based Glenmorangie in early 2005 by Moet Hennessy Invetissements, part of the giant French luxury products group LVMH.

Compensation in 2006 was just £170,000, however, compared with almost £17million the year before, according to the whisky company's latest report and accounts just released by Companies House.

This helped Glenmorangie to return to profit last year after posting losses in 2005.

The accounts show that Glenmorangie made pre-tax profits of £7.31million against pre-tax losses of £3.94million in the nine months previously.

Turnover for 2006 was £68.44million, up from £58.21million in the nine months to the end of 2005.

The accounts also show the company's unnamed highest-paid director, thought to be chief executive Paul Neep, received £435,000 in basic salary, performance-related pay and benefits during the year, against £334,000 in the nine months to the end of 2005.

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Scotched Laws

Source: Mark Reynier, Managing Director Bruichladdich Distillery, Isle of Islay, Argyll, Scotland, PA49 7UN

Date: October 11, 2007

New anti-counterfeiting laws announced by the Scotch Whisky Association this week may have more sinister implications. Critics claim a fait accompli by the SWA, which wants to define whisky as ‘single malt’, ‘blended whisky’, ‘blended malt’, ‘single grain’, and ‘blended grain’. Most distillers disapprove of ‘blended malt’ title which replaces the existing term ‘vatted malt’ in use for over a century for a bottling of several single malts together.

Bruichladdich Distillery MD Mark Reynier: “We welcome most of the new proposals but experience tells us that changes usually reflect a vested interested of the Big Boys. The new term, ‘blended malt’, deliberately confuses two older titles, the widely accepted ‘blended whisky’, and the emotive but highly misleading term ‘pure malt’. This new suitably bland and innocuous looking term will be a charter for deception. Overseas consumers are less likely to differentiate between the two similar terms. But that appears to be precisely what the SWA’s members want to achieve following the Cardhu debacle. Ambiguity in front of the consumer”

Then, Cardhu, a single malt, was to become a vatted malt (whisky from several distilleries – not one) so that the limited supply could be increased at will. But highly misleadingly, the vatted malt was to look almost the same as the prestigious single malt presentation - the general consumer would be none the wiser. This led to fierce accusations by the rest of the industry of bully boy tactics by Diageo, and the SWA risking the credibility of the whole single malt sector.

“They were mighty annoyed when they couldn’t get away with it then - so here they are changing the laws instead to suit their marketing needs instead."

The proposed law is to supersede the Scotch Whisky Act 1988 and the Scotch Whisky Order 1990

Diageo/Cardhu story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3546321.stm

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Fire on West 4th hits popular Kitsilano pub

Source: CBC.ca (including all photos)

Date: October 1, 2007

Firefighters battled a large blaze at Bimini's Tap House at 2010 West 4th Avenue near Maple Street on Monday morning. Ken Hogg, a garbage truck driver, was driving through the alley when he saw workers running from the building. He then called 911.

"Right as I pulled into the lane, I saw flames starting to shoot out the side of the building and the guys came running from inside," said Hogg. Firefighters were first called at 7:30 a.m. PT. By 8 a.m., the fire was burning out of control at the back of the building and smoke could be seen from across the city. Half an hour later, crews had the fire under control. The fire did not appear to have spread to neighbouring buildings.

There are no reports of any injuries. Renovations were being done to the building overnight, said the owner, Pete Uram. The large wooden structure was built in 1910. There were no reports yet on what may have caused the fire. Uram said it's too soon to say when Bimini's, one of B.C.'s first neighbourhood pubs, will reopen.

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Blind Ambition

Source: Mark Reynier, Managing Director Bruichladdich Distillery, Isle of Islay, Argyll, Scotland, PA49 7UN

Date: September 21, 2007

Two totally blind men have been let loose in Hebridean distillery for a week to make whisky. The ultimate test in sensory perception – sound, smell and touch – took place this week at the Bruichladdich Distillery on the Island of Islay. Martin Roberts from Ipswich – a self-confessed “bolshy, abrasive, blind bastard” – and David Williams from Worcester, both blind since birth, donned overalls to distil. The two men, whose interest in single malt started at university, had long dreamed of work experience roles but had continually been denied by their perceived disability.

“I don’t have much time for the patronising and the politically correct”, says Martin, “the catch-all term “disabled” means society actually prevents you from taking part in it. “We’re all bracketed together regardless. I’m blind, it’s as good an Anglo Saxon word as any, and I work in computing but can do pretty much anything if only given a chance”.

