Toby Keith Whiskey Girl Video

Popularity: 39% [?]

Maker’s Mark BBQ sauce

from the vault of Mark Maker… 

Former Maker’s Mark Master Distiller Dave Pickarela created this recipe and the ‘Art of the Drink’ put the video together.

About 4 minutes in, host Anthony Caparelli mixes a pitcher of Maker’s Mark Lemonade

Popularity: 23% [?]

I should have thought of that.. (oh ya, I did)

Edinburgh-based Innis & Gunn, which has been selling its oak-aged beers in Canada since 2005, has unveiled its latest special edition, a beer aged in barrels that previously contained Canadian whisky.

“It’s really a gift for our Canadian friends. We’re not releasing it anywhere else in the world,” says Dougal Sharp, brewmaster at Innis & Gunn.

Why a Canadian version? Well, there’s this country’s long tradition of making whisky, for one thing. For another, Canadians – especially Ontarians – have taken to Innis & Gunn’s beers in droves.

Roughly three-quarters of Innis & Gunn’s beer is consumed outside of Scotland. Of that, 60 per cent is sold in Canada.

“It’s our biggest single market, so we wanted to do something special and say thank you,” explains Sharp.

To do that, Sharp went to work trying to find oak barrels that had previously been used to age Canadian whisky. He managed to get some from a distiller here (he didn’t want to say which one), then went to work creating a beer to age in them.

After the beer was brewed, it was aged in the barrels for 77 days. It was the third life for some of those barrels, by the way.

“Before they were used in Canada, some of them were used for bourbon or other spirits, so they were up to 50 years old,” Sharp says.

In addition to several types of malted barley, Sharp decided to use malted rye, to add a reddish tinge to the brew and as a nod to Canadian distilling tradition.

“I know rye is a pretty important ingredient for Canadian whisky, so I thought it would be nice to use some in this beer,” Sharp says.

The resulting beer is darker than the original Innis & Gunn, more reddish-orange than golden. It’s also more complex in flavour, and less overwhelmed by the oak. There’s a bit of the classic vanilla aroma and flavour derived from oak, but not as pronounced as in the original.

Perhaps because of that, other flavours come out, such as dried fruit, the tiniest hint of cocoa, and a bit of a tangy taste (possibly from the rye).

comment:

I think this beer could use a little competition, and I have an idea that may just give them that.

Popularity: 39% [?]

Bracket Tournament of Scottish Blends…

We started play in the ”China Grove” Region.  Many of you most likely remember the Doobie Brothers from the Larry Bird/Magic Johnson College days.  

In a one sided affair Dewar’s White Label just didn’t have what it takes to test Johnnie Walker Gold.  It was quite a privilege to start this tournament with such a fine whisky. 

The other match was considered a minor upset as Johnnie Red edged Chivas 12yr  in a ‘drink off’ where we neededto go to the score cards to decide a tie vote