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Duckhorn 2013 Canvasback Cabernet Sauvignon

By
The Staff
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Washington State’s Duckhorn Wine Company is releasing its second vintage nationally, beginning this month.

Like the 2012 vintage, the 2013 Canvasback Cabernet Sauvignon was crafted using grapes from some of Red Mountain’s most renowned vineyards, the company says, including Klipsun, Ambassador, Quintessence, and Shaw.

In addition to sourcing from local growers, Duckhorn Wine Company acquired and planted its 20-acre Red Mountain Longwinds Estate Vineyard, which will begin yielding fruit for Canvasback in 2017. Located near the top of the mountain above the frost zone, at an elevation of approximately 900 to 1,100 feet, the property was widely recognized as the most coveted uncultivated site of the mountain, the company said.

The site was planted, and is being farmed, by Canvasback Vineyard Manager, and Washington winegrowing authority, Dick Boushey, who is a past “Grower of the Year” honoree by both the Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers and the Washington State Grape Society, according to the company.

“Establishing an estate vineyard is a testament to how committed we are to being here on Red Mountain, and hiring Washington native Brian Rudin as winemaker is a testament to how committed we are to quality,” says Duckhorn Wine Company President & CEO Alex Ryan.

With the 2013 vintage release, Canvasback has increased production more than twofold from 2,500 cases. To maintain the quality of the debut vintage, which sold out in months, Canvasback sourced additional fruit from its core growers, the company said, while also establishing new grape-sourcing partnerships with three other top Red Mountain growers: Canyons, Kiona Vineyard – Heart of the Hill and Obelisco.

For more information about Canvasback, visit CanvasbackWine.com, or join us online at Twitter.com/CanvasbackWine and Instagram.com/CanvasbackWine.

Russell’s Reserve Single Barrel Rye

By
The Staff
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Russell’s Reserve has unveiled its Single Barrel Rye.

“Rye Whiskey is booming, and Master Distillers Jimmy and Eddie Russell are responding the only way they know how – a 104 proof, barrel-aged spice bomb like only they know how to make,” the company says.

In a report released this month, the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S.  declared Rye Whiskey volumes have grown 536% from 88,000 9-liter cases in 2009 to over a half million cases (561,000) in 2014.

For their new rye, the Russells selected  barrels primarily from the “center cut” locations (levels 3 – 5) of the rick houses, the company says. Russell’s Reserve Single Barrel Rye is not chilled-filtered, to capture all the flavor rye provides. Caramel in color, this single barrel release offers a balance of spicy pepper, vanilla and caramel on the nose and palate, according to its producers.

Russell’s Reserve Single Barrel Rye will be available year-round as a permanent addition to the Russell’s Reserve portfolio. It will be sold nationwide in 750-ml. bottles for a suggested retail price of $59.99.

Heineken Acquires Red Stripe Beer from Diageo

By
The Staff
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The Jamaican beer brand Red Stripe has changed hands.

As part of a $780.5-million deal announced yesterday, Heineken has agreed to buy controlling ownership of Jamaican alcohol-producer Desnoes & Geddes from Diageo. Among D&G’s assets is the beer brand Red Stripe.

Diageo had previously owned a 57.9% stake in D&G, while Heineken had just 15.5%. After buying up the entirety of Diageo’s stake, Heineken now has a 73.3% stake.

D&G also owns the Dragon beer brand. The license to use Red Stripe and Dragon in connection with the manufacture, production, selling, distribution and/or marketing in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, was previously held by Diageo. Affiliates of Heineken will become the new license holder for Red Stripe and Dragon in these countries, beginning January 1, 2016.

As part of the same deal, Heineken also:

  • Obtained full ownership of GAPL Pte Ltd (“GAPL”), having acquired Diageo’s shareholding, which was slightly lower than 50%. GAPL owns 51% of the issued share capital of Guinness Anchor Berhad (“GAB”), which is listed on the Malaysian Stock Exchange. GAPL is also the licensee for Guinness and ABC Stout distribution for the Singapore market.
  • Sold its 20% ownership stake in Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited (“GGBL”) to Diageo.
  • Entered into licensing agreements with Diageo for each other’s brands currently in the respective portfolios in Jamaica and Ghana.

“Today’s transaction represents another important step towards ensuring that our portfolio of assets and participations is optimally structured to support our strategic agenda,” said Jean-François van Boxmeer, Heineken CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board. “Having greater commercial control in the important regions of South-East Asia and the Caribbean will allow us to maximise the strong potential of our brands in these growth markets.”

“Our close collaboration with Diageo has been very productive over the years and I would like to thank them for their valued partnership,” he added.

UV Salty Caramel Apple

By
The Staff
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UV Vodka’s has brought back its seasonal release, UV Salty Caramel Apple.