Martin heard on the web about Bruichladdich’s whisky Academy where the public get a full hands-on experience in all aspects of distilling and making single malt whisky. But he feared the three day event – more work experience than scholastic - would be out of bounds to him once he announced he was disabled. But he was to be surprised:

Bruichladdich MD Mark Reynier: “When Martin said he wanted to do our Whisky Academy despite being blind as a bat I thought it was some PC discrimination test. I had long thought it would be an amazing sensory experience to follow the distilling process - blindfolded - relying on smells and sounds of this Victorian machinery. It’s compelling when you stop and listen, really listen, which we so rarely do, and the barley smells are delicious too. BBC Radio 4 recorded it for the Sounds of Britain.”

“We employ other registered ‘disabled’ people. One is as deaf as a plank but what a worker! I’d employ him over most “able-bodied” folk. He’s a regular dynamo. I was more than happy for Martin and David to give it a go. They’re no shrinking violets these guys, expecting special cotton wool treatment…they just get on with it.”

The two blind men took part in the whole of the distilling process from barley to bottle culminating in filling their own cask of Bruichladdich that they had helped make. Their heightened sense of smell was an advantage in blind tasting. And their extra sensitive hearing won them the record for being the fastest at bottling.

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Cheese and wine are in worst possible taste

Source: The Scotsman

Date: January 19, 2006

EATING cheese ruins the flavours of wine and makes fine vintages indistinguishable from cheap plonk, research has revealed. While the two are often served together in the belief they make a sophisticated combination, scientists have discovered even expert tasters could not distinguish between wines after eating cheese.

Scientists in California asked trained wine tasters to try eight different cheeses before presenting them with four different varieties of cheap and expensive wines.

The tasters evaluated the strength of various flavours and aromas in each wine both alone and when preceded by the cheeses. Cheese was found to curb just about everything including berry and oak flavours, sourness and astringency, making it virtually impossible to distinguish them.

Strong cheeses overpowered the flavours more than milder varieties, but flavours of all the wines were smothered, meaning there was no magical wine and cheese pairing.

Professor Hildegarde Heymann and Bernice Madrigal-Galan of the University of California in Davis, who conducted the research, found cheese only enhanced wines with a butter aroma. They suggested this was probably because cheese itself contains the molecule responsible for the buttery wine smell. Another theory from the research, published in New Scientist magazine today, is that fat from the cheese could coat the mouth, deadening the taster's perception of the drink's flavours.

The findings come as no surprise to both wine tasters and cheese experts who said that wine and cheese was never a natural combination.

Graham Holter, wine expert and editor of Wine and Spirit, said the trend for cheese and wine being consumed together took off in the 1970s when people copied their contemporaries in an attempt to appear cosmopolitan.

"People were trying to be chic but really it has become clear that red wine and cheese is a pretty ghastly combination which most people in the wine trade are well aware of. It is a bit like the terrible fashion for pairing chocolate with champagne.

"Some strong cheese flavours and white wines harmonise such as Jacob's Creek and cheddar. But cheese is particularly pungent and will overpower almost everything." Mr Holter said that experts in the wine trade taste everything in isolation. "The film Sideways set in the Napa Valley in California showed how popular wine tasting and New World wines have become. You will have noticed no food was involved."

Paul Thomas, of Iain J Mellis cheesemongers in Edinburgh, said: "This research comes as absolutely no surprise. It is actually difficult to find a wine to suit the majority of cheeses. The combinations I would suggest are those such as Montgomery mature cheddar and cider and Lanark Blue with Laphroaig malt whisky. Basically what you're looking for is something crisp like a white wine from the Loire to go with the saltiness of the cheese."

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Title: Beer prices set to fizz up because of high-cost ingredients

Source: Vancouver Sun

Date:Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Make the most of a few pennies off the price of your favourite beer, thanks to the Jan. 1 cut in the GST. That little break could look pretty flat in the months to come as breweries struggle to contain their costs in the face of a global shortage of hops and soaring prices for barley.

B.C. microbreweries are particularly vulnerable because they are less likely to have long-term supply contracts for key ingredients, and they make greater use of hops to produce distinctive flavours.

"We're really hoping we will be able to keep our prices the same, but we're struggling with it," said Matt Phillips, brewer at Victoria's award-winning Phillips Brewing Co. "Our hop prices have gone up astronomically - somewhere in the order of three-fold. And we've got some beers that are pretty high hop content, so that's a bit of a challenge for us."

The hop deficit has been variously blamed on poor harvests worldwide, farmers who converted to more lucrative crops, growing demand from China, and a 2006 warehouse fire in Washington State that wiped out a significant amount of U.S. specialty hops.

Some craft breweries and brewpubs are dropping hop-laden India Pale Ale from their product line this year, or changing their recipes, said Rick Green, secretary of the Vancouver chapter of the Campaign for Real Ale.

