| More recent news | |
| 01 Mar 07 | Laphroaig has released a new official bottling, vintage 1988 bottled at cask strength for 999 Skk (about 72£ or 100 euros). The 360 bottles got sold within minutes with huge queues of clients waiting for the opening of the shops.
Also coming out next week, the first independent bottling of Port Charlotte, by the Alchemist, £40 for the bottle of 70cl at 46%. |
| 01 Mar 07 | Indian government refuse to alter import duties for whisky There is anger within the Scottish whisky industry today as they demand that the EU launch World Trade Organisation proceedings into the Indian government refusal to lower import duties. (The Scotsman) The Indian government has been under extreme international pressure to change the scheme which adds up to 550 per cent onto all imported spirits in extra tariffs and tax, while Indian spirits can be imported tax free into the EU. The whisky industry was hoping that, as India is seen as the most important emerging markets for the industry, the Indian government would announce import duty reductions in its budget yesterday to comply with WTO rules. However the government announced that agriculture must be at the top of its agenda and made no allowance for a reduction in import tax. Gavin Hewitt, chief executive of the Scotch Whisky Association, said: "India has failed its WTO challenge and continues to deny consumers' choice and fair market access for Scotch whisky and other imported spirits. He added that the budget was the "last opportunity" for India to reform the system. “We are urging the EU to take the matter to a WTO panel. India's discriminatory tariff and tax regime for imported spirits must be reformed in line with international trade rules” http://business.scotsman.com |
| 27 Feb 07 | The Vijay Mallya show swings into Scotland The Indian poised to buy Whyte & Mackay wants to be more than just an astute businessman, reports Justin Huggler It is impossible to travel on India's Kingfisher Airlines without noticing the owner, Vijay Mallya. Before the plane takes off, the seat-back televisions show a video of him, dripping with jewellery, striding through clouds of dry ice amid models of his fleet of aircraft. "I've instructed my crew to treat you as a guest in my own home," he announces. "If you miss anything, contact me personally." It's all part of the Vijay Mallya show: the life of a man who is not content with being a billionaire - he wants to be a celebrity as well. This is the man who is trying to take over one of Scotland's last independent whisky distillers., Whyte & Mackay. Last week, Mr Mallya flew into Scotland, and a spokeswoman for his company, United Breweries - the world's third-largest spirits maker - said due diligence had begun and a sale was imminent. Mr Mallya is keen to get his hands on the Scottish company's vast aged single malt cellar along with its distribution network, which would mean he could sell his own whiskies and rums in Europe. Whyte & Mackay, which has a 9 per cent share of the global Scotch whisky market, is owned by its chairman Vivian Immerman and his brother-in-law, the Iranian property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz. Mr Mallya likes to call himself the Richard Branson of India but he is far brasher than Sir Richard. It's not just his diamond earrings and huge identity bracelet with his initials, VJM, picked out in diamonds. If you want a clue as to why Mr Mallya is reported to be prepared to pay £550m for Whyte & Mackay, this is the man who in 2003 paid more than £200,000 to buy the sword of Tipu Sultan, one of the most formidable Indian leaders to resist British colonial rule, at auction in London. "Since Tipu's sword is the rightful property of India, I decided to bring it back," Mr Mallya said at the time. This is also the man who chose last year's Grand National to call an impromptu press conference to denounce the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA). Mr Mallya was unhappy with the SWA's attempts to lobby the Indian government to reduce its prohibitively high tariffs on imported spirits, at the same time as refusing to recognise India's molasses-based whiskies. "India is not a British colony any more," he said. "This imposition of British imperialism is unacceptable. The SWA has to understand there are two sides to the coin. They have double standards. I will continue to oppose SWA coming to India until they allow us to sell in England and Scotland. Nobody can take us for granted." Mr Mallya may be a showman, but he is an astute businessman as well, and analysts have pointed out that if he gets Whyte & Mackay, he will buy his way into the very SWA he has been denouncing - and get himself some premium imported brands if it does succeed in getting India to lower its tariffs. When he launched his airline, he managed to talk the state-owned Indian Airlines - a direct competitor -- into providing ground services, and got access to exclusive domestic terminals other private airlines have been trying to get into for years. He is a member of India's upper house of parliament, but he has moved his family home to San Francisco. He commutes between his various properties - which include a castle in Scotland - on his private Boeing 727. When Mr Mallya inherited his father's $100m business, centred around his United Breweries, no one expected him to end up where he is today, worth $1bn according to Forbes magazine. Mr Mallya was just 27, and most expected the well-known playboy to fritter away the family millions. He won trophies driving racing cars, and bred racehorses. But he also turned out to have a gift for business. Today his UB Group dominates the Indian liquor industry. Kingfisher is far the biggest-selling beer. When his competitor Cobra started muscling in on Goa, Mr Mallya is said to have personally visited bars and restaurants that were selling the rival beer to change their minds. But in India beer sales lag behind hard liquor, especially whisky - India is the world's biggest whisky consumer - and there too UB dominates. When Mr Mallya launched Kingfisher Airlines in 2005, it was derided as a publicity stunt - alcohol advertising is illegal in India, but the airline has Kingfisher's name up in lights - and an ego trip. He confounded his critics by placing orders for Airbus A380 superjumbos for the planned first direct service from India to the US. In less than two years of operating, Kingfisher is fast emerging as one of the country's leading domestic airlines. Now Mr Mallya has his sights set on Whyte & Mackay. And he is used to getting what he wants. Source: http://news.independent.co.uk |
| 27 Feb 07 | Diageo has annouced a new product, the Cardhu Special Cask Reserve. It is selected from very old ex-bourbon casks and will be sold in bottles of 70 cl at a strength of 40%. This Cardhu will be produced by batches and the batch number will be indicated on the label. The retail price will be 55 CHF (app. €35/ £ 23). Source: www.classicmalts.ch |
| 27 Feb 07 | Brewery's toast to perseverance February 27, 2007 Pakistan has won the distinction of producing the Muslim world's first 20-year-old malt whisky. The Murree Brewery in Rawalpindi, founded in 1860 to make ale and spirits for soldiers under British rule, is the only producer of whisky and beer in a constitutionally Muslim country. Despite a torrid history in which it has been burnt down by Muslim protesters and temporarily shut in an Islamist purge, the Murree brewery has survived. "Few distilleries in the world, even the high-end ones in Scotland, produce 20-year-old malts," said Minnoo Bhandara, the Parsee businessman whose family has run the brewery since the creation of Pakistan at the partition of British India in 1947. Under Pakistani law the whisky cannot be drunk by 97 per cent of the country's population and cannot be exported. But its production has coincided with an unprecedented debate in Pakistan about the prohibition on alcohol introduced in 1977. Since then the brewery has officially been catering for the non-Muslim 3 per cent of the population. However, the ingenuity of thirsty Pakistanis means that much of the beer and whisky that Murree produces reaches a Muslim clientele. Source: http://www.theage.com.au |
| 22 Feb 07 | Water improves in whisky county Scottish Water aims to improve the quality of drinking water Scottish Water are to invest £22m in Moray in a bid to improve the quality of drinking water in Scotland's malt whisky county. The move is part of a £2.4b investment programme for Scotland - the second biggest in the UK and the largest ever in Scotland. Several water treatment works in Moray will benefit from the funding over the next few years. A number of environmental and flooding projects have also been identified. Public health' Ian Burnett, Scottish Water's manager for Moray, said that by earmarking the money and keeping household charges "steady", the company was demonstrating its commitment to its customers. He added: "Moray is renowned as home to most of Scotland's distilleries. Scottish Water is determined to ensure that the area can be just as proud of its fresh drinking water supplies. "Our investment will keep pace with the latest public health standards and satisfy the demand for new housing in the area. "We want our customers to enjoy the look and taste of their water. This investment will ensure that they have a water supply fit for the 21st century." News of the investment has been welcomed by whisky businesses in the area. The funding in Moray will go towards improving several water treatment works in the area as well as helping to alleviate flooding in certain parts of Forres, Portknockie and Elgin. http://news.bbc.co.uk/ |
| 22 Feb 07 | UB begins W&M due diligence BS Reporter / Bangalore February 22, 2007 The Vijay Mallya-promoted UB group has started examining the books of the Scotland-based Whyte & Mackay as a precursor to acquiring the foreign company for the reported £550 million (Rs 4,700 crore). P A Murali, chief financial officer, United Spirits, confirmed that the due diligence was on. United Spirits will be the UB group’s investment vehicle for the acquisition. “We are in various stages of due diligence and it is a process, which cannot be worked towards a deadline. It all depends on what information we want and what Whyte & Mackay shares,” Murali said. He, however, declined to confirm the valuation of the proposed deal. Market sources said the deal would be signed within four weeks on completion of the due diligence. Senior executives at United Spirits said the entire funding for the deal had been tied up. “Funds are not a problem for us. It will be a mix of various instruments and we are ready for it,” a company executive said. United Spirits recently got shareholders’ approval to borrow a maximum of Rs 10,000 crore through various instruments from domestic as well as international bankers. The Rs 3,500-crore company has a debt of around Rs 1,400 crore as on December 31, 2006. Whyte & Mackay’s brands include Whyte & Mackay blended Scotch whisky, Dalmore single-malt whisky and Vladivar vodka. Source: http://www.business-standard.com |
| 20 Feb 07 | BenRiach has released a new whisky, the BenRiach 40 YO, 50%. This is an edition limited to 265 bottles worldwide.