This flavored vodka is 30% ABV and available for a limited time this fall, and ideal for the season’s cocktails, the company says. A balance between salty and sweet, UV Salty Caramel Apple evokes the taste of a crisp orchard apple, dipped in caramel and capped with a salty bite to bring quintessential autumn flavors together, the company says.

UV Vodka is made with all natural flavors and distilled four times.

The suggested retail price is $12.99 for a one-liter bottle, $11.99 for a 750-ml. bottle and 99 cents for a 50-ml. bottle.

Egan’s 10-year-old Single Malt

By
The Staff
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P&H Egan Ltd. is reviving its historic Egan’s Irish whiskey, representing 160 years of Egan family heritage. The brand is launching in select U.S. cities this fall with its first expression, Egan’s 10-year-old Single Malt.

Egan’s Irish Whiskey dates back to 1852, when Patrick and Henry Egan founded P&H Egan. Over the next 116 years of operation, P&H Egan was involved in numerous commercial enterprises, the company says, including bottling, malting, brewing, wholesaling, importing and exporting, before an inability to compete with multinationals caused P&H Egan to voluntarily close its doors in 1968.

While the Egan family business was no longer in operation, the Egan spirit lived on through the family’s descendants. Maurice and Jonathan Egan, fifth and sixth generation Egan’s, alongside longtime family friend and industry expert, John Ralph, are revitalizing the company to carry on the traditions of the family.

Egan’s 10-year-old Single Malt is 100% pot-still Irish whiskey aged for 10 years in oak casks before being selected by the Egan family and approved to bear the family name. Egan’s is non-chill filtered, allowing character to be retained from the casks in which it is aged.

Egan’s 10 Year Old Single Malt will be available in the U.S. in October in Illinois, Massachusetts, New York and California, with a suggested retail price of $49.99.

Does Rum Age Better Under the Sea?

By
Kyle Swartz
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Seven Fathoms Rum, true to its name, ages rum in an unusual place: 42 feet underwater. (1 fathom = 6 feet.) We recently caught up with Nelson Dilbert (above, left), co-owner and co-master distiller at Cayman Spirits Co., which produces the Seven Fathoms Brand, to to talk about this odd process.

Hi Res Beach - Seven FathomsBD: How did you get the idea to age rum underwater?

ND: When we first started the company 10 years ago, my partner Walker Romanica (above, right)came up with the idea. And we saw further proof of this concept when researching how to make rum.

We read the success story of Facundo Bacardi, and his rum brand. One thing he claimed in his biography was that his rums were so good because they were aged near train tracks. The trains rattled the barrels as they went by. And this agitated the rum within, bringing different parts of the rum in contact with the sides of the barrels. We thought, ‘How can we replicate that effect?’ I remember I was looking out my office window. And I saw the ocean.

At first we thought about putting the rum on a boat. But as we did the math, we realized that putting that many rum barrels on a boat would make it sink.

Walker’s family owns a dive company. They’re some of the most technical divers in the country. We asked them whether we could secure our rum barrels underwater. And that’s how we came up with the concept.

BD: Why does the rum aging underwater make a difference?

ND: For the same reason that changing temperature is good for rum. It sucks the rum in and oat of the oak barrels. You get the same affect with the changing tides. Twice per day there is a 10% pressure change in the water. It allows for different parts of the rum to get into the oak.

When you shift or stir rum during the aging process, it spreads out the oak saturation, rather than oversaturating the same parts of the rum at the sides of the barrel.

BD: How do you keep the sea from damaging the barrels?

ND: They’re protected from the ocean in a large bag. They’re never in direct contact with the sea.

BD: What’s the typical length of aging?

ND: We believe that underwater aging allows for a much faster aging process. In two years, we can get a product that tastes like it was aged for five to seven years. Two years is our minimum amount of aging.

We do have older barrels. And we do have barrels at different depths. We’re trying to do a five-year-old at 10 fathoms.

And we do have barrels in different locations, other than our main site on the northern end of the Cayman Islands. We’re experimenting with water currents to see if the shifting back and forth adds another level of agitation.

BD: Where is Seven Fathoms available?

ND: We’re in the U.S., Canada, and UK. We’re going into Germany next month, and then France, Australia and China by year’s end.

We were included in a rum flight last year by the Bahama Breeze restaurant chain. We were put up against Pyrat and Capa. That was a huge jump for us, to be dealing with Darden Inc. That really opened a lot of doors for distribution.

Diageo Names New CFO

By
The Staff
-

Diageo today announced that Kathryn Mikells is to be appointed Chief Financial Officer.

Based in London, Mikells’ position is effective November 9, 2015.

Mikells joins from Xerox Corporation, where she is currently CFO, a position she has held since May 2013.

Kathryn has extensive experience, the company says, having worked in a number of senior finance roles for global consumer facing and b2b businesses, including United Airlines, where she spent the majority of her career and was CFO from 2008-2010.