"I think you will see some familiar brands change," said Ralph Olson, owner of Hopunion in Yakima, Wash., the region's biggest supplier of hops. "Not only is there a shortage of hops, but there's a shortage of a lot of varieties. That makes it even more complex unless [brewers] have an open mind and are willing to use something different."

Olson expects hop shortages to persist for the next two years, until new plantings come on stream.

Stefan Buhl, brewmaster at Kelowna's Tree Brewing, expects higher costs to push up beer prices, although he has a secure supply of hops for 2008. Consumers could pay 20 to 30 cents more for a six-pack of speciality beers like India Pale Ale. That compares to a 10-cent reduction in the price of Tree Brewing's Hophead IPA as a result of Tuesday's one-percentage-point cut in the GST. Price increases can be expected this year for Kamloops Brewing, Whistler Brewing and Bowen Island Brewing brands, although president Bruce Dean said they will be driven more by the doubling of barley costs and higher packaging expenses than by the price of hops.

"We're not planning on raising prices in response to the increase of our inputs, but we might have to. We can only deal with it for so long," said Mike Kelly, brewmaster at Nelson Brewing Co. In addition to higher prices for malt and hops, he said costs for shipping, gas, bottles, cans and packaging have risen anywhere from five per cent to 15 per cent. Major brewers are less impacted than the industry's smaller players because they have long-term contracts with hops and barley suppliers, said Marie-Helene Legace, public relations manager with Molson Canada. Craft brewers say the hop shortage has driven many of the bigger companies to buy up the hops usually sought by the smaller players for their flavour. [The big brewers are] using them in really benign ways that basically boil all of the flavour out of them. It's kind of heartbreaking," Phillips said.

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Title: Bluecoat American Dry Gin

Source: SeriousEats.com

Date: December 26, 2007 at 3:00 PM

Gin is typically thought of as a British tipple, and no wonder—take a stroll through your local liquor emporium, and you’ll see the gin labels are full of derby hats, regal symbols, uniformed Beefeaters, and the face of Queen Victoria. But while “London Dry” still has a near monopoly on the market, gins from the New World are freshening up the venerable category.

One of the newest and most acclaimed gins to arrive is the Philadelphia-distilled Bluecoat. Described as an “American Dry” gin, Bluecoat uses organic juniper, citrus peels and other botanicals to create a crisp, bright spirit. More herbal and citrusy than more juniper-heavy gins such as Tanqueray, the pot-distilled Bluecoat is an addition to the growing category of “New Generation” gins, a group that includes other highly acclaimed spirits such as Hendrick’s and Aviation.

When I first sampled Bluecoat neat, I was taken aback by the pronounced citrus note. But returning to the spirit, both neat and mixed in a Martini, I’ve come around to its charms: Bluecoat is certainly different from the typical dry gin, but its distinctive mix of citrus, juniper and spice finds a great partner in a decent vermouth; while I haven’t tried Bluecoat in a Vesper yet, I imagine the mix would work quite well.

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Tree wins 3 Canadian Brewing Awards!

Source: Tree Beer

Date: December 19, 2007

At the 5th Annual Canadian Brewing Awards in November, Tree Brewing took home the GOLD for Cutthroat Pale Ale in the English Style Pale Ale (Bitter) category, SILVER for Kelowna Pilsner in the European Style Lager (Pilsner) category, and BRONZE for Hophead in the India Pale Ale category. Judging was based on flavour, aroma, overall impression, mouth-feel, and appearance.

With 45 breweries and over 200 beers submitted, we are extremely excited by our wins at the Canadian Brewing Awards. This shows us that our hard work and dedication to crafting great beers is not only making beer drinkers happy, but our peers are noticing us too.

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Title: Raising The Bar: The 7 Best Alcohol-Related World Records

Source: Doubleviking.com

Date Posted: December 6, 2007

My original plan was to just write about alcohol-related world records, not to do it in list form… but I got a bit excited, had a couple of beers… and now it's about 4 AM and I'm pretty smashed. So you get an awesometastic list instead. (BURP) .......click here for full article

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Title: Trappist Command: Thou Shalt Not Buy Too Much of Our Beer

Source: Wall Street Journal

Date: November 29, 2007

WESTVLETEREN, Belgium -- The Trappist monks at St. Sixtus monastery have taken vows against riches, sex and eating red meat. They speak only when necessary. But you can call them on their beer phone.

Monks have been brewing Westvleteren beer at this remote spot near the French border since 1839. Their brew, offered in strengths up to 10.2% alcohol by volume, is among the most highly prized in the world. In bars from Brussels to Boston, and online, it sells for more than $15 for an 11-ounce bottle -- 10 times what the monks ask -- if you can get it.

For the 26 monks at St. Sixtus, however, success has brought a spiritual hangover as they fight to keep an insatiable market in tune with their life of contemplation.