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| 20 Feb 07 | The duke gives a dram February 20, 2007 Willie Simpson examines the noble art of selling whisky. ''I WEAR many hats in my life," says Torquhil Ian Campbell, who was in town recently as global brand manager for Chivas Brothers. And when he's not globetrotting around Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam, representing Chivas Regal, The Glenlivet, Aberlour and various other whisky brands in the portfolio, his fancy headgear includes being the Duke of Argyll (and, as such, head of Clan Campbell) and the Marquess of Lorne. Occasionally, he even dons a pith helmet for a few chukkas of elephant polo, that most exclusive of sports, which, understandably, can only be played in a handful of countries such as Thailand, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Apart from an extra-long mallet, the duke says a good elephant and mahout (driver) are essential but that - just to even things up a bit - both sides swap pachyderms and drivers at half-time. But it's whisky that we're here to talk about, and the duke surprisingly underplays the fact that Chivas Brothers was recently named "whisky distiller of the year" at the 2006 International Wine & Spirit Competition, held in London (the third time in the past four years it carried off the major award). "It's a great accolade," he says, "but what we're selling today, we obviously have been making many years beforehand. So it's the result of great continuity." The duke points to the attention given to "cask management" as one of the great strengths of Chivas Brothers, which is now part of the giant Pernod Ricard conglomerate. The company has serious ambitions for flagship brands The Glenlivet and Chivas Regal, including knocking off Glenfiddich in the single-malt category. "We had a short-term vision for The Glenlivet of half-a-million cases (international sales per annum)," the duke says. "We planned to do that by mid-2008 - but we will probably reach that target a year ahead of schedule. Our long-term vision is to be the number-one malt." He defines our domestic whisky market as "very price-sensitive" and "very retail-driven", making profitability tougher than in other markets. "Booze is relatively cheap in Australia," he says, which means you've got to spend money to develop brands. He's particularly chuffed that Chivas Regal 12-year-old is "the number one premium (blended) Scotch in the domestic market with over 40 per cent market share - and growing". That means they've outgunned rival Johnnie Walker Black Label in this category over the past two years. Whisky is experiencing a "premium-isation", according to the duke, who says his company will soon launch older products off the back of The Glenlivet 12-year-old into Australia, including a 25-year-old as part of its "cellar collection" and The Glenlivet Nadurra, a 16-year-old cask-strength single malt. And speaking of cask-strength whiskies, how is it that one of my favourite drams - Aberlour a'bunadh - keeps getting better and better? "It is a batch process and each batch will be different," he says (the latest is batch 17). "A'bunadh is heavily sherried, and it's important to get that quality. But we're not trying to copy it from one batch to another - it comes out of the barrel as is and goes into the bottle." The duke says it appeals to "more mature" palates and isn't one of his personal favourites. "I might have a dram once or twice a year - at Christmas time or something like that - when I'm freezing cold and sitting in front of a roaring fire." Aberlour was the first Scotch whisky distillery that Pernod Ricard acquired back in the mid-'80s, and the brand is the No. 1 single malt in France, thanks to the parent company's distribution channels and marketing clout. While it's still something of a sleeper brand here in Australia, Aberlour is the seventh-biggest-selling single malt worldwide. When he's not travelling the globe spruiking whisky, the duke runs his other business interests including Inveraray Castle, the historic home of the Clan Campbell, and a 20,000-hectare estate in Argyllshire. He's also a family man, raising the next generation of Campbells in Archie, 3, and Rory, 1. Source:http://www.theage.com.au |
| 19 Feb 07 | Bourbon is booming Whiskey makers expand as demand keeps growing ASSOCIATED PRESS BOSTON - The Booker Noe distillery operates six days a week, 24 hours a day, and it still can't make whiskey fast enough. Buildings that house aging barrels of bourbon are rising from the ground in Nelson County, and plans are in the works to build a second still by the end of the year. This is where Jim Beam, the best-selling bourbon in the world, is made. To keep up with rising sales, Beam Global Spirits & Wine Inc. is spending $70 million to upgrade the plant. Beam and its parent company, Fortune Brands, also are spending nearly $50 million on the Maker's Mark distillery a few miles away in Loretto, and on a bottling and production plant in Frankfort. Industry leaders say the Beam expansion is part of the biggest production boom in the American whiskey industry since just after World War II. Although the Beam projects appear to be the state's largest at the moment, demand also is growing for many of Kentucky's other bourbon producers. "The appeal of bourbon worldwide is on a roll," said Ed O'Daniel, president of the Kentucky Distillers' Association. "Everybody is gearing up for more production." When the Boston expansion is finished, the Booker Noe plant could produce 15 million gallons of whiskey a year, up from the current 10 million. Its mash cookers will eat up corn, the main ingredient in bourbon, at a rate of 75 acres a day. Jeff Conder, a Beam vice president, told The Courier-Journal that the company hasn't gone out of its way to publicize the expansion in Boston. And the inner workings of the Booker Noe plant are largely unknown to the public. The facility has no tours, and there is no gift shop or tasting room for customers. Dorothy White, executive director of the Nelson County Chamber of Commerce, said that although she knew of changes at the plant, she wasn't familiar with the size of the investment. Although jobs aren't being added in Boston, Beam is hiring about 50 workers in Frankfort, where the company has been approved for $960,000 in tax credits -- the only financial incentives so far out of the three projects -- for an expansion of its bottling line and storage facilities. The increased production will boost state and local inventory taxes. According to the state Department of Revenue, those taxes for all brands of distilled spirits reached $9.66 million last year, a 65 percent increase from 2001. The largest share of those taxes comes from Beam Global, which accounts for 45 percent of the state's bourbon inventory, with 1.82 million barrels on hand. The second-largest stash of bourbon belongs to Bardstown-based Heaven Hill Distilleries, with close to 700,000 barrels. Jack Daniel's, part of Louisville-based Brown-Forman, is made in Lynchburg, Tenn. Chuck Cowdery, the Chicago-based author of a bourbon newsletter, said the nation's whiskey industry is expanding production at a rate of about 5 percent a year, and Kentucky is benefiting because about two-thirds of that production comes from inside its borders. "Virtually all" of the state's distilleries are operating at capacity, he said. Like much of the industry, Beam and Fortune Brands are seeing faster growth among their more expensive labels. The flagship Jim Beam saw volume growth of 5 percent last year, but the higher-priced Maker's Mark posted a 12 percent increase, its 10th consecutive year of double-digit growth. Source: http://www.kentucky.com/ |
| 18 Feb 07 | Scotch rocks! WILLIAM LYONS AS Paul Walsh unveiled details of Diageo's half-year trading performance on Thursday morning, it was clear that the announcement he was due to make would be as important to the company as it was to the distillers on Speyside. Scotch whisky had stolen the show in an otherwise flat set of results. To meet demand, Walsh, the firm's Lancastrian chief executive, revealed plans to build a malt distillery near the Moray Firth, its first for generations, as part of a £100m investment in the industry. But as the formal presentation came to a close, Walsh let slip to a small group of journalists that he wasn't finished there. Giving some hint of the enormity of the category's potential, he said: "If India takes off I do not discount another similar investment in Scotland." In other words, doubling the £100m. That evening, speaking by telephone from Amsterdam, his global head of whisky, Alberto Gavazzi, echoed his sentiments. "That would be possible," he said. "If capacity increases and demand rises, like we think it will, then we will invest again." These are good days for Scotch whisky. In just 18 months the mood among senior distillers has changed from cautious optimism to mouthwatering excitement. Recent figures show that volume exports are up 3.5% for the 11 months to November 2006. As well as Diageo there is widespread speculation that at least one other major distiller is preparing to build a malt distillery to meet the surge in demand. If December was as good as some believe, it will be a record year with exports smashing through the £2.4bn barrier, catapulting the industry into being one of the UK's most significant export earners. As Gavazzi said: "It is one of the best periods in a long time. A few years ago we had some robust growth but volatility was also high in Latin America and Asia. This appears to be the first time we have enjoyed a level playing field." It is an unprecedented turnaround. Only three years ago despondency enveloped the industry. While single malt was growing, the reality was that Europe was stagnating, own-label bulk whisky was virtually worthless and uncertainty surrounded markets in Latin America and Asia. "The change has come very quickly," says whisky analyst Alan Gray, author of the Scotch Whisky Industry Review. "The last two years have been very good for exports with sales starting to pick up and this year it looks as if it will be quite good again." So what has changed? The answer is the growth of the so-called Bric nations - Brazil, Russia, India and China, and in particular the emergence of an aspirational middle class. Suddenly Scotch is cool. Walk into any style bar in New York and the beautiful people will be drinking Scotch. The traditional image of a Scotch whisky drinker as an old man with slippers has been usurped by the likes of Nicholas Cage, Robert De Niro and Emma Thomson. For years the industry has predicted that the opening up of China and India would reap massive rewards. But until 2005 it was just that, a prediction. Now, for the first time, there is tangible evidence that these two markets are about to fulfil their potential. In just 10 years, growth in China has risen from 700,000 litres to 5.7 million, fuelled by a burgeoning middle class that have acquired a taste for whisky. At the moment the market leader is Pernod Ricard's Chivas Regal. So incensed was Walsh by this that last year he flew to Shanghai with a £20m cheque for his Chinese marketing team. Johnnie Walker Black is now experiencing 85% growth a year. But the market is not just confined to the big two. William Grant's chief executive Roland Van Bommel has also committed a large marketing team on the ground to help grow Glenfiddich, while Edrington, makers of the Macallan, have large sales and marketing teams working in China. On the back of the Chinese development, for the first time there is real confidence in the Scotch Whisky Association that the Indian government will relax its prohibitive tariff system to comply with the ruling of the World Trade Organisation. Publicly, the industry is still adopting a wait-and-see approach but privately many are now preparing for reductions in this month's budget with a view towards complete access by 2012. As Walsh said on Thursday: "The prize is huge." In 2005, 4.4 million litres of Scotch whisky was exported to India, just 1.3 million cases behind China, despite the fact that the government adds anything between 212% and 525% on to the price of a bottle of Scotch. One analyst said: "You are talking about the largest whisky market in the world by a mile with 65-70 million cases. It is getting to be almost as big as the Scotch whisky market globally." Suddenly all those warehouses full of bulk whisky look a lot more valuable than they did 18 months ago and the own-label market is beginning to get interesting again. "For many years the industry has grappled with the problem of surplus stocks," says Alan Gray. "The situation is now much more in balance and that is why we are seeing the growth in distillery building programmes." One distiller added: "The way the Scotch whisky industry works is that companies constantly buy and sell whisky to top up their blends to meet demand. Suddenly all that has stopped. The big firms will just not sell any more. The way we get round this is to operate an exchange system." One reason why Whyte & Mackay's South African chief executive Vivian Imerman is hoping to get north of £500m for the firm is that two years ago he purchased a huge amount of stock from Suntory, whose value