“Kathryn has the experience of working with teams to drive disciplined performance management which will contribute to the achievement of our performance ambition,” said Ivan Menezes, Chief Executive of Diageo. “Diageo is focused on driving performance from our core and on improving productivity to drive out cost to invest in growth.”

On Mikells’ appointment, Deirdre Mahlan will step down from the Diageo Board and her role as CFO.

“I wish to thank Deirdre most sincerely for her contribution to the Board, said Franz Humer, Chairman of Diageo. “The finance function and Diageo are stronger as a result of the changes Deirdre has made and the Board is delighted that she will continue to play a pivotal role for the company in leading our North American business.”

Said Mikells, “Diageo has a clear and compelling strategy and I am looking forward to working with Ivan and the team to deliver it.”

Stoli Group Expands With Bayou Rum Partnership

By
The Staff
-

The Stoli Group has added its first rum.

Stoli Group USA, LLC and Louisiana Spirits, LLC announced today the start of a long-term partnership.

As of January 1, 2016, the multi-year agreement will see Stoli Group USA become the exclusive national distributor of Bayou Rum and its family of America’s Rum, and will enable Bayou to grow internationally in the future.

“Stoli Group USA is proud to partner with Bayou Rum and is looking forward to bringing the vision of its founders and shareholders to life in the U.S.,” said Patrick Piana, President and CEO, Stoli Group USA.”

“The opportunity to partner with a powerful, brand-focused organization like Stoli Group USA will help us achieve our long term vision of establishing Bayou Rum as the leading American Rum on the market, said Trey Litel, co-founder and president, Louisiana Spirits, LLC.”

Bayou Rum is the first spirits addition to the Stoli Group USA portfolio of premium brands, which includes the flagship Stoli Vodka brand and the luxury vodka, elit by Stolichnaya.

The Bayou Rum family consists of four offerings:  Bayou Select Rum, Bayou Silver, Bayou Spiced, and Bayou Satsuma Rum Liqueur. It is handcrafted from Louisiana sugarcane and distilled and bottled at the largest private rum distillery in the U.S., the company says.

Maker’s Mark Lets Retailers Customize in ‘Private Select’ Program

By
The Staff
-

Whiskey enthusiasts can now make their own Maker’s Mark.

The company announced its newest program this week — Private Select.

This program allows retail customers to “make their own Maker’s,” the company says, by finishing fully-matured cask strength Maker’s Mark Bourbon in a single barrel made up of their custom selection of oak staves.

The program will kick off in limited release in November 2015, with bottled product available for sale by retail participants beginning March 2016.

Through the Maker’s Mark Private Select Experience, participants will have the opportunity to spend a day at the Maker’s Mark Distillery in Loretto, KY, where they will “mirror the process used by Chairman Emeritus Bill Samuels, Jr. when he created Maker’s 46 in 2010,” the company says.

“We’ve never before given anyone this kind of access or opportunity to create their favorite version of Maker’s,” states Rob Samuels, COO Maker’s Mark Distillery, in a press release.

Participants will receive an in-depth immersion that illustrates the essential role that wood plays in the taste of bourbon, the company says, and will select their preferred combination of five types of wood staves with which to finish their custom expression.

This collection of oak staves includes Baked American Pure 2, Seared French Cuvee, Maker’s 46, Roasted French Mocha, and Toasted French Spice. There are 1,001 possible stave combinations.

After aging for nine additional weeks in a single barrel with the participants’ custom stave combination, the bourbon will be bottled, corked and dipped at cask strength, with details such as proof and stave combinations handwritten on the label.

Maker’s Mark Private Select Program will be available to Kentucky- and Illinois-based retailers in its first year, and will be expanded to additional markets in 2016.

Crown Royal to Include Serving Facts Panel on Packaging

By
The Staff
-

Diageo has begun shipping cases of Crown Royal macro-nutritional information included on the product. This is the first alcohol beverage brand to include a serving facts panel on its packaging, the company says.

IMAGE_Crown Royal with serving facts label
A Crown Royal box with the new serving facts label.

The panel details serving size, number of servings per container, alcohol by volume, number of calories and grams of carbohydrates, protein and fat per serving – and the U.S. Dietary Guidelines definition of a standard drink – 0.6 fluid ounces of alcohol.

This is the latest step in Diageo’s leadership for more than a decade on the issue of making alcohol facts readily available and understandable for consumers, the company says. Since 2006, Diageo has provided serving facts information about its brands on its DRINKiQ.com website.

Diageo will now continue to add this important information to its labeling and packaging as brands change or update their labels. A 2014 study conducted by FoodMinds LLC found that 86% of US alcohol consumers agree that serving facts labels that include the 0.6 fluid ounces of alcohol per drink definition provide useful and relevant information, the company said, while 83% agree the same information on a label helps them understand the definition of a standard drink.

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