The monks are doing their best to resist getting bigger. They don't advertise and don't put labels on their bottles. They haven't increased production since 1946. They sell only from their front gate. You have to make an appointment and there's a limit: two, 24-bottle cases a month. Because scarcity has created a high-priced gray market online, the monks search the net for resellers and try to get them to stop.

"We sell beer to live, and not vice versa," says Brother Joris, the white-robed brewery director. Beer lovers, however, seem to live for Westvleteren.

When Jill Nachtman, an American living in Zurich, wanted a taste recently, she called the hot line everybody calls the beer phone. After an hour of busy signals, she finally got through and booked a time. She drove 16 hours to pick up her beer. "If you factor in gas, hotel -- and the beer -- I spent $20 a bottle," she says.

Until the monks installed a new switchboard and set up a system for appointments two years ago, the local phone network would sometimes crash under the weight of calls for Westvleteren. Cars lined up for miles along the flat one-lane country road that leads to the red brick monastery, as people waited to pick up their beer.

"This beer is addictive, like chocolate," said Luc Lannoo, an unemployed, 36-year-old Belgian from Ghent, about an hour away, as he loaded two cases of Westvleteren into his car at the St. Sixtus gate one morning. "I have to come every month."

Two American Web sites, Rate Beer and Beer Advocate, rank the strongest of Westvleteren's three products, a dark creamy beer known as "the 12," best in the world, ahead of beers including Sweden's Närke Kaggen Stormaktsporter and Minnesota's Surly Darkness. "No question, it is the holy grail of beers," says Remi Johnson, manager of the Publick House, a Boston bar that has Westvleteren on its menu but rarely in stock.

Some beer lovers say the excitement over Westvleteren is hype born of scarcity. "It's a very good beer," says Jef van den Steen, a brewer and author of a book on Trappist monks and their beer published in French and Dutch. "But it reminds me of the movie star you want to sleep with because she's inaccessible, even if your wife looks just as good."

Thanks to the beer phone, there are no more lines of cars outside the monastery now. But production remains just 60,000 cases per year, while demand is as high as ever. Westvleteren has become almost impossible to find, even in the specialist beer bars of Brussels and local joints around the monastery.

"I keep on asking for beer," says Christophe Colpaert, manager of "Café De Sportsfriend," a bar down the road from the monks. "They barely want to talk to me." On a recent day, a recorded message on the beer phone said St. Sixtus wasn't currently making appointments; the monks were fresh out of beer.

Increasing production is not an option, according to the 47-year-old Brother Joris, who says he abandoned a stressful career in Brussels for St. Sixtus 14 years ago. "It would interfere with our job of being a monk," he says.

Belgian monasteries like St. Sixtus started making beer in the aftermath of the French Revolution, which ended in 1799. The revolt's anti-Catholic purge had destroyed churches and abbeys in France and Belgium. The monks needed cash to rebuild, and beer was lucrative.

Trappist is a nickname for the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, who set up their own order in La Trappe, France, in the 1660s because they thought Cistercian monasteries were becoming too lax. The monks at St. Sixtus sleep in a dormitory and stay silent in the cloisters, though they speak if they need to. Today, though, Trappists are increasingly famous for making good beer.

Seven monasteries (six are Belgian, one, La Trappe, is Dutch) are allowed to label their beer as Trappist. In 1996, they set up an alliance to protect their brand. They retain lawyers in Washington and Brussels ready to sue brewers who try use the word Trappist. Every few months, Brother Joris puts on street clothes and takes the train to Brussels to meet with fellow monks to share sales and business data, and plot strategy.

The monks know their beer has become big business. That's fine with the brothers at Scourmont, the monastery in southern Belgium that makes the Chimay brand found in stores and bars in Europe and the U.S. They've endorsed advertising and exports, and have sales exceeding $50 million a year. They say the jobs they create locally make the business worthy. Other monasteries, which brew names familiar to beer lovers such as Orval, Westmalle and Rochefort, also are happy their businesses are growing to meet demand.

Not so at St. Sixtus. Brother Joris and his fellow monks brew only a few days a month, using a recipe they've kept to themselves for around 170 years.

Two monks handle the brewing. After morning prayer, they mix hot water with malt. They add hops and sugar at noon. After boiling, the mix, sufficient to fill roughly 21,000 bottles, is fermented for up to seven days in a sterilized room. From there the beer is pumped to closed tanks in the basement where it rests for between five weeks and three months. Finally, it is bottled and moved along a conveyor belt into waiting cases. Monks at St. Sixtus used to brew by hand, but nothing in the rules of the order discourages technology, so they've plowed profits into productivity-enhancing equipment. St. Sixtus built its current brewhouse in 1989 with expert advice from the company then known as Artois Breweries.