has now rocketed to £400m. It was, in the eyes of one observer, a "stroke of genius". Vijay Mallya, the flamboyant, cigar-smoking, Ferrari-driving head of United Breweries knows this. By acquiring Whyte & Mackay, which owns Isle of Jura single malt and Dalmore Scotch, he would have two premium Scotch brands that could be distributed through his UB Group in India. He would also be in a good position to have enough whisky to satisfy demand. But Mallya has walked out on deals before, notably the aborted bid to buy champagne house Taittinger last year. Last week he told Scotland On Sunday: "Negotiations on Whyte & Mackay continue in a positive sense. Progress is being made and the gap between previous positions of both parties is narrowing." Mallya will not want to overpay as he knows as well as anyone that just as markets can grow they can also fall. Ten years ago Scotch whisky consumption fell in Thailand by more than seven million cases in 12 months as a result of the economic crash. And for every optimist in the industry there are those who are far more cautious. They argue that the industry works in cycles and point to the bad old days of the mid-Eighties and early Nineties when production plummeted to an all-time low with just 90 working distilleries and export values falling to just £1.7bn, almost £700m less than it is today. Leonard Russell, managing director of Glengoyne distillery, said: "I have always worked on the premise that Scotch whisky works in six to eight-year cycles. We have just been waiting a long time for this upward cycle to arrive." His view was echoed by Gray. "It is always dangerous to assume that China and India will be a panacea for the Scotch whisky industry," he says. "Never forget people have been saying this for more than 20 years and there have been plenty of periods of boom and bust before. We have always got to treat predictions with a bit of caution, especially if those sales predictions come from marketing departments who tend by nature to be very enthusiastic." One certainty, it seems, is that prices for malt and blended whisky will have to rise. Talk in the industry is that distillers now have a new spring in their step in negotiations with supermarket buyers. There are rumours of calls to buyers not being answered and "interesting" conversations. A story that is doing the rounds involves a recent meeting between the buyer of a major supermarket and the chief executive of a sizeable whisky distillery. According to the sources the supermarket buyer was curtly told that prices will be rising by 40% this year and if they didn't want to sell his whisky they could look elsewhere. As Gavazzi says: "Absolutely prices will rise. That is the practice we want to put into place. Premiumisation is the core to our strategy." http://business.scotsman.com |
| 18 Feb 07 | Mallya close to Whyte & Mackay deal WILLIAM LYONS THE protracted takeover of Whyte & Mackay appeared to be drawing to a close last night after reports that a price had been agreed for the Glasgow-based company. Vijay Mallya, the Indian billionaire who has been in negotiations to buy the company for several months, is understood to have raised his offer to around £550m, a price acceptable to Whyte & Mackay's boss, Vivian Imerman. Mallya initially offered £475m for the firm in November, a price that was a long way off Imerman's value of £600m. Yesterday Imerman declined to comment, saying that he was in hospital undergoing a minor operation. But Mallya told Scotland on Sunday that the gap between the two parties had narrowed. He said: "Negotiations on Whyte & Mackay continue in a positive sense. Progress is being made and the gap between the previous positions of both parties is narrowing." A final deal will be subject to a process of due diligence, but it is believed it could be wrapped up by the end of March. By acquiring Whyte & Mackay, which owns Isle of Jura single malt and Dalmore Scotch, Mallya would have two premium Scotch brands that could be distributed through his UB Group in India. He also wants to buy a UK distiller to use its distribution network to sell his whiskies in Europe. http://business.scotsman.com |
| 15 Feb 07 | Drinks firm's £100m whisky boost Diageo operates 27 malt distilleries in Scotland Drinks company Diageo is planning to create 200 new jobs in Scotland as part of a £100m plan to expand its whisky operations. The company said the investment was one of the biggest in the industry's history and its largest in Scotland in 20 years. Diageo plans to build a new malt distillery in the north and expand its grain distillery in Fife. It also plans to increase the bottling capacity at its plant in Glasgow. Chancellor Gordon Brown said the investment was great news for Scotland and the Scotch whisky industry. "This is serious long-term investment by Diageo, confident about the stability which Scotland enjoys as part of the UK," he said. Growing markets About £40m of the money will go towards a new malt distillery to increase production of its single malts which include Talisker, Lagavulin and Dalwhinnie. The site of the distillery is still to be finalised but the company hopes it will be near one of its existing Speyside malting facilities at Roseisle, near Elgin. The managing director of Diageo Scotland, Bryan Donaghey, said the move underpinned its commitment to Scotland. He said it should help the company meet demand from customers in growing markets such as Brazil, Russia and India. Mr Donaghey said: "We see very encouraging growth in our Scotch whisky brands. "Expanding our capacity now will help us meet demand well into the future." This level of investment is exactly what is needed to ensure that Scotch whisky can take on the challenge of growing markets such as China and India John McFall MP The Cameronbridge grain distillery in Fife - the largest in the UK, producing Johnnie Walker, J&B and Bell's - will be expanded further. Bottling capacity at the company's Shieldhall packaging plant in Glasgow will be increased and warehousing capacity will be extended in central Scotland. Diageo is set to begin discussions with Moray Council on expanding the Roseisle site, with the hope of starting work later this year. The drinks giant, which also produces Guinness and Smirnoff vodka, currently operates 27 malt distilleries and two grain distilleries. It employs 4,000 people in Scotland. West Dunbartonshire MP John McFall, chairman of the House of Commons treasury select committee and treasurer of the all-party parliamentary group on Scotch whisky, welcomed the news. He said: "This level of investment, coming at a time of new optimism in the industry, is exactly what is needed to ensure that Scotch whisky can take on the challenge of growing markets such as China and India." Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk |
| 15 Feb 07 | Diageo reports strong first half performance and increases guidance for full year organic operating profit growth to 8% Paul Walsh, Chief Executive of Diageo, commenting on the six months ended 31 December 2006 said: "Diageo has made a strong start to the year. Excellent performances in North America and International and unchanged profits in Europe delivered double digit underlying earnings growth. Our spirits brands, especially Scotch where net sales grew 11%, did particularly well, benefiting from increased investment in marketing. As a result of this strong start we are increasing our guidance for organic operating profit growth to 8% for the full year. We still expect to return a total of £1.4 billion to shareholders through share buybacks this year and to continue our progressive dividend policy. "In North America our continued outperformance in the US spirits market was the key driver of the 11% organic operating profit growth we delivered. Operating leverage from price and mix improvements in beer, wine and ready to drink also contributed to the margin expansion we achieved. "In International, we again grew marketing spend faster than net sales. This investment delivered stronger top line growth, share gains in markets from China to Mexico, organic operating margin expansion and organic operating profit grew 17%. "In Europe, growth in our Continental Europe hub and in Russia was offset by weaker top line performance in Great Britain, Ireland and Spain and total net sales declined. However, as in North America, price and mix improvement led to organic operating margin expansion and on an organic basis operating profit was maintained. "We believe that a capital structure broadly consistent with a single A credit rating gives Diageo the appropriate level of flexibility and given our strong free cash flow this capital structure would allow us to fund a £1 billion share buyback programme in fiscal 2008.’ Key highlights of the six months ended 31 December 2006 • 8% net sales growth in spirits is the key driver of overall performance • Marketing spend increased by a further 6% with spend focused on growth brands and markets • Operating margin improved by 90 basis points • Using an effective tax rate of 25% eps before exceptional items rose from 31.1 pence in first half F’06 to 34.4 pence in first half F’07, which adjusted for exchange is a 14% increase • Return on invested capital increased 90 basis points to 17.7% • Strong free cash flow of £672 million • High payout ratio maintained as interim dividend per share is increased by 5% to 12.55 pence • £1.22 billion returned to shareholders through £524 million in dividends and £700 million of share buybacks (...) Source: www.diageo.com |
| 15 Feb 07 | Scottish whisky 'only good memory of game' Feb 15 2007 Gareth Morgan, Western Mail IT WAS whisky galore for Wales fans on Saturday as events on the pitch led some to fortify themselves with a wee dram. The match must have been bad on Saturday - fans were more interested in the free whisky being doled out at a sampling marquee in Murrayfield. The Famous Grouse ran out of supplies of the "water of life" before the Scotland v Wales game even kicked off. Later, more supplies were sent for - and by the end of the day 5,500 whisky drinks were served - more than double the number dispensed during the whole Six Nations championship last year. Scotland's Herald newspaper reported how one Welsh fan told staff that his Grouse with ginger beer was "the only good memory I'll take away today". Source: http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk |
| 14 Feb 07 | Unique whisky spills across categories John Hansell What happens when a winemaker from Canada takes grains typically used to make bourbon, ferments them with wine yeast, and distills it in an eau-de-vie still to makes whisky? You end up with whisky like nothing else in the world. In 1992, winemaker John Hall purchased an eau-de-vie distillery in Grimsby, Ontario, on the southern shores of Lake Ontario midway between Buffalo and Toronto. ''There wasn't a great demand for eau-de-vie in Canada, so the owner sold it,'' he explained as we sat in the office of his small Kittling Ridge Estate Distillery. ''I wanted to start my own company. The timing was right.'' I knew that John's whisky-making process was unique as soon as he started describing the ingredients he uses to make his whisky: ''When making my premium whisky, Forty Creek Barrel Select, I use the same ingredients a bourbon distiller would down in Kentucky — corn, rye and malted barley. But I don't make a mash. I don't combine the three grains and cook them in water the way bourbon is made. When I was deciding how to make my whisky and read about how bourbon mash is made, it didn't make sense to me. When I have cereal in the morning, I don't add corn flakes to my wheat flakes before adding the milk. He continued: ''I make three distinct whiskies — a rye whisky, a malt whisky and a corn whisky. I age them separately in their own barrels. For Forty Creek Barrel Select, I marry the three whiskies before bottling. I call it a 'meritage' whisky, similar to the way meritage wines are produced. I try not to use the word 'blend.' Many whisky drinkers look down on 'blended' whisky. The word has a bad connotation.'' As we went to see the stills, John continued: ''I actually use a wine yeast strain to ferment the grain sugars to alcohol rather than a typical distiller's or brewer's yeast. There are fewer volatiles. It produces a softer whisky.'' At Kittling Ridge, there are two eau-de-vie pot stills. One is 5,000 gallons; the other is 500 gallons. They aren't housed in a romantic still house like you might find in Scotland. Just two stills sitting next to each other in the corner of a very industrial-looking room. ''The majority of spirit comes from the larger still,'' John noted as we stood in front of it. ''Problem is, I want to make whisky in one pass, not by a double-distillation process common with single malt scotch or cognac. But one distillation in the pot still doesn't increase the alcohol enough for whisky, so I added a reflux column on top of the pot still to bring the alcohol level up. It's a pot still but, with the reflux column, it's getting some help.'' Seeing the puzzled look in my face, he continued: ''A winemaker endeavors to bring out the flavors of the grape variety. So why would I want to distill twice? I'll lose more flavor. I'll 'bruise and lose,' as