Why are you messing with my whiskey?

Give Me a Shot of Maple Syrup, Barkeep

Source: New York Times

By ROBERT SIMONSON

Jun 24th

It's tough keeping up with all the new flavored spirits: honey, cherry, cinnamon, apple, maple syrup.

And we're not talking about vodka, the anything-goes wild child of the spirits industry, which has produced more flavors than there are colors in a Crayola 64-pack. Whiskey, once the most tradition-bound and austere of spirits, has developed a sweet tooth of its own.

Distillers around the world are sugaring and flavoring whiskeys. Wild Turkey Liqueur, a honey-infused bourbon, was an early entry, introduced in 1976 and reformulated as American Honey in 2006. But with Red Stag, the successful cherry-flavored bourbon released by Jim Beam in 2009, the dam burst.

There are now flavored American whiskeys from the bourbon distillers Heaven Hill (Evan Williams Honey Reserve and Cherry Reserve) and Brown-Forman (Early Times Fire Eater, which tastes of red-hot cinnamon, and apple-flavored Blind Archer) and the whiskey giant Jack Daniels (Tennessee Honey).

Canada, too, has gotten into the act; most of its contributions are informed, predictably, by maple syrup. Last year, Bushmills became the first major Irish brand to introduce a flavored whiskey, called Bushmills Irish Honey. And in April, Scotland entered the fray when Dewar's came out with Highlander Honey.

Today, flavored whiskeys are the fastest growing segment in the bourbon industry. According to Nielsen research provided by Beam, in 2012 flavored whiskey accounted for nearly 75 percent of growth among all whiskeys, and 42 percent of growth in bourbon.

The field has become so crowded that Jack Rose, a Washington, D.C., bar with enormous whiskey holdings, has devoted a section of its menu to 25 flavored whiskeys. "It's grown dramatically since we opened," said Bill Thomas, an owner.

Whether the flood of new flavors is good or bad for whiskey's image depends on whom you talk to. People in the industry say flavored whiskey is a gateway drink that will introduce novice drinkers to the spirit. Eventually, the logic goes, their tastes will evolve and they will make the leap to straight whiskey.

"The starting point used to be bourbon and Coke, or bourbon and ginger," said Dave Pickerell, a former master distiller at Maker's Mark who now consults at a variety of distilleries. "This is just one extra step further down the trail."

But to some purists, the products have more in common, commercially and aesthetically, with popcorn vodka than corn whiskey.

"I think it is a cynical market grab masquerading as innovation," said Michael Neff, an owner of the Manhattan bars Ward III and Rum House. "Flavored whiskey, as a category, is not meant to create new whiskey drinkers, but to make flavored-vodka drinkers feel like grown-ups."

Skeptics abounded when Jim Beam was preparing to roll out Red Stag. The company itself wasn't so sure it was a good idea.

"At the time, there were a lot of folks both internally and in the industry who were very concerned about a flavored whiskey," said Chris Bauder, the company's general manager for whiskey.

But success is hard to argue with. Red Stag sales have risen in double-digit percentages every year since its debut. "Usually a product will grow a year or two, and then flatten out," Mr. Bauder said. His company responded by introducing two more flavors in 2012, and will bring out a fourth, Hardcore Cider, later this year.

Though industry officials don't like to talk about it, it's no secret that one initial aim of the bottlings was to bring women into the whiskey fold. "I do think it's a major effort to go after female drinkers in an aggressive way," Mr. Pickerell said.

And it has worked: 45 percent of the drinkers of Red Stag are women, Mr. Bauder said.

Mirna Feghali, an architect in Cincinnati, had little experience with whiskey until trying American Honey a few years ago. "It's smooth and has a good flavor," she said, allowing that "it's probably the honey" more than the whiskey that appeals to her. But women are only half the story.

"I'd say more men drink it now than women do," added Jimmy Russell, master distiller at Wild Turkey.

Mike Donnellan of Washington, who works in the video game industry, likes American Honey, but not in the same way he likes Scotch and bourbon. "We're whiskey drinkers," he said of himself and his friends. "Scotch is for sipping-on drinks, and bourbon to mix with Coke or ginger. But for a shot, I'd say nothing is better."

And it can become common ground for men and women to drink together, said Yvonne Briese, vice president for brand marketing for whisky at Diageo, the conglomerate that owns Bushmills. "What's happening with flavored whiskey is, it's becoming something that guys want to drink and something women think is more palatable," she said.