In the 1980s, the monks even debated whether they should continue making something from which people can get drunk. "There is no dishonor in brewing beer for a living. We are monks of the West: moderation is a key word in our asceticism," says Brother Joris in a separate, email interview. "We decided to stick to our traditional skills instead of breeding rabbits."

The result is a brew with a slightly sweet, heavily alcoholic, fruity aftertaste.

One day recently, the wiry, sandy-haired Brother Joris returned to his office in the monastery after evening prayers. He flipped on his computer and went online to hunt for resellers and ask them to desist. "Most of the time, they agree to withdraw their offer," he says. Last year, St. Sixtus filed a complaint with the government against two companies that refused -- BelgianFood.com, a Web site that sells beer, cheese, chocolate and other niche products, and Beermania, a Brussels beer shop that also sells online. Both offer Westvleteren at around $18 a bottle.

"I'm not making a lot of money and I pay my taxes," says BelgianFood.com owner Bruno Dourcy. "You can only buy two cases at once, you know." Mr. Dourcy makes monthly two-hour car trips from his home in eastern Belgium.

"Seek the Kingdom of God first, and all these things will be given to you," counters Brother Joris, quoting from the Bible, adding that it refers only to things you really need. "So if you can't have it, possibly you do not really need it."

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Title: Stocking the bar for Christmas bashes

Source: Vancouver Sun

Date: Thursday, November 29, 2007

Hosting a holiday bash always seems like a good idea -- right up until the moment you realize just how much work it is.

Take the bar. You probably want to serve your guests something a bit more festive than a cooler full of Labatt Blue, but you probably don't want to spend the entire night mixing fancy cocktails.

Unless you can afford to hire a bartender for the night, you'll need to take some shortcuts.

Luckily, there are plenty of products out there to make this part of the party a breeze.

Here are some simple drink ideas.

- MULL IT OVER

The kitchen retailer Williams-Sonoma is known for many things -- fabulous cookware, awesome recipe collections and great kitchen linens -- but one of its very best offerings is its seasonal drink mixes.

This holiday, one must-have is Williams-Sonoma's Mulling Spices ($12.75 for a six-ounce tin). This blend of cinnamon, orange zest, cloves and allspice makes a fragrant punch when you simmer it with tea, cider or red wine.

Or try the gourmet hot chocolate mix ($26), which is perfectly delish when stirred with chocolate-dipped candy Peppermint North Poles ($20) or scattered with the candy-cane bits known as Peppermint Snow ($11.25).

Vancouver's first, long-awaited Williams-Sonoma location opens Saturday at 2903 Granville St. For more information, visit www.williams-sonoma.ca.

- GO FOR THE GARNISH

Sparkling wine is always festive, but to make it even more special, drop a Wild Hibiscus Flower into the bottom of the glass before you fill it with bubbles.

These edible candied flowers from Australia taste like raspberries and rhubarb and add a beautiful exoticism to any drink.

Wild Hibiscus Flowers are available for $12 to $15 at retailers including Whole Food, Gourmet Warehouse and Urban Fare. For more info, visit the Garnish Girls' website at www.garnishgirls.com.

- USE YOUR NOGGIN

Nothings says "festive" like a mug of traditional egg nog, especially if it's spiked with a good slug of brandy.

The problem is judging how much of this delicate dairy product you need to stock up on: too much, and your fridge is overloaded; too little, and you'll be making a mid-party dash to the grocery store.

Not any more. President's Choice has just introduced a long-lasting version that's sold in a plastic bottle and sits in the cupboard until you're ready to use it.

PC Rich and Creamy Egg Nog is $2.99 at Real Canadian Superstore and Extra Foods.

- STIR THINGS UP

If you really want to serve a selection of fancy cocktails, you can make things deliciously easy with Stirrings premium Cocktail Mixers and Drink Rimmers.

The nine available flavours -- including pomegranate, green apple, lemon drop and peach bellini --give you unlimited options for innovative cocktails

Stirrings rimmers sell for $6.99 to $8.99, and mixers from $12.59 to $14.99, at retailers including the Market Gourmet Foods, Gourmet Warehouse, Cookworks, Famous Foods and select Mac's locations.

For more information and great recipe ideas, go to www.stirrings.com.

RECIPE

Here's one festive recipe to try:

THE BLUE POMPOM

1 oz. Stirrings Pomegranate

Martini Mixer

1 oz. blueberry vodka

3/4 oz. vanilla vodka

Handful of blueberries

In a cocktail shaker, muddle blueberries with ice. Add vodkas and pomegranate mixer. Shake vigorously and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with three blueberries on a skewer. Serves 1.

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Title: Ban lifted, spirits go on the block

Source: Globe and Mail

Date: December 5, 2007

NEW YORK — Across the United States, tipplers with a sense of history will have an extra reason to raise a glass today: Known as Repeal Day, it's the anniversary of the end of Prohibition.