we say in the wine industry. My still is now very similar to an armagnac still. Armagnac, on the whole, tends to be a softer, smoother brandy when compared to other brandies, and this is what I'm trying to achieve with my whiskies.'' Forty Creek Barrel Select is aged in three main cask types: used bourbon casks, new oak casks, and used sherry casks (from his own sherry). He's also been dabbling in Port casks and Canadian Oak casks for future bottlings. John then began describing his ''meritage'' process. ''We dump the barrels by hand. I won't tell you the exact percentages, but I will say that Barrel Select has about the same amounts of corn and rye whisky, with a lesser amount of malt whisky. I combine the three whisky types together and then 'finish' the whisky for a further six months in sherry casks before bottling. Barrel Select consists of whiskies from six to 10 years old.'' Relative to the other big Canadian distilleries, Forty Creek Barrel Select whisky is barely a blip on the radar screen. Most of you reading this article probably never even heard of the whisky before today. It is still very much a family affair in the front office. John makes the whisky. His wife runs the visitor's center and distillery tours, and his daughter handles many of the marketing aspects. Still, his company has grown from 12 employees in 1992 to over 120 today. Some of this might be due to his work ethic. He was traveling 185 days last year. But I think the main reason is the quality and distinctiveness of his whisky. As John explains: ''With Forty Creek Barrel Select I'm making a whisky that transcends categories. It's a whisky for Scotch drinkers, bourbon drinkers, and Canadian whisky drinkers. I use my wine background to make 'varietal' whiskies and blend them together. It's like making wine. I'm just painting on a different canvas.'' He continued: ''I'm a first generation whisky-maker. I don't have to follow any tradition. I don't have any prejudices. I just do what I think needs to be done. I'm not trying to be anyone else. I'm just trying to be me.'' Source:http://www.mcall.com |
| 14 Feb 07 | Alcohol Consumption Decreased in 2005 Alcohol consumption in Korea decreased for the first time in seven years in 2005, with the National Tax Service crediting the decrease to the “well-being” fad. NTS analysis based on alcohol tax reported by liquor companies showed that total production in 2005 was 3.02 million kiloliters, a 2.7 percent decrease from 2004 (3.1 million kiloliters). Output had been consistently increasing since 1998. By variety, an adult drank 78.5 bottles of beer in 2005, a decrease of 4.3 bottles from the previous year. Beer consumption per year in Korea fell below 80 bottles for the first time since 2000. Soju consumption per year also decreased, by 0.1 bottles to 71.3 bottles. But whisky bucked the trend, increasing by 0.03 bottles from the past year to 0.58 bottles. Source: http://english.chosun.com |
| 12 Feb 07 | Irish Whiskey Ever Popular By Lew Bryson ASN Vol. 16 No. 1 (Feb -Mar 2007) St. Patrick’s Day is upon us again, and most of us will be having our one dish of corned beef and cabbage for the year, washed down with a whole lot of Guinness, some Bailey’s for the girlies, and a manly shot or two of Jameson - or Bushmills, if you’re a Prot. And that will be it for Irish whiskey for the rest of the year for you. Which would be a shame, for Irish whiskey has undergone tremendous change in the past 10 years. There are more Irish whiskeys than there were in 1996, and some of them are quite amazing animals. Pull up a barstool and let me tell you a tale. First, forget all that “Jameson is for Catholics, Bushmills is for Protestants” stuff. Bushmills is in Northern Ireland (which is 40 percent Catholic, after all), but up until last year both brands were owned by the same company, Pernod-Ricard. They’ve since sold Bushmills to Diageo (the folks who make Guinness, largest drinks company on the planet, maybe you’ve heard of them). Anyway, there are only three distilleries left in Ireland any more: Bushmills, Midleton (where they make Jameson and Powers), and the Cooley distillery, home to The Tyrconnell, Kilbeggan, and Connemara. Other whiskeys, like Tullamore Dew and Michael Collins, are made at one of these distilleries, but they’re not talking; a familiar story to craft brew drinkers. Next, if you’ve always been a “toss down the shot and don’t make a face” Irish whiskey drinker, relax. Not only do you have some upscale choices that are smooth and sophisticated, even the base brands of Bushmills and Jameson are pretty darned smooth whiskeys these days. Distillers have learned a lot about barrel management and aging, and it shows in the whiskey. Slow down, try sipping. You might be pleasantly surprised at just how good it is. You can also be a bit daring and put a trinity of Irish booze together. The Irish Car Bomb is the most popular Irish whiskey drink at McGillin’s Olde Ale House in Philly. “For the Irish Car Bomb, we pour Kilbeggan,” says manager Christopher Mullins. “Draw a short pint of Irish stout, then you pour a shot that’s half Irish cream liquor, half Irish whiskey. The customer drops it in the stout and drinks the mix.” What about those upscale choices? How about Black Bush, Bushmills that’s been aged in sherry casks and picks up that rich, broad character? You can also go with Jameson 12 Year Old, my flask whiskey this past month: smooth, sweet, and malty. Or break the bank — and it’s worth it — with the sophisticated Midleton Very Rare. If you heard the older folks in your family talk about Tullamore Dew, well, it’s back. Re-born and wildly popular, The Dew is selling well, along with a more rounded, sophisticated 12 Year Old stablemate. If single malts are more your speed, Irish has that, too: Connemara, Michael Collins, Knappogue Castle, The Tyrconnell, and a variety of Bushmills are available in single malt versions. In fact, the main distinguishing characteristic about Irish whiskey is that it’s all about the malt. Only Connemara is peated like Scotch, and you won’t find the deep oak character of bourbon. What you’ll find instead is a rich malt character that finds its fullest expression in my favorite Irish whiskey, Redbreast, which is pure pot still whiskey. Paradoxically, while they are beautiful examples of malt flavor, the Irish whiskey made at Midleton, like Redbreast, is distilled from both malted and unmalted barley. This mashbill makes Irish whiskey what it is...along with the pot stills, the temperate, damp aging climate, and skillful blending. So don’t just sink a ton of Guinness and knock back a shot this year. Wear your green, eat your cabbage, and kiss the leprechaun…but when you order up your whiskey, try something new, and take your time, and enjoy it. Slainte! Source: http://www.alestreetnews.com/ |
| 11 Feb 07 | Distillery site clears hurdle By ANDREA DEUCHRASS Queenstown Lakes District Council says it will not appeal a decision to allow a $5 million boutique whisky distillery near the Victoria Landfill. North Island businessman Warren Preston lodged a resource consent application late last year for a distillery on a 24ha site at the eastern end of Gibbston Valley, near Victoria Flats. The development, which has been approved by independent commissioners John Matthews and Michael Parker, would include a distillery to produce single-malt whisky, accommodation for a manager and professional overseas distiller, a bar and restaurant, golf-driving fairway, a natural amphitheatre for outdoor concerts and walkways to viewpoints of the Kawarau River. Council waste manager Dr Linda Wright said the council was satisfied with a covenant protecting it from any complaints about the operation of the landfill, and would apply to any future owner of the site. Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/southlandtimes/ |
| 10 Feb 07 | Purists look away... this is the shape of malt whisky in 2007 FERGUS SHEPPARD MEDIA CORRESPONDENT (fsheppard@scotsman.com) IT IS one of the world's most famous single malt whiskies. But the Macallan is now being trialled as a liqueur in the United States - complete with ingredients such as maple and pecan - in a bid to appeal to upmarket women drinkers. The new drink, called Amber, is being test marketed across Washington, Denver and Seattle after small-scale trials in Boston. It is the first time Macallan has built a liqueur around its malt, which has achieved global renown since its launch 183 years ago. However, the trial has provoked controversy among some purists. One expert last night said it was "madness" to tamper with a flagship like Macallan. The Scotsman understands the Macallan single malt in the drink is not a ten or 12-year-old vintage. Instead, it is somewhere between three years old - the minimum required to be classified under UK law - and eight years. The drink is being targeted at "upscale" drinkers, particularly affluent women, who might have traditionally been resistant to whisky. The curved glass of the bottle is suggestive of perfume packaging. Amber will be distributed in the US by Remy Cointreau and is on sale at trial outlets at around £20 for a 750cl bottle. Sample tastings appear to have proved favourable. One US-based website, The Scotch Blog, gave its hearty endorsement. Editor Kevin Erskine told The Scotsman: "Amber smells like the best maple syrup you've ever had. You have to really get your nose in to detect the Macallan. "It's not for purists, it's an entry-level drug which gets people acquainted with the taste of whisky." The trial does not necessarily mean Macallan will go on to market the drink. If it fails to register with its target audience, it may be shelved. One industry insider said the low-key testing was not without its risks for the company. "This is part of the Macallan brand, regarded as the finest malt in the world," he said. "It is like Bentley introducing a two-seater sports car when they've always been in a different market." Michael Jackson, a whisky writer, said it was a mistake to tamper with Macallan. "It is madness to do this. It is like putting go-faster stripes down the side of a Rolls-Royce. "If you are going to do something like this, Macallan is not the whisky to use. It sounds like a bit of an alcopop," he said. Joe Howell, manager of Boston-based Federal Wines and Spirits, said the drink had "flown out of the store". Mr Howell said as well as the strong maple taste, the liqueur had a distinct "nuttiness" to it. "A chef could do wonderful things with it," he said. "You could drizzle some in a pan with scallops and bacon." Macallan is owned by the Edrington Group, which also owns brands including the Famous Grouse and Highland Park. Ken Grier, director of malts at the Edrington Group, said: "This reinforces our position as the leading innovator in the Scotch whisky market." CULT ASPIRATION IN A BOTTLE DEMAND for upmarket drinks in the United States has been boosted by the rap world in recent years. Sean "P. Diddy" Combs and Snoop Dogg have both championed Cognac. Busta Rhymes wrote a song called Pass the Courvoisier. Expensive Cristal champagne has also been elevated to cult status through rap music. Whisky and its Irish counterpart continue to enjoy general luxury status. Rob Allanson, editor of Whisky magazine, said: "Upmarket liqueurs and premium Scotch have a strong appeal in America. "There is a lifestyle element to it and the middle and upper classes aspire to these kind of premium products." Source: http://news.scotsman.com |
| 07 Feb 07 | Whisky experts, competitions hail Forty Creek Barrel Select Ontario winemaker John Hall shifts gears to enhance Canada's 'whisky heritage' Nick Lees The Edmonton Journal John Hall made wine for 20 years before telling his wife in 1992 he was going to make whisky. "You know I love whisky," she said enthusiastically. "When will it be ready?" "In about 10 years time," said Hall. "Darn," was her only comment. But a decade went quickly and Hall told of his fabulous success on the weekend at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge's (JPL) EPICurian weekend. English whisky expert and writer Michael Jackson (he doesn't sing!) rates Hall's Forty Creek Barrel Select as Canada's best whisky, ahead of Crown Royal Special Reserve. "He flew over from London and wanted to know my technique," says Hall. The whisky has so far picked up 25 top awards, including a double gold medal (all the judges thought it the best) at the San Francisco World Spirits competition. The Chicago-based Beverage Testing Institute named it one of North America's Top 5 whiskies and at the International Spirits Challenge in London it was given the highest award. "Several reasons prompted me to make whisky," says Hall. "One was I wanted to satisfy my own creative thirst and another was that while scotch whisky makers were having great success and bourbon whisky makers were beginning to develop and promote small-batch bourbon, no one in Canada was enhancing our whisky heritage. "In fact, it was the reverse in Canada. Whisky makers were selling out. "Back in the mid-1800s, there were more than 200 whisky makers in Canada. Today, I am the only independent whisky maker in Ontario." Unlike wine, which is often ready in two years, he knew he required patience. And instinctively he knew he would need great grains, the best stills and superior barrels. Hall began by throwing away the mash bill concept and distilled each grain separately. He coaxed fruitiness and spiciness from rye, nuttiness from barley and heartiness from corn. He dismissed cost-effective column stills that lose some flavour and went with copper pot stills to capture it. As a winemaker, he knew the effect toasting has on barrels. He chose the level of toasting he thought best for his rye, barley and maize barrels. The spirit was blended and aged a further six months. "In 1992, I heard scotch whisky makers were using sherry casks to round off their whiskies," says Hall. "I didn't have sherry casks and couldn't afford to go to Spain and buy them. But as a winemaker I knew how to make sherry. So I made it in new American oak white barrels, sold the sherry and used the barrels to make my whisky." He added: "I now have vintage ports aging in American white oak and hope to make a port-finished whisky." Tasting every barrel, Hall said he has discovered incredible standouts. He has set some aside, rebarrelled others and put some into stainless steel to preserve the accumulated taste qualities. "They will be remarkable whiskies," he said. "But right now they are just a glimmer in my eye." Forty Creek Barrel Select ($29) has honey, vanilla and apricot fused with toasty oak on the nose, with hints of black walnut and spice. It has a rich, bold palate with a smooth, long finish. Leave in the glass a few moments to open and it has notes of nuts, chocolate, blood orange and spice. Source: Edmonton Journal |
