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Written by Count Silvio
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Tuesday, 26 August 2008 |
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“We are determined to make our whisky, so far as quality is concerned, of such a standard that nothing in the market shall come before it.” - Alexander Walker  Johnnie Walker is one of the most recognized and most widely distributed Scotch whisky brands in the world. Originally sold by John Walker in 1820 at his grocery store under the name Walker's Kilmarnock Whisky, it was not until his death in 1857 when his son Alexander Walker and grandson Alexander Walker II made the brand popular. In 1906-1909 under the control of John's grandson Alexander II and his other grandson George Paterson Walker the brand expanded and obtained its current name and look. Alexander Walker had previously introduced the signature square bottle and the angled label in 1870 but it was Alexander II and George who introduced the coloured labels and in 1908 the managing director James Stevenson suggested renaming the brand from Walker's Kilmarnock to Johnnie Walker. This was also the time when the iconic Striding Man figure, designed by Tom Browne and modelled after the founder John Walker, was introduced as the Johnnie Walker logo. |
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Written by Count Silvio
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Friday, 22 August 2008 |
 ITV has been filming at a Hebridean distillery for a new television series - The Islands of Britain - presented by the comedian and actor Martin Clunes. Martin Clunes made his name in the raucous situation comedy Men Behaving Badly, about the salubrious activities of two lads sharing a flat. Recently he starred in the lead role in the comedy drama series "Doc Martin" winning the Most Popular Actor in the National Television Awards. Clunes travelled around the UK including the islands of Barra, Lewis, Uist, Eigg, Man and Scilly finding what makes remote and far flung islands tick. |
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Written by Count Silvio
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Friday, 22 August 2008 |
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WORK on a £40million distillery in Moray is progressing well, with the business expected to begin operating in spring next year. The last of 14 copper stills was installed this week at Roseisle, Scotland’s first major new distillery for 30 years. Construction of the plant will be finished by the end of the year and 25 jobs will be created when the business is up and running. Part of a £100million investment from drinks giant Diageo, it has gained the backing of the community, after residents were bussed in and given a guided tour. Diageo donated £9,000 for refurbishment at the village hall in May and chairwoman of the hall committee Sarah Fennings-Mills said: “The feeling is that it’s very much our distillery. Diageo have involved us and kept us informed every step of the way. |
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Written by Matt 'RumDood' Robold
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Wednesday, 20 August 2008 |
This article is courtesy of Matt Robold from RumDood.com.
 During Tales of the Cocktail this year, I decided to make a trip down to see Celebration Distillation – home of Old New Orleans Rum. I wanted to get an inside look at how this small American distillery was producing a unique collection of rums that they claim captures the essence of the Crescent City in a bottle. I spent the morning putting together some notes, and then grabbed a taxi from the Hotel Monteleone to the distillery. The two buildings are only about 3.5 miles apart, but I didn't want to end up lost and figured a cab would be the right way to go. The drive there took a tad longer than I had expected as we navigated the numerous one-way streets of the French Quarter and then traveled through several neighborhoods that were still showing signs of the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina. It was a rather jarring reminder that – despite the signs of improvement in the French Quarter – New Orleans has still not fully recovered.
My plan worked like a charm, and we ended up lost in a cluster of industrial buildings, driving up and down rocky, uneven roads. Eventually we found ourselves on the other side of the tracks (literally) and after some searching about, we finally found a modest warehouse on Frenchmen Street in the Gentilly neighborhood with a sign for Old New Orleans Rum, and figured we'd found the right place. |
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Written by Count Silvio
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Sunday, 17 August 2008 |
 When I was presented with an opportunity to review a new kind of rum tasting glass from Spirit Sippers, I decided to not only review their F lare rum tasting glass but also compare it against other glasses I’ve previously used to taste rum from. This was an interesting opportunity to me as I’ve never before had a glass designed specifically for rum and I was excited to see if the shape of the glass really affects the entire tasting experience. The experiment would have been even more interesting had I had some Riedel tasting glasses but since I didn’t, I had to work with what I had. In the end I was quite pleased with the results of the test which you can read below. |
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Written by Count Silvio
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Thursday, 14 August 2008 |
 This summer Bruichladdich released two new single malts of the same vintage to c ompare and contrast. Both whiskies are from the 1998 vintage and matured in Sherry wood, one in Manzanilla casks, the other by way of contrast, in Oloroso casks. In July 1998 both types of Sherry casks were filled with identically distilled whisky and put to age in the same warehouse. Since 1981 Sherry is exclusively bottled in Spain, making sherry 'transport' casks for the whisky trade almost extinct. Oloroso is a dark sweet, fortified wine, the backbone of 'cream' sherry. Manzanilla is a pale, dry, sophisticated wine aged by the Atlantic. Manzanilla is produced at Sanlucar, near Cadiz on Spain's Atlantic coast, 1400 miles to the south of Islay. "Manzanilla is world famous for it's marine influenced style; we have exactly the same effect here on Islay - 1400 miles further north."Both of the casks having absorbed characteristics from the respective wines, have influenced the maturing whisky, resulting in two different versions from the identical original spirit. “Usually Sherry casks implies a nutty sweetness leached out of the wood into the whisky. Delightful when well balanced, but often clumsily over-stated. This is the real deal.” Only 6000 bottles of each whisky are available at the suggested retail price of around £38. The stocks are estimated to last until Christmas 2008. |
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Written by Count Silvio
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Wednesday, 13 August 2008 |
 It might not be a medal in the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, but Seven Fathoms Rum has brought home silver from one of the largest and most prestigious annual spirits competitions in the United States. The rum category tastings of the 2008 International Review of Spirits Competition took place in May in Chicago. More than 80 rums from around the world were entered in the tasting. In being awarded a silver medal, Cayman’s only locally distilled rum scored 88 points, a score that indicates it is highly recommended by the Beverage Tasting Institute. “We are very pleased with this result in our first ever tasting,” said Michael Kennedy, one of the co–founders of Seven Fathoms Rum. “As a small and new craft distillery, we were able to beat out several major distilleries and entries from countries with large established rum industries." Seven Fathoms just had its official launch in May. The spirit, which is being marketed as a premium sipping rum, uses a unique underwater maturation process. Oak barrels are filled with the distilled rum and dropped to a depth of 42 feet – or seven fathoms – and allowed to age there. |
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