Though the flavored-whiskey shelf at the liquor store is getting crowded, Chris Morris, the master distiller at Brown-Forman, said he doesn't think whiskey is headed down vodka's road to perdition. Vodka is a blank slate; whiskey has a character that must be harmonized with.

"I think that will give us more rational, tighter range of expressions" he said.

So, no birthday-cake whiskey? "God, I hope we don't get to that," Mr. Pickerell said.

Juniper is in Serious Trouble

Ferocious fungus imperils future of British gin and tonic

'I'll have mine with a twist of Phytophthora austrocedrae, my good man'

Source: The Register

By Rik Myslewski

21st June 2013

Juniper berries, the crucial ingredient in the quintessential British distilled spirit, gin, and thus critical to the revered pick-me-up, gin and tonic, are under attack.

"Juniper is in serious trouble," a spokeswoman for Plantlife Scotland told The Telegraph on Wednesday. "One of only three native conifers in Britain, not only does it face a new deadly fungal disease, Phytophthora austrocedrae, it has also disappeared from over one-third of Britain where it was previously found."

According to Plantlife's Tim Wilkins, many southern English counties had lost 60 to 70 per cent of their populations of juniper before the heroic efforts of that organization began to bring it back from near extinction. But that progress is now threatened by Phytophthora austrocedrae.

Not only are about 45 per cent of Scottish juniper bushes at risk of being destroyed by the fungus, The Telegraph reports, but much of the existing stock is suffering from old age, and others bushes are being dispatched by "booming rabbit and vole populations."

Should the juniper bush disappear from Blighty, however, you'll still be able to pick up a bottle of Gordon's for a weekend romp with the boys - most commercial gin is formulated these days with berries procured from Eastern European suppliers.

But the loss of British juniper should not be taken lightly. Not only would it weaken the worldwide genetic stock of the blessed berry bushes, thus leaving existing sources perhaps more susceptible to future infestations, but also it would be a cultural blow to a country which has had a long - albeit sometimes tumultuous - relationship with the national spirit.

In the first half of the 18th century, in fact, gin was - as one wag here at Vulture Annex put it - "the crack of its time." During the Gin Craze, it has been estimated that the average Londoner downed between 50 and 60 liters of "Mother's Ruin" per year.

The first Gin Act was passed in 1736 in an effort to stem the torrents of gin flowing down the gullets of Londoners. Unfortunately, it had an effect much like what the US experiment with Prohibition did nearly two centuries later - it drove the manufacture of gin underground.

A second try to stop the tsunami of the cheap intoxicant was made in the Gin Act of 1751, but it wasn't until decades later - the Sale of Beer Act in 1830, which removed the tax on beer - that the scourge of what dry moralists blamed for misery, poverty, prostitution, murder, theft, and worse, began to wane.

Today, gin has lost its crack-like rep in the UK, and is even famously beloved by the royal family. Now that "this royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle, this earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, this other Eden" has learned to drink, as the interminable beer commercials in the States say, "responsibly", it would be cruel of Mother Nature to strip it of the berries that make a cool G&T such a blessing.

Direct craft spirits sales now legal in Florida

FLORIDA GOVERNOR SIGNS INTO LAW A BILL THAT REDEFINES BUSINESS FOR FLORIDA ALCOHOL MANUFACTURERS

Craft distillers celebrate new opportunities for growth

Source: Edelman

June 13, 2013

Florida Governor Rick Scott has signed into law a bill that redefines business for state alcohol manufacturers. HB 347/SB 642 set a precedent for the alcohol industry that has not been seen in the state since the days of prohibition. GrayRobinson government relations attorney Jason Unger and alcohol industry attorney Richard Blau represented the Florida Craft Distillers Guild in amending outdated legislation.

"There are several sets of interests that have to be taken into account when drafting alcohol legislation, which makes it one of the trickiest industries to represent from a legal perspective," said Blau, the chair of GrayRobinson's national alcohol beverage and food law practice. "You have stakeholders with concerns in the public safety and health and wellness sectors, while also having to consider implications at a political and economic level. The fact that this bill was able to pass in its first session, with little to no opposition on the voting floor, is truly extraordinary."

"From a legislative standpoint, we were able to work with key legislators and leaders in the alcohol industry to pass a bill that everyone could support," said Unger, the lead lobbyist on the effort out of GrayRobinson's Tallahassee office.

In recent years the state has seen a growing number of craft distilleries that invite the public to tour their facilities and sample their product. However, unlike wineries and breweries, Florida law prohibited these distilleries from selling manufactured products on site. The product would have to be shipped off to a wholesaler or distributor for purchase. With the passage of HB 347/SB 642, championed by Representative Ronald Renuart and Senator Alan Hays, these distilleries can now sell products as part of this offering. 