| 06 Feb 07 | Bourbon Country by Catherine Whalen The bright red fire truck—a 1926 Bickle pumper—is parked on the lawn, and a lanky man in a white barman's coat is mixing drinks alongside it. He hands mint juleps, whiskey sours, and manhattans to a thirsty crowd of Yankee journalists who have come down to Kentucky, curious about the place where bourbon was born. Bill Samuels Jr., president of Maker's Mark (whose bourbon launched the current tide of premium American whiskeys), waves to the journalists from across the yard, with a "Y'all come on now" that signals the start of his distillery tour. Samuels, the unofficial spokesperson for the industry, knows that bourbon—long associated with rowdy rednecks and hard-drinking rebels—is in need of a little public relations if it's going to appeal to the rest of the world. But in truth, while bourbon has its roots in moonshine and stock-car racing, it also shares a history with Louisville's thoroughbred society. It is as comfortable in a heavy crystal tumbler at Churchill Downs as it is in a flask stuffed in some ex-con's back pocket. Refinement and recklessness all in one bottle, bourbon deceives with the sweetest aroma, then packs one hell of a punch. It is a favorite drink of Julia Child and Marcella Hazan, but of Hank Williams Jr., too. Bourbon is unquestionably democratic—the only true American spirit. By law, bourbon must be a product of the United States, made from at least 51 percent corn (mixed with malted barley and rye or wheat) and aged a minimum of two years (though most are aged at least four) in charred new oak barrels. No flavorings, colorings, or neutral grain spirits may be added. And most of it (fully 98 percent)—the best of it—comes from Kentucky, the only state that may be named on the label. (Jack Daniels, though often thought of as a bourbon, is actually a Tennessee whiskey, made slightly differently: The whiskey is filtered through sugar maple charcoal before it is aged.) The capital of the bourbon industry is Bardstown, home to the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History, the Talbott Tavern (the oldest operating stagecoach stop in America), and Distiller's Row (a street filled with Georgian mansions that once belonged to America's biggest bourbon producers). Within the city limits are two of the 10 distilleries producing Kentucky bourbon today: Heaven Hill and Barton. Venture just a few miles outside of Bardstown, and you'll find two more: Maker's Mark and Jim Beam. The other six—United Distillers, Early Times, Ancient Age, Wild Turkey, Four Roses, and Labrot & Graham—are located within a 50-mile radius. Like Bardstown itself, the people who live there are steeped in bourbon. The big picture may have changed—most distilleries are owned by large corporations—but the same old families are still in charge of the whiskey. Bill Samuels of Maker's Mark grew up on Distiller's Row. "My godfather," he elaborates, "was Jim Beam." Samuels took over operations at Maker's Mark from his father in 1975, but he can trace his bourbon roots back six generations—to Robert Samuels, who left Pennsylvania in 1780 and set up stills in Kentucky. Around the same time, Jacob Beam, Jim's grandfather, moved south, too. Samuels and Beam are but two of the hundreds of farmer-distillers who moved to Kentucky in the late 18th century. Many were enticed by land, given away in lotteries to encourage settlement of the frontier. Others were on the run. In 1791, in an attempt to relieve debts incurred during the Revolutionary War, George Washington levied the first American tax on spirits—and Pennsylvania's Scottish-Irish and German farmers, who had made whiskey from rye for decades, refused to pay. Riots ensued, leading to the first-ever dispatch of federal troops to curb a domestic disturbance. This so-called Whiskey Rebellion also sent many of the tax protesters packing, headed south on the Ohio River. When they landed in Kentucky County, they found pristine, iron-free water flowing over limestone creek beds, and plenty of corn—which they quickly realized made good whiskey. By 1820, Kentucky was exporting 2,000 barrels a year of corn spirits, mostly loaded onto flatboats where the Ohio and Kentucky Rivers meet, in what was then Bourbon County. Eventually, customers started asking for the whiskey by name. But bourbon wasn't bourbon—yet. The first charred oak barrel was probably an 1820s accident, according to historians Gary and Mardee Haidin Regan in The Book of Bourbon (Chapters, 1995)—burned either by a distiller recycling a barrel or by a cooper toasting staves who turned his back for a minute too long. Today, charred barrels impart the caramelized sugars that sweeten, darken, mellow, and, for that matter, all but define bourbon. Another development crucial to bourbon's identity was the sour mash process, invented by Dr. James Crow. A Scottish chemist and master distiller, Crow discovered that, by adding a portion of fermented leftovers to the next batch of mash and yeast (essentially the same principle used to make sourdough bread), he could more consistently control the characteristics of whiskey. Because Crow also aged his whiskey in charred oak barrels, the Regans credit him with inventing bourbon as we know it, probably by 1845. His brands, Old Crow and Old Pepper, were known up and down the Mississippi and favored by the likes of Henry Clay and Ulysses S. Grant. Bourbon continued to thrive until Prohibition, when all but six U.S. whiskey distilleries (which were licensed for medicinal purposes) were shut down. After repeal, President Roosevelt knocked the distilleries down again—this time harnessing their energy, and alcohol, exclusively for wartime industry. Then blended whiskeys and rum (inexpensive and available) moved in. Not until the hangover 1980s, when people began to drink less and spend more, did things begin to look up for bourbon. "Not so long ago," Samuels admits, "bourbon had a terrible reputation." Then single-malt scotch gained popularity, paving the way for a whiskey renaissance. Suddenly, rich, brown bourbon began garnering attention north of the Mason-Dixon. In 1994, Brown-Forman bought Labrot & Graham, an 1838 distillery in Versailles, Kentucky, and spent about $10 million restoring it. Lincoln Henderson, the company's master distiller, went to Scotland to study pot still distillation, and later helped design the three huge stills parked like spaceships in the oldest room at L&G. The distillery is a showcase for Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select, the only bourbon currently made in pot stills (a method abandoned in favor of more economical continuous stills after the Civil War). Woodford Reserve—like the other specialty bottlings—has helped to elevate bourbon's image. United Distillers offers its own premium Heritage Collection bourbons, and Jim Beam is pushing its Small Batch and Masters' Collections. Admittedly, such marketing is a touch gimmicky—as is inviting crews of New York reporters down to peer over the fence. After all, who really wants to see a closely held tradition turn trendy? The distillers, however, recognize an advantage. As Henderson puts it, "The businessmen fight over market share; we're free to work together." The result of their efforts? The rest of the country, if not the world, may finally realize what the South has always known: that bourbon is a scoundrel's drink—and a gentleman's. Source: http://www.saveur.com/ |
| 06 Feb 07 | Whisky company Whyte & Mackay is thought to have appointed John Vincent as its new international marketing director. Vincent, formally strategy director at the distillers, is believed to have been installed following the departure of two senior marketing executives (...). Source: www.mad.co.uk |
| 06 Feb 07 | UB Group to decide whether to buy Scottish whisky maker Whyte & Mackay Feb. 6, 2007 India's UB Group will decide soon whether to acquire Scottish whisky maker Whyte & Mackay Ltd. to boost its global and domestic sales, the Company Chairman said on Tuesday. ``Negotiations can''t continue indefinitely. In the next 4-6 weeks, we will decide,'''' UB Chairman Vijay Mallya told reporters in Mumbai, India's financial and entertainment capital. The UB Group is the world's third largest producer of spirits after Pernod Ricard of France and Diageo of Britain and hopes to become bigger. The group dominates India's liquor market. In November, Mallya said he had been holding negotiations with Whyte & Mackay and values it at about 40 billion rupees (US$890 million; euro695 million). ``I will not overpay. I don''t overpay for any acquisition,'''' Mallya said on Tuesday. Source: http://www.indiadaily.com/ |
| 04 Feb 07 | Two top directors quit Whyte & Mackay as Indian takeover talks drag on WILLIAM LYONS CONFUSION surrounded the protracted takeover bid for whisky firm Whyte & Mackay last night as it emerged that two senior directors have left the company amid speculation in India that Vijay Mallya could walk away from the deal. Richard Hayes, international marketing director, and Michelle Audette, international brand director, are understood to have parted with the company. Sources close to the Glasgow-based firm - whose brands include Whyte & Mackay blended Scotch, Dalmore single malt whisky and Vladivar vodka - say that following their exit, strategy director John Vincent has taken on an elevated role. It is not clear whether their departure is linked to the ongoing takeover saga, but sources say that since November the firm has substantially scaled back its marketing activity. One source said: "The staff have been told to expect a new management team but they do not know whether their services will be required or not." Speculation that a deal between Whyte & Mackay and United Spirits, the distilling arm of Mallya's UB group, would be wrapped up by the end of January appears to be wide of the mark, as directors of UB insist they are still prepared to walk away. Last Thursday representatives of Indian drinks tycoon Mallya, whose company already has a strategic alliance with Edinburgh-based Scottish & Newcastle, met senior management of Whyte & Mackay. But it is believed that the deal is being held up by disagreements over the value of the firm. Whyte & Mackay chief executive Vivian Imerman has told Scotland on Sunday that he values the company at £600m, including up to £400m of stock, the price that Mallya wants to pay for the whole company. Earlier in the week United Spirits' chief financial officer, PJ Murali, said: "There is only so far we can go. We have ascribed a particular value to the asset but we are not interested in getting Whyte & Mackay at any cost. "We are talking about alternatives and keeping our options open. We feel Whyte & Mackay is best suited, but if it doesn't work out, life must go on." Murali pointed to UB's aborted bid to buy champagne house Taittinger last year as an example of how the company was not prepared to pay over the odds. He said: "On the Taittinger deal, it went beyond a point where we didn't want to go and we walked away. We are interested at looking at the value to our shareholders." Sources say that if Mallya cannot get hold of all the company for the price he wants, he would consider a distribution and licensing deal with the Glasgow-based company which would allow him to tap into Whyte & Mackay's large reserve of stock. Aged malt whisky has exploded in popularity in India among the burgeoning middle classes. Other options being considered by Mallya include a possible franchise of some of the brands. Source: http://news.scotsman.com |