But among those who know the federal ban on alcohol consumption was struck down on Dec. 5, 1933, few may realize that the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution didn't exactly legalize drinking; it merely handed control of alcohol to the states. And each one took a different route: Mississippi didn't permit alcohol consumption until 1966; Kansans couldn't use credit cards at liquor stores until 1995.

Last August, New York became only the eighth state to strike down a ban on spirits auctions. But it is wasting no time exercising the new freedom: This Saturday, Christie's will sell off more than 100 lots, officially marking the first auction of spirits in the state since before Prohibition was enacted in 1920.

The auction house is including bottles of single malt Scotch, Cognac, Calvados, rye whisky, Chartreuse and Armagnac as part of its regular end-of-year wine sale.

The initiative by Christie's, known as a purveyor of some of the world's finest and rarest art, is a badge of honour for the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, which lobbied the state legislature in Albany for the change. "Spirits and the arts, they go together," said Frank Coleman, the council's senior vice-president of public affairs, who neglected to note that sometimes they go together to fabulous effect (see: absinthe and Picasso, Manet and Toulouse-Lautrec) and sometimes to tragic effect (see: Jackson Pollock, booze and an Oldsmobile convertible).

To underline the refined nature of the booze sale, and perhaps to put bidders at its Rockefeller Center flagship galleries in the paddle-raising mood, waiters will be circulating at Christie's with hors d'oeuvres and glasses of Champagne. (As with every auction, members of the public are invited to attend free of charge; the catered treats, however, are only for registered bidders.)

But since those in attendance usually have some very firm taste preferences, Christie's wine and spirits auctions are also BYOB affairs. "People bring their own bottles of wine, they sit and chat and share a glass of wine and spend some time together," says Richard Brierley, the Christie's specialist who conducts the wine and spirits auctions. "It can be a rather social occasion."

They may need the nourishment for endurance: With more than 1,000 lots up for sale, Christie's expects the auction to last five or six hours.

Mr. Brierley will be refraining from sampling too many of the goods before the sale. "A fuzzy head and lots of numbers is not a good combination," he chuckled this week.

Still, the scene will be a far cry from the early days of wine auctions at Christie's, which began after a Prohibition-era ban on those sales was struck down in 1994 in New York. Back then, Mr. Brierley recalls, some bidders brought packed lunches.

Saturday's auction has attracted so much attention that rubberneckers are inevitable; but unlike many of Christie's auctions (where random Warhols can sell for $20-million-plus U.S.), the price of participation is within the reach of most people. Plenty of bottles should go for only a few hundred dollars.

But there are also prizes for big-game hunters, such as a 1926 Macallan aged 60 years in a wood barrel that carries an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000, a 2003 bottle of rye made from George Washington's recipe ($10,000 to $20,000), and a so-called superlot of 729 bottles of Scotch ranging in quality from middling to extraordinary ($70,000 to $100,000). Mr. Brierley anticipates the superlot being bid on by a hotel or casino.

The sale is projected to take in about $250,000 - a drop in the bucket, as it were, compared with its wine sales. Last year, Sotheby's sold about $130-million of wine and spirits worldwide; Christie's sold $58.6-million.

But Mr. Brierley says demand for the fine spirits is increasing, just as the market in wine has expanded in recent years from the stalwart of Bordeaux to include more Burgundies. And spirits, with a higher alcohol content than wine, may actually make better collectibles because they stand less chance of degrading over time.

Mr. Coleman from the Distilled Spirits Council says he knows who will be buying. "It's Christmas bonus time on Wall Street and, as any New Yorker knows, it's the Wall Street bonuses that drive the economy," at least in luxury goods.

"This is right up the alley of your best friend who's a bond trader or hedge-fund manager or other Wall Street bigwig."

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Strong suds for the holidays

Source: Vancouver Sun

Date: November 19, 2007

Legend suggests strong beer was originally brewed by monks to keep them warm on cold winter nights. Today there's a more hard-headed reason for brewing head-banger ales in time for Christmas. "It's the feast before the famine," said award-winning craft brewer Matt Phillips. "After this, we're in trouble." Phillips, of Victoria's Phillips Brewing Co., is referring to the traditional slowdown that afflicts restaurants and brewpubs alike in January as customers recover from both the holiday spending binge and a surfeit of eating, drinking and merrymaking.

December is often the strongest sales month for microbreweries after July, the height of the summer suds season, Phillips said, but the festive season is also an opportunity to brew some special "winter warmer" beers packed with flavour as well as punch. On Friday, Vancouver's Granville Island Brewing Co. rolled out a limited release doppelbock which boasts rich dark malt flavours and an 8.7 per cent alcohol content.