Philip McDaniel, chairman of the Florida Craft Distillers Guild and owner of the St. Augustine Distillery currently under construction in St. Augustine, Fla., predicts that the number of distilleries across the state could grow from 15 to anywhere between 35 and 50 over the next decade as a direct result of this new legislation.

"For us, the most exciting part of this is that we can now complete the customer experience," said McDaniel. "When customers tour our distilleries they build up anticipation to try the product and want to take home a memory of the experience.  When we'd have to say 'I'm sorry, we can't sell you a bottle' at the very moment they're eager to purchase, well, it's just creates a negative customer experience."

McDaniel has plans for the future of St. Augustine Distillery now that the law will take effect July 1. In addition to a gift shop that sells bottles of the artisan crafted bourbon, gin, vodka and rum, there will be a small screening room that shows a documentary about the distiller's relationship with local farms. The distillery is located just off of the trolley route located in the heart of St. Augustine's historical tourist district and McDaniel is hopeful that a vast majority of these patrons will enter his doors.

"Florida has some of the best agriculture in the world, especially when used as a value added component for alcohol manufacturing. We have one of the largest sugar cane crops in the nation and a variety of fresh fruits to flavor our liquors, wines and beers," said McDaniel. "This legislation will allow Florida distillers to capitalize on our unique location and build a global reputation bringing new visitors to the state because, quite simply, they can't find this experience anywhere else."

JoAnn Elardo, owner of Cape Spirits in Cape Coral, Fla., can finally hire the help she needs to offer tours due to the added revenue the distillery will bring in from alcohol sales. Cape Spirits manufactures Wicked Dolphin Rum.

"Before we were just a name on a shelf," said Elardo. "Now we have marketing capability. We can make our distillery a destination and put our stamp on our product."

Do we have enough Agave?

China: Thanks to a new trade deal, China could up its tequila intake by 2400% in five years

Source: Quartz

By Roberto A. Ferdman

June 19, 2013   

Chinese consumers love luxury products, but they drink crummy tequila. At least until now. Earlier this month, China's President Xi Jinping and his Mexican counterpart Enrique Peña Nieto signed a bilateral trade agreement that will allow Mexican imports of 100% agave tequilas (Spanish link) into China for the first time since 2008.

China banned high-end tequilas in 2008 because of the relatively high methanol levels found in tequila made with 100% agave (methanol is a small byproduct of the agave distillation process). It was part of a bigger legislative move to address the rising incidence of methanol poisonings in the country, many of which had been caused by the consumption of fake alcohols, often made with toxic amounts of methanol. The country has, however, continued to let in lower-end tequilas, or tequila mixtos, which only contain 51% agave, and therefore less methanol. 

The influx of high-end tequilas into China could be a big win for the Mexican tequila industry, which has failed to penetrate the Chinese market partly because its consumers aren't aware of the product. At the moment, China imports less tequila than any other major spirit. "Most people don't even know what tequila is, and that's a big problem," Patricio de la Fuente Saez, managing director of Hong Kong-based wine importer Links Concept, told Quartz. Chinese consumers tend to go for luxury goods that boast global prestige, director of corporate communications at Patron Greg Cohen told Quartz. They appreciate "quality" and "sophistication," he says.

With a little consumer education, Chinese drinkers could become prime targets for the beverage. According to Patron's Cohen, Chinese tourists are already plucking high-end tequila from duty free shelves abroad. "Our duty free partners have told us that Chinese tourists are a huge part of our consumers." Chinese drinkers are also fans of hard liquor, which makes up 60% of the country's alcohol consumption. Ninety-five percent of that hard alcohol intake is baijiu, a locally distilled white spirit that, like tequila, is consumed in a shot.

Despite the long-held ban on high-end tequilas, low-end tequila exports to China have grown more than four-fold since 2008. And there's more room to grow. The country still only imports a modest 400,000 liters of tequila a year, but the president of Mexico's national tequila industry chamber Francisco Soltero believes they will grow to 10 million liters in five years, assuming China's wealthy latch on to 100% agave.

In that scenario, China would go from being the world's 23rd largest tequila importer to its second largest in five years. And tequila would supplant whisky and cognac (brandy) as China's hard alcohol of choice.

Even then, China would rank far below the world's biggest tequila guzzler: the US. Americans bought $625 million in Mexican tequila last year, nearly 400 times as much as China. Even quintupling China's tequila imports would only amount to a fraction of all those American tequila shots.