| 31 Jan 07 | End in sight for Scotch whisky industry's 'duty war' with India MARTIN FLANAGAN THE boss of Chivas Brothers, one of Scotland's leading whisky companies, yesterday said he "hoped and believed" the long-running row with India about discriminatory import duties on the spirit was close to being defused. The comments from Christian Porta, Chivas's chief executive, came as the Scotch Whisky Association confirmed that, if India did not make the relevant spirit duty changes in its federal budget on 28 February, the European Union would refer the matter to the World Trade Organisation's dispute settlement panel. Porta, whose company is owned by Pernod Ricard of France, which took over Allied Domecq two years ago, said: "This [dispute] has been going on for a very long time. "But I hope and believe it is near resolution. We have a very strong case and there has been good progress in this action started by the European Union at the WTO. "We would hope there would be an amicable resolution before it goes back to the WTO because we clearly believe that the Indian duty system is against the importation of spirits and Scotch whisky. "That has to come to an end, and we are now optimistic about it coming to an end." Chivas, which employs 1,600 of its 1,700 UK workforce in Scotland, has 12 malt distilleries and one grain distillery north of the Border, as well as three bottling plants. Its main brands are the malt Glenlivet, whose 15-year-old product saw volumes jump 61 per cent in its first trading half, and Ballantine's, whose 21 year old product volumes rose 37 per cent. Porta said that India had the potential to be as important a whisky market as the other fast-growing so-called BRIC economies - embracing Brazil, Russia, India and China. Chivas saw volume growth in the BRIC economies of 20 per cent last year compared with less than 5 per cent five years ago. "The Indian consumers are getting wealthier and the growing middle class there has an aspiration to drink premium western spirits. "But taxes can represent 500 per cent of the imported value, and that makes the product very expensive," Porta added. One Chivas source said: "India is the loose brick in BRIC], so to speak. It would be a great victory to get." Source:http://news.scotsman.com/ |
| 31 Jan 07 | The official launch of the new Ardbeg expression, the "Almost There" will be held at the Whisky Live of Verviers in Belgium. |
| 30 Jan 07 | Brussels whisky vote toasted by distillers An influential committee of MEPs today voted to support proposals that would ensure Scotch Whisky receives stronger legal protection at EU level. The result has been welcomed by The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) which has been campaigning for improvements to EU law defining and protecting spirit drinks. Today’s vote in Brussels approved changes to existing EU law that will better protect traditional practice within the whisky industry and improve the international protection of 'Scotch Whisky' as a geographical indication. Such protection is crucial to Scotch Whisky’s success allowing the industry to tackle unfair and misleading practices overseas. The proposals will be considered by the full European Parliament in March, with the aim that the EU institutions reach agreement on the legislation’s introduction later in 2007. Gavin Hewitt, the SWA Chief Executive, welcomed the vote: “Today’s vote by MEPs is an important step forward as the industry seeks to ensure the highest level of legal protection for Scotch Whisky from unfair practices. These proposals to update EU law on the definition and protection of spirit drinks are of major importance to Scottish distillers. We will be working hard in the coming weeks - with Ministers, officials and MEPs - to secure agreement in Brussels for their early introduction.”http://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk |
| 28 Jan 07 | Slainte! Scotch whisky cheered by Indian plans to slash import tax WILLIAM LYONS THE Scotch whisky industry is poised for a surge in sales to India following indications that the country will reduce its punitive import duties. Industry sources expect the Indian government to announce a cut in next month's budget to comply with World Trade Organisation rules. India is under international pressure to reform the system which subjects all imported spirits to an additional duty of between 25% and 550%. Recently both the US and Australia have added their weight to the WTO consultations. Publicly, the industry is still adopting a wait-and-see approach but privately many are now preparing for reductions in February's budget with a view towards complete access by 2012. One industry executive who has just returned from a visit to India said: "The signs are very good. The Indian government realise that with the recent economic growth they need to adhere to the WTO regulations. I think we will see the first evidence of a reduction in the tariffs next month and I expect a totally level playing field within five years." In recent weeks the Scotch Whisky Association has been making pre-Budget representations to the Indian government and both the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, and the Trade Secretary, Alistair Darling, have raised the issue during their recent visits to India. The pressure will be upped at this weekend's World Economic Forum in Davos when Peter Mandelson, the European Commissioner for Trade, will lock horns with India's commerce minister Kamal Nath. Many analysts predict it will be a lively meeting. Effectively India is in the last chance saloon as the EU has made it clear that if no steps are taken to reform the discriminatory regime the matter will be referred to a WTO panel for decision. India is keen to protect its domestic business, and fears that Scotch's cachet as a drink for the rapidly expanding middle class will quickly erode its market share. Analysts believe domestic interests are using traditional Indian protectionist instincts for "agricultural" or grain-based products to keep Scotch out. John Wakely, a former managing director of investment bank Lehman Brothers, who has been analysing the drinks market for more than 20 years and is now a strategic consultant, suggested that the potential takeover of Whyte & Mackay by Vijay Mallya's UB Group could force the government's hand. The two companies are still negotiating over a possible takeover. The major stumbling block appears to be Whyte and Mackay's £500m price tag. Wakely said: "If Mallya gets Whyte & Mackay he has an obvious incentive to promote lower excise taxes so that he can utilise his distribution channels against the threat of foreign owned vodka companies establishing their own channels." Despite all the hype surrounding potentially enormous emerging markets in South America and the Far East, they still pale into insignificance compared with that of India. And a snapshot of emerging markets across the world shows that, even with India's exorbitant tariff barriers, the country still buys more Scotch whisky than either Russia, China, Poland or Turkey. The latest export figures from the SWA show that in 2004 only 700,000 cases were shipped to China, 600,000 to Russia and Turkey and just 200,000 to Poland. This is compared with one million cases sent to India. Source:http://news.scotsman.com |
| 27 Jan 07 | Whiskey strike looms By ADAM CLAYTON, STAFF REPORTER A potential strike at the Gimli distillery that produces Crown Royal could dry up production of the popular premium whiskey. Workers at the facility voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to take strike action if necessary to back up contract demands. The Gimli distillery, owned by international conglomerate Diageo, is the sole producer of Crown Royal. Diageo is the holding company for numerous other beer and liquor brands, including Guinness, Smirnoff, J&B, Gordon's and Johnnie Walker. Calvin Firman, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union local that represents 53 workers at the plant, said all but one of the 51 ballots cast were in favour of going on strike Feb. 1 if the company doesn't improve the terms of its last offer. "Our membership has lost complete trust in this company," he said. Talks to avoid a strike are set to resume on Monday. Source:http://cnews.canoe.ca |
| 26 Jan 07 | Pernod raises sights on full-year figures PERNOD Ricard, the second-biggest Scotch whisky producer, has lifted its full-year sales target after unveiling bumper second-quarter trading. Shares in the company touched record highs after it said underlying sales between October and December rose to around 2.05 billion (£1.35bn), exceeding the most optimistic of market forecasts. The year-on-year rise was put at 12.4 per cent, after stripping out changes in the group structure and exchange rate movements. The maker of drinks such as Chivas Regal whisky and Mumm champagne said it now expected full-year revenues to grow by more than 6 per cent compared with a previous range of 4 to 6 per cent. The upbeat outlook follows last year's acquisition of UK drinks rival Allied Domecq - a deal that handed the French firm control of Beefeater gin, Tia Maria and Ballantine's whisky, among other brands. Chairman Patrick Ricard said: "Our excellent 2006-7 first-half net sales testify to the strength of our global network and to the quality of our portfolio." Diageo, the world's biggest spirits group, expects its underlying sales to rise 6 per cent in the year to June after beating Pernod's growth the previous year. Pernod said growth was led by its Americas region and new markets such as Asia and Russia. The firm was also helped by its policy of selling more expensive cognacs, whiskies and wines. Reflecting this, sales volumes of Pernod's 15 key brands, including Martell cognac, Havana Club rum and Beefeater gin, rose 9 per cent in the half-year to the end of December, but in value terms grew 14 per cent. Whisky brands Glenlivet and Ballantine's were among the top performers. Pernod pointed to steady progress in Europe but said the markets in the UK and Italy "remained difficult". During 2006, Glenlivet achieved its sales target of 500,000 cases, which was set three years ago when it was selling 375,000 cases. The whisky, distilled in Speyside and bottled at Newbridge near Edinburgh, is only the second single malt to reach this milestone, equivalent to 6 million bottles sold a year. Christian Porta, the chief executive and chairman of the Chivas Brothers business, said: "Early on, we identified a strong opportunity for The Glenlivet in terms of global presence and growth. "This is a historic day for a historic brand and we are absolutely overjoyed that we have reached our ambitious target." Pernod also said it was testing direct sales of its premium wines and spirits brands through a new website in France and the idea could be extended. Source: http://news.scotsman.com |
| 25 Jan 07 | Whisky guide toasts finer taste of supermarket own-brand malts SUPERMARKET single malts have beaten top-brand distilleries in a taste test by one of the world's leading whisky guides. Tesco's Speyside 12-year-old was given a higher rating than Glenlivet's equivalent, while the store's Islay single malt beat a similar bottle of Bowmore, according to the 2007 Whisky Bible, edited by Jim Murray. The Tesco tipples also scored better than the malts from its rival, Waitrose. Experts said the findings proved choosing the best was a matter of personal taste rather than label-driven snobbery. In the guide book, Tesco's Islay malt is described as "sumptuous and mouth-coating", and Mr Murray notes that it would have been given an even higher score if the colour had been more natural. Bowmore's 12-year-old, which costs up to £10 more than the Tesco bottle but scored four fewer marks out of 100, was said to "reveal greater peaty youth than of old". The Waitrose alternative was described as "head-thumping, unforgiving peat with a lovely salty depth". Simon Dunn, whisky buyer for Tesco, said: "This will have many of the big distilleries recoiling in horror as there is a lot of snobbery in the industry. "Although this will undoubtedly prove a shock to the drinks industry, it'll come as no surprise to our customers, who have known about the quality of our own-label single malts since we launched them last April." But not all supermarket whiskies topped the charts. Asda's Speyside was described as "a vast improvement on previous years though the aroma hints at some casks whose next stop are flower pots". David Fletcher, of the Scottish Malt Whisky Society, which runs a bar and restaurant on Edinburgh's Queen Street, said: "Tasting whisky is subjective. Experts are often surprised by what they find during tasting and obviously the same will be true of novices." The Whisky Bible, published annually, is seen by the drinks industry as the definitive word on whisky. It rates more than 3,600 of the world's leading and lesser-known whiskies. Source: http://news.scotsman.com |