Doppelbock means double strong beer and was first brewed by monks to sustain them through Lent, but the men of the cloth will be out of luck if they wait until the fasting season. "It is brewed here on Granville Island and available while supplies last," said marketing manager Caroline Roussy. "Hopefully it will last until Christmas but it often sells out here just prior."

This week Phillips is rolling out a dopplebock - the "Instigator," weighing in at 8.5 per cent - at private liquor stores in Vancouver and Victoria. In early December he'll add a 12 per cent barley wine named The Grand to celebrate the brewery's 1,000th batch of beer. "Christmas is a great excuse to roll out the bigger beers, and this is the second year in a row we're bringing out two beers to celebrate the season," he said. "There is an appetite for those winter warmers at this time of the year."

The B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch agrees and is running in-store promotions for B.C. craft brews like Faceplant Winter Ale, Fat Cat Honey and Tin Whistle Killer Bee. At six per cent alcohol, Faceplant can be described as a strong porter and, like all the beer from the Nelson Brewing Co., it is certified organic, brewmaster Mike Kelly said.

LDB figures show that B.C. craft brewers - excluding the majors Labatt, Molson, Sleeman's (Okanagan Spring) and Pacific Brewing - account for three per cent of packaged beer sales over the year, rising to 3.5 per cent over the holiday season.

More than 20 B.C. microbreweries currently list with the LDB and many also sell to private liquor stores or wholesale directly to licensed outlets, like Surrey's Russell Brewing, which is offering a full-bodied 7.3 per cent winter porter for the season, available only at restaurants and pubs. Kelowna's Tree Brewing is offering a winter duo pack exclusively through Liquor Depot in B.C. and Alberta and a combination eight-pack through liquor stores and cold beer and wine stores.

Brewpubs also offer seasonal beers which are available only on the premises such as brewmaster Conrad Gmoser's nine per cent Blitzen Christmas Ale currently on tap at Steamworks in Gastown. One Vancouver event where consumers can sample a range of seasonal winter beers from local craft brewers is the CAMRA Christmas Caskival on Dec. 15 at Dix Barbecue and Brewing on Beattie Street.

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Title: Beer lovers face higher prices as hops shortage looms

Source: CBC News

Date: November 1, 2007

A worldwide shortage of hops — a key beer-making ingredient — could have a big effect on the taste of specialty brews and force smaller microbreweries to hike the price of their products. The shortage can be blamed on a perfect storm of events — bad weather in hop-growing areas of the United States, Europe and Australia and a depressed U.S. dollar.

Brian Titus, president of Halifax's Garrison Brewing Company, said his brewmaster isn't sure he'll be able to make some of his beers in the new year because he hasn't been able to find some varieties of hops at all. "It's bordering on disastrous actually. If you don't have hops then you don't have beer," said Titus.

A decade-long oversupply of hops that had forced farmers to abandon the crop is finally gone and harvests were down this year. In the United States, where one-fourth of the world's hops are grown, acreage fell 30 per cent between 1995 and 2006.

Australia endured its worst drought on record. Hail storms across Europe damaged crops. Extreme heat in the western U.S. hurt both yields and quality.

Prices for the remaining supply of hops have doubled in recent weeks. With the low American dollar, European and Asian brewers are snapping up the remaining worldwide supply of hops.

The shortage has some breweries rethinking their brews and possibly changing beer recipes to cut down on the use of hops. "So maybe you find something that smells similar but doesn't have the same taste profile and it doesn't have the same bitterness," said Titus.

Industry analysts speculate the shortage could force smaller breweries to hike the price of some beers by as much as 10 per cent. Larger breweries are less likely to have to raise prices because they buy in bulk with long-term contracts. Craft brewers don't have the means to hedge against rising prices, like their industrial rivals.

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Title: Vijay Mallya of United Breweries, considering listing his international spirits business in the London Stock Exchange.

Source: NRIinternet.com

Date: October 17, 2007

Vijay Mallya, chairman of United Breweries in India, owner of Kingfisher Airlines, 50 pct strategic stake in US aircraft maker Epic Aircraft (Oregon) for US $120 million and after buying up Scotch maker Whyte & Mackay (W&M) for more than half a billion dollars is considering listing his international spirits business in the London Stock Exchange. He said that a London listing would make it easier to raise capital to fund international deals. He wants to import W&M's brands into India as well as to China. There is strong demand worldwide and strong growing demand within India.

W&M is fourth largest producer of Scotch whisky in the world after William Grant, Pernod Ricard and Diageo.

UK news paper, The Daily Telegraph said the London listing is unlikely to take place until next year once W&M's operations have been more closely integrated into the United Spirits' business. It is also unclear what valuation Mallya would seek for the company.