| 24 Jan 07 | N.S. distiller's trademark win won't end fight with Scotch Whisky Association JAMES KELLER Published Wednesday January 24th, 2007 HALIFAX (CP) - Canada's only single-malt whisky maker has won the right to keep using the name of its signature spirit, but the victory seems unlikely to end a dispute with the Scotch Whisky Association of Scotland. At issue is the Glen Breton Rare brand name used by Glenora Distillers International Ltd., which operates in the Cape Breton community of Glenville. The Scotch Whisky Association, which promotes and protects the use of the term scotch whisky around the world, claims the use of the word Glen leads consumers to believe the whisky was distilled and matured in Scotland. But the Trade-Marks Opposition Board in Ottawa, which held hearings in December, rejected that argument in a decision released earlier this month. While a number of scotch whisky makers use Glen as a brand prefix, the board concluded there is no evidence to suggest Canadian consumers primarily associate the word with whisky produced in Scotland. The Scotch Whisky Association says it will appeal the decision, but Glenora president Lauchie MacLean said the board's findings are clear. "We're still very optimistic that it will be upheld on appeal," MacLean said in an interview. "We're disappointed that they're taking that stance. We were hoping that we would be able to work co-operatively in the future." MacLean said the name isn't designed to mislead whisky drinkers, but rather it is connected to geography: the Cape Breton distillery uses water from nearby Glenora Falls. Association spokesman David Williamson declined an interview, but in a terse e-mail statement said the decision "goes against well-established international case law." Glenora has been selling its Glen Breton Rare whisky since 2000. It applied for a trademark the same year, and the Scotch Whisky Association filed its complaint with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, which oversees the trademark board, in 2003. Glen Breton Rare is sold across Canada and in several other countries. It was named one of the world's top 50 spirits last month by Wine Enthusiast Magazine Source: http://www.canadaeast.com/ |
| 24 Jan 07 | ONLINE DRINKS RETAILER DRINKON & MONKEY SHOULDER WHISKY TEAM UP WITH EXCLUSIVE FREE COCKTAILS! Monkey Shoulder Triple Malt Scotch Whisky has teamed up with the UK’s leading online drinks retailer DrinkOn.com to offer free Monkey Shoulder Cocktails in the UK’s top style bars. Monkey Shoulder, the world’s first triple malt scotch whisky (www.monkeyshoulder.com) has joined forces with DrinkOn.com, on an exclusive cross-promotional idea set to promote whisky-based cocktails and some of the country’s top style bars. Each purchase of Monkey Shoulder at Drinkon grants the customer a voucher for two Monkey Shoulder cocktails at bars including the London-based Eclipse group, MyBar, Green & Red Bar, Socio Rehab in Manchester and new Bramble in Edinburgh. There are 15 bars taking part across the UK. Monkey Shoulder is a triple malt scotch whisky that has been crafted in small batches from single malts from 3 Speyside distilleries. Developed to appeal to a younger, more adventurous clientele, this whisky is ideal for cocktails such as the ‘Brass Monkey’ or the ‘Monkey Magic’ - detailed on the official Monkey Shoulder website. Launched in 2005, Monkey Shoulder has caused a stir in the whisky industry and encouraged a new generation to view whisky in a different light. Says Rob Curteis of Monkey Shoulder: “What a great opportunity to combine an offer through one of our key online and retail partners, DrinkOn, with a select bunch of top bars. It means that not only do our customers get a great deal, they can take inspiration from the creativity of a top bartender on the different ways in which Monkey Shoulder mixes so well”. Comments Lucy Mitchell, Drinkon Marketing Director: “Monkey Shoulder is one of our best-selling whiskies, and we are delighted to work with the brand on such a genuinely great offer.” About Drinkon: Drinkon.com is the St Andrews-based leading UK online drinks specialist. The company retails an extensive range of premium spirits, liqueurs, champagne, wine and malt whisky to consumers all over the UK. Established in 2000, Drinkon is family-owned and trades exclusively online. Source: http://www.clickpress.com/ |
| 22 Jan 07 | A rare blend JIM GILCHRIST MISAKO Udo's infatuation with Scotch whisky was sparked by a teenage encounter with a White Horse - of the 40 per cent ABV variety - in her native Nagasaki. A few years later, when she arrived in Scotland for the first time, she found to her incredulous disappointment that the pub back home stocked a better range of whiskies than her newly adopted howff in Edinburgh. Twenty years on, this effervescent Japanese tour guide, naturalised Scot and evangelical whisky aficionado is doing her bit for what she regards as our appallingly under-appreciated native spirit. Her book, The Scottish Whisky Distilleries, is a vastly compendious guide to our existing distilleries - not to mention evoking the ghosts of those which sadly are no more. When we meet in (naturally) the Leith rooms of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, she's delighted to find me nursing a single malt. So many Scots, she argues, simply don't appreciate what she regards as a precious national heritage. "It's a real shame," she says. "I work as a tour guide, and know that so many visitors love whisky - it's why they come here - yet the majority of Scots don't know anything about it. I believe it is a keystone: culture, history and your second-largest export product. "If you go to France, everyone can tell you about their local wine, and they're proud of it; the same in Japan if you go to a sake-producing area, even if they were not sake drinkers, the locals could tell you which type to buy. But so many Scots just can't tell visitors that kind of thing, and I find it amazing." She laments Scotland's 600 or so "lost" distilleries - those no longer producing the amber nectar, of which there are fewer than 100 still operating. Udo lambasts our governments for regarding whisky as a revenue-raiser rather than as a national asset. "If Gordon Brown becomes prime minister, I'd want to tell him that he has to think of taxation and the smaller, independent distillery people, because now it's just no' fair," she says with some feeling, and in heavily Scots-accented English. Now, 17 years of pursuing her own enthusiasm for uisque beatha and whetting the interest of others have culminated in The Scottish Whisky Distilleries, an exhaustive guide to more than 700 distilleries, whether working or defunct, meticulously listing each one's history, technical specifications, bottlings and visiting hours - plus trivia, such as the name of the distillery cat. Thus the reader, transfixed in a golden dwam, can salivate over the 170-plus existing bottlings of The Macallan, or lament the 34 "lost" distilleries of Campbeltown, once the "whisky capital of Scotland". You learn that Inchgower boasts six Oregon pine washbacks, at 40,000 litres apiece; that the foreshots average run time at Glen Garioch is ten minutes; that in 1847 an early owner of Islay's famously peaty Laphroaig distillery was scalded to death in a vat of boiled-up lees... or that the same establishment eschews the traditional cat as a distillery "mouser" in favour of a family of stoats. Udo's 610-page tome has attracted praise from whisky buffs - one whisky retailer has described it as "frighteningly comprehensive" - but many are astonished to find that, not only has it been written by someone who is Japanese, but also a woman. "A lot of people started to think that the book had been written by a middle-aged Scots guy who used to work in the whisky industry, pretending to be a Japanese woman," she laughs. "Whisky is still seen as a man's world, yet a lot of women [now] drink single malts, and they have good noses... like my friend Martine Nouet, the French whisky writer and critic." An infectiously enthusiastic character, Udo, now 48, grew up in Nagasaki, and recalls a high-school escapade when, at 18, she and some friends ventured into a pub. "The only things usually available were Japanese blended whisky - Suntory or whatever - but this pub had real Scotch whisky, White Horse, and I loved the look of it: no Japanese on the label, just English." Improbable as it may sound, the Japanese teenager found that the exotic spirit went down a treat (and, she insists, left no hangover). That was how a whisky named after the old coaching inn in Edinburgh's Canongate launched an 18-year-old in Nagasaki on a life journey which, a few years later, brought her to Scotland, equipped with boundless enthusiasm but very little English. "My parents didn't like the idea - a young girl wanting to go to Scotland to learn about whisky? "That was crazy. So I had to save up the money myself, and my granny helped me too. My parents would have preferred me to stay and marry some Japanese guy, but I wasn't interested in marriage." Still cheerfully unmarried, Udo recalls arriving in Edinburgh in 1988: "I didn't have a job, I couldn't speak any English, so I enrolled at Stevenson College for two years to learn, although I'd promised my parents I'd come back within a year. But I fell in love with Scotland and I didn't want to go back to Japan. I told my parents I wanted to do the guide's course at Edinburgh University. They said, 'Oh, some sort of qualification,' so that was fine. "So I just carried on here and eventually I changed my nationality - although my parents don't know that." She still visits Japan, but keeps busy here, spending a quarter of her year conducting tours, as well as acting as a consultant for Japanese businesses and others with interests in Scotland. There were, however, ulterior motives involved in her career choice: "I became a tour guide because I needed money, but then I realised I could visit distilleries with clients and get paid for it." As she started conducting tours round distilleries, she became increasingly aware of their histories, their flavours, the whole arcanary of distilling, from the shape of the pot still to the varieties of barley. The peat-reek was casting its spell. "I started to realise, 'Hang on, I should be making a note of all this.' I was having to carry so many reference books, I built up my own notes in a file instead; then distillery workers started asking if they could have a copy, then my clients from Japan wanted copies as well." The notes continued to multiply, the trips to the photocopier becoming longer and more frequent. Then, three years ago, when she complained about the reams of documentation building up on her desk, one distillery manager suggested that she, er, distil them into a book. First time round, she had to resort to self-publishing, as conventional publishers were wary of taking on such a cache of technical information. "But within two weeks, all 300 copies were gone. I just hadn't expected so much interest, so I reprinted another 1,000. I was having to go to the Post Office every day to send them, and realised I couldn't carry on distributing it myself." Having seen a newspaper reference to Black & White Publishing in Leith, she submitted the book to its managing director, Campbell Brown, who recalls the subsequent meeting: "Our first reaction was that certainly it was like nothing we'd ever seen before, and an incredible piece of work. But having spoken to Misako, we felt there was a market for the book." The fact that Brown himself is a malt whisky aficionado may have been a factor in Udo's favour. Whatever the reason, she was delighted last month to see the book properly published. The one thing the volume doesn't feature is tasting notes, an area she prefers to leave to the experts. Ask her to name her own favourite whisky, and she smilingly refuses to be drawn, not wanting to exhibit bias: "My work is simply to give the facts. You can judge for yourself." • The Scottish Whisky Distilleries (Black & White Publishing) is out now. Source: http://news.scotsman.com/ |
| 20 Jan 07 | Carolinas' 1ST Legal Distillery Since Prohibition: He took a... The Charlotte Observer January 20, 2007 Before he moved to North Carolina in the mid-'90s, Joseph Michalek's New York buddies kidded him about coming to the land of moonshine and Mayberry. Within months of arriving in Winston-Salem, he began to notice a glass jar quietly being passed around at bluegrass festivals and race tracks. 'I'd never seen nor tasted moonshine, but it was pretty obvious that's what it was,' said Michalek, 38. 'I was prepared for the worst, but I sipped it and it was delicious, much smoother than I expected. It had a hint of fruit in it; I'd never tasted anything quite like it.' What Michalek tasted was a moonshine 'hybrid,' which has grown in popularity in recent years at barbecues and ballgames throughout the Carolinas -- usually offered from a friend's back-pocket flask. The corn whiskey infused with local peaches, apples, cherries or strawberries is sweeter and smoother than the 180-proof, clear liquor with a bouquet of paint thinner. Old-timers call the fruit-infused liquor 'sissyshine.' 'You'd be surprised at who's drinking that stuff too,' said Arthur Black, a York County, S.C., peach farmer. 'It ain't farmers in overalls; it's yuppies in places like Charlotte.' Michalek saw a business opportunity. In 2005, he started Piedmont Distillers in Madison, north of Greensboro. It's the first legal distillery in the Carolinas since before Prohibition. Michalek produces Catdaddy: Carolina Moonshine, which is being sold in more than 200 N.C. ABC liquor stores and outlets in York County. Catdaddy is moonshiner slang for the 'best of the best.' He won't divulge his startup costs nor his sales, but it's now being sold in a half-dozen states. Last year Piedmont sponsored a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race car. Michalek works with four full-time employees. He produces Catdaddy in small batches -- 300 gallons, triple-distilled in a German copper pot still. A batch yields about 1,500 bottles, which are filled, corked and packaged by hand in Madison's former train station. A 750 milliliter bottle costs $19.95. He says his liquor mixes well -- he has recipes for a Moonshine Martini (Catdaddy, orange vodka, triple sec, cranberry juice and a splash of lime) and a Who's Your Daddy (one part Catdaddy and one part Irish Creme). All about the taxes Real moonshine comes in two 'flavors' -- legal and illegal. The essential difference is one is taxed and one is not.You can go into most any liquor store and buy moonshine such as Georgia Moon Corn Whiskey, Platte Valley Corn Whiskey or Catdaddy. The federal tax on a gallon of whiskey is $15.50. It is legal to own a still; you can buy one online for less than $800. If you want to produce any alcohol in your still, you need a federal permit. Under the alternative fuels law, you can make up to 10,000 gallons a year of ethanol, which can power engines when mixed with gasoline. 'Yes, you can have a still, but it must be permitted and you can produce spirits for fuel use only,' said Art Resnick, director of public and media affairs for the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. 'Let's make this perfectly clear: It's illegal to make moonshine, which is untaxed spirits.' Even if a person wanted to make moonshine at home and pay federal taxes, it's not that simple. It requires a federal distiller's license and is cost-prohibitive for anything other than a business. True to the craft On Michalek's journey to become a distiller, he says he got some curious looks when a 'fast-talking Yankee with a hard-to-pronounce last name' started asking questions about the production of moonshine. 'But I was interested in the high-grade premium stuff and once people understood I respected the quality of their product, they opened up,' he said. 'They take a lot of pride in making good whiskey. It's truly becoming a lost art.' What Michalek learned was that he wasn't interested in the old-style, 180-proof stuff with enough 'bite' to take the chrome off a trailer hitch. 'I don't see how anyone can drink that stuff; it should be illegal,' he joked. Catdaddy is moonshine, but it's not straight corn whiskey. 'It's flavored moonshine. A lot of homemade moonshine is fruit-infused, and our recipe is, too, but we've added two more flavors to make it unique,' said Michalek, who brought the proof down to 80 to make it smoother. True to his craft, Michalek won't identify the three flavors he adds, other than to say it's a fruit with spices similar to vanilla and cinnamon. Old days recalled Davis Clark of York grew up on a farm and had his share of the old-style moonshine.'But in those days, you drank what you could find; poor folks couldn't afford no `government' whiskey,' said Clark, 63. 'But here recently I've been seeing more fruit in the jars as the proof has been coming down. That's what the younger folks want these days. That old shine is like the folks that drank it -- dead and gone.' Moonshine Facts and Lore ** History: Moonshining dates 300 years to the Scots-Irish who settled here. Making moonshine originated in the Scottish Highlands with farmers who used excess grains such as corn to ferment into liquor. The reason many of them came to America was high taxation on property, such as whiskey, and religious persecution. ** A basic moonshine recipe calls for 5 gallons of sweet feed (grains such as corn mixed with molasses); one package of distillers' yeast; 5 pounds of sugar and water. It's basically mixed together with warm water and allowed to ferment for several days. The fermented brew is then filtered and run through the distilling process or the still. More moonshine drink recipes can be found at www.catdaddy moonshine.com ** Slang terms: White lightning, kickapoo joy juice, popskull, ruckus juice, mountain dew, happy Sally, hillbilly pop and panther's breath. ** The name: The production and transportation of illegal or untaxed whiskey was done primarily at night. ** Want to buy a still? You can buy one online for less than $800 -- www.copper moonshinestills.com. A federal permit for ethanol? http://ttb.gov/industrial/ distillation_of_ethanol.shtml or call 513-684-3334 for an application ** A Web site on the history and lore of moonshine was done by a group of UNC Chapel Hill students in the mid-1990s for a cyber publishing class. Their description of moonshine's potency: 'One drop will make a rabbit whip a bulldog.' www.ibiblio.org/moonshine Source: http://www.charlotte.com/ |
| 20 Jan 07 | A wee dram on a Scottish whisky trail Gerard Baker toasts Burns night as he taskes a tumbler or three of the finest Scotch IT’S Burns Night next week and across hill and glen the frosty air will echo to the haunting tones of the pipes, the contented burr of whisky-fuelled banter and that exaggerated guttural noise that people feel forced to make when they recite anything by the eponymous bard. January 25 may have been eagerly adopted by many a far-flung Sassenach in search of some midwinter revelry. But let’s be honest, most of its essential components are still monuments to Scottish exceptionalism. The haggis, the neeps, the tatties, the pipes and, dare I say it, perhaps even the literary charms of the poet himself don’t really travel all that well. But if there’s one thing the world can agree on it’s that liquid accompaniment to the indescribable haggis, “uisge beatha” — water of life — the beverage that Burns himself called, with surprising, but perhaps reverential, understatement, that “auld Scotch drink”. Scotch whisky is one of the great success stories of modern times. North Sea oil may be running out and Sean Connery may be getting old, but Scotch is pushing farther into every corner of the globe. If, like me, you’re an admirer but a relative novice, there’s no better way to get a quick education than to take a tour of one or more of the distilleries. These are not just fascinating factories in themselves, but are found in the most beautiful parts of Scotland. Scotch was an illicit drink until almost 200 years ago, slapped with heavy excise duties by the hated English rulers. Canny Scots then built their distilleries in remote valleys, far from government inspectors, in almost impossibly scenic spots. Places such as Caol Ila. Nestled on Islay, across from the lonely island of Jura, the distillery was so remote it would have taken days for the king’s excise men to find it. At each distillery you get not just a tour of the various tools of the whisky-making trade — the washes and stills and cavernous bonded warehouses — but a quick instruction in nosing, tasting and understanding the various malts. If you’re lucky they’ll let you have a sniff or more of some of the most celebrated vintages — 12, 15, 18 and even 30-year-old malts, lovingly and patiently matured on site. Islay whiskies — other producers include Laphroaig and Lagavulin — are famously peaty. At Laphroaig you can taste the green barley as it is smoked over the peat fires, then get the same scent from a glass with liquid that’s been around ten years or more. In the Highlands, the scenery and the manner of whisky-making are different. Remote, again, from government interference, they use less peat in the malting and make a cleaner, slightly fruitier drink. Real Scotch enthusiasts say they can detect at least 20 different aromas in the nose — I reckon I got to about three. At Aberfeldy, the home of Dewar’s, they mostly blend whiskies. But they have also created something else — Dewar’s World of Whisky. Still, you can forgive the people who brought you this theme park, because the place itself is so unutterably lovely — all rushing streams and tumbling hills and freshly wet fields and walls. Up on Speyside, the scenery changes again. Close to the North Sea, the terrain is bleaker. Here, Glenlivet advertises itself as the original Scotch. Not far from Culloden. where Bonnie Prince Charlie’s forces had been routed just 70 years earlier, a young crofter, George Smith, set up a still on a favourable hillside in the early 19th century and was granted the first official licence by the English king’s surrogate. The rest, as they say, is history. You wander if you want through so many more distilleries — there’s Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie, and Glen Grant; and Glenn Close and Glen Campbell for all I know. But perhaps the loveliest of the lot is on the captivating Isle of Orkney. A short ferry ride from John O’Groats is the Highland Park distillery in the old city of Kirkwall. There the softly curved accents of the Orcadians are matched by the rounded finish of the local Scotch. If you head to the Foveran Hotel, you can enjoy it with some of the best seafood you will taste anywhere in the British Isles. As the modern global economy demands, most of the distilleries are now part of multinational consumer goods groups, with such unScottish names as Diageo, MoetHennessy, and Pernod-Ricard. Some Scots fret about this. But I think they should relax. Burns himself would surely recognise the success it represents and coin some brilliant couplet in tribute to the vast and lengthening global reach of his people’s favourite drink. The haggis will have to await better marketing. The Scotch Whisky Association (www.scotch-whisky.org.uk) has information on distilleries to visit and whisky trails. Further information: www.visitscotland.com. Source:www.timesonline.co.uk |
| 12 Jan 07 | Whisky promo is pretty nippy DRINKERS will be able to enjoy a quick nip at a series of whisky speed-tasting events to be held around the city. At "Make a Date with Whisky", the public get a few minutes to learn about and taste a whisky before moving on. Events will take place at Monboddo, Eighty Queen Street, Human Be-In and Tiger Lily on consecutive nights from next Monday. http://news.scotsman.com |
| 10 Jan 07 | (...) As far as spirits are concerned, Scotch Whisky is still the UK's biggest selling spirit, though each year sales are declining. Between 2001 and 2005 sales fell by 6.7% (7.339 million cases in 2005) and are forecast to fall a further 10% by 2010. Nonetheless, the UK remains the fourth largest market in the world for whisky sales by volume. (...) Source: Wine Business Online |
| 08 Jan 07 | Braunstein Brewery is planning to attempt the difficult and uncommon task of making scotch whisky Claus and Michael Braunstein Poulsen are looking to give Danish whisky lovers a home-grown product that can stand up to their Scottish counterparts. Just a year and a half after opening Braunstein Brewery, the two beer-making brothers are preparing to add distillery equipment onto their existing brewery to produce spirits, including a single malt whisky. Michael, who is in charge of the brewery's sales side, said they decided to produce the whisky for the same reason as they brew their beer. 'We have a motto here: we brew it, we drink it and the rest we sell. It's a passion.' Poulsen said they are hoping to produce a unique whisky using grains imported from Scotland and England, while using barrels from the US, Portugal and Denmark. 'We're going to take Danish oak and send it to France, where they can make and 'fire' the barrels. So it really will be a Danish whisky,' Poulsen said. There are only a handful of single malt distilleries outside Scotland - one in Canada, one in Wales and a couple in Ireland. The Poulsens plan to enter this exclusive group cautiously, first releasing a three-year whisky before attempting the more ambitious five or 12-year types. Michael said that he and Claus were not expecting to get rich from the project, but were mainly doing it for their own benefit. 'We're out to get what we want from the whisky. Maybe it will sell, maybe it won't. This is a long-term project, but our goal is still to eventually make the best whisky in the world.' In addition to whisky, Braunstein Brewery is planning to release a drink called beer brandy, popular in Germany and able to be made through the continuation of normal beer production. The brewery will also distil a Danish schnapps, or akvavit, based on a recipe from the Køge Akvavit Guild, which the brothers' grandfather founded. Source: http://www.cphpost.dk |
| 03 Jan 06 | International sales push helps Macallan profit climb 28% MACALLAN, the premium single malt brand of the Edrington Group, has benefited from a major international sales push. Accounts made available at Companies House this week show the Speyside distillery increased sales by 18.8 per cent to £69.3 million in the year to 31 March, 2006, while pre-tax profits climbed 28 per cent to £34.2m. The accounts show assets of £132m for the subsidiary, after the parent company was paid a dividend of £3.9m. The director's report predicted growth would continue this year. Source: http://news.scotsman.com/ |
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