Mallya’s United Spirits Ltd (USL) has decided to come in with single malts, Dalmore and Jura, besides Whyte & Mackay blended Scotch whisky. USL, India’s biggest and the world’s third largest spirits marketer. The government of India waived countervailing duties on imported liquor to avoid a dispute at the World Trade Organization. Each state was expected to come up with its own tax structure

Mumbai is the city that accounts for the most whisky consumption in the country. All the international liquor companies in Mumbay, have cut their imports drastically since the state introduced this new duty structure. In the existing duty regime, the retail prices of premium whiskies have gone up by more than 22% in the state that increase translates into an average retail price of Rs3,600 for a 750ml bottle of premium whisky.

The International Spirits and Wines Association of India has requested the state government to reinstate the earlier duty of Rs200 per litre for imported spirits. “Putting the duty back to the old form will result in a price reduction of Rs400-Rs500 per bottle.

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Title: Business Profile : Vijay Mallya

Source: The Telegraph

Date Posted on Dipsophilia: October 31, 2007

Vijay Mallya, buyer of Whyte & Mackay, is fasting so he celebrated with a marketing meeting. Rory Ross profiles the man dubbed the Branson of Bangalore.

Dr Vijay Mallya, India’s most charismatic billionaire hailed the King of Good Times, celebrated the success of his £595m bid for Whyte & Mackay Scotch whisky group in uncharacteristically low-key fashion: a review of the company’s branding, followed by a head-to-head with the Scotch Whisky Association.

“I would have celebrated with a grand party,” said Mallya, as he headed back to India, “but I am on my annual fast, so am 'on the wagon’. I’ve not touched alcohol for six weeks.”

This evening in southern India, however, the wagon will screech to a halt. Mallya – who finds solace in the teachings of Sri Ravi Shankar – will be in Sabarimala in Kerala, where he will join thousands of pilgrims to walk barefoot six miles and climb 18 golden steps to pray to the deity. Then the partying will begin. “I am carrying sufficient stocks of Dalmore single malt and Jura single malt to celebrate adequately tonight,” says Mallya. “Jura was my father’s favourite whisky.” In Mumbai, the stock market couldn’t wait. This week, shares in Mallya’s United Spirits group jumped 33pc .

Hailed the Branson of Bangalore for his high-profile, impressive sweep of interests and soaraway Kingfisher Airlines, the world’s fastest growing carrier, Mallya comes on as a warm, friendly, entertaining soul with a brilliant memory. He always cuts a dash: his broad-shouldered frame is topped with grizzled leonine hair, while he is perennially blinged up with gold and diamonds, like a maharaja caricature. Mallya made his first unsolicited offer for Whyte & Mackay last May. Why did the haggling take so long? “They [previous owners Vivian Imerman and Robert Tchenguiz] needed to make up their minds whether to sell,” says Mallya. “That took a few months. Then the price of whisky went up. Given Whyte & Mackay’s huge stocks [independently valued at £350m-£400m], it was like trying to hit a moving target. We had to figure out when to freeze the price. That took another few months. We then did due diligence. And then the whisky price rose. Again.” An informal accord was reached whereby Imerman and Tchenguiz would not conduct an auction for Whyte & Mackay unless Mallya’s bid lapsed. “Ravi Nedungadi, my CFO, and I conducted the price negotiations ourselves.”

Whyte & Mackay, the fourth largest producer of premium Scotch, is “the last whisky company big enough to be worth bothering to acquire”, and accounts for 9pc of the market. Pre-Whyte & Mackay, Mallya’s Bangalore-based United Spirits arm was the world’s third-biggest spirits company on the strength of distribution in India and the Middle East. Post-Whyte & Mackay, his aggregated spirits portfolios vie with Pernod-Ricard for the No 2 spot behind Diageo. Mallya reckons he’ll overtake Pernod-Ricard “in a few months”. “Our premium whisky portfolio is growing in excess of 20pc a year.”

Until now, almost all of Mallya’s whiskies have been molasses-based spirits distilled in India. Whyte & Mackay, however, is the real thing. “Scotch is Scotch,” beams Mallya. “For whisky drinkers, it is the ultimate. Within Whyte & Mackay, we have several brands at different price points. I was amazed to see them. They were in India 20 years ago. I am very excited about relaunching them. Whyte & Mackay is running well, and with our vast distribution in India, we can accelerate that momentum. I’ve spent today redesigning the brands for immediate export.”

The Whyte & Mackay deal puts Mallya in an interesting position. Scotch is “liquid gold” in India, but heftily tariffed. To protect his Indian whisky portfolio, Mallya has staunchly opposed efforts by the Scotch Whisky Association to abolish the tariffs. Now, he finds himself in both camps. For full article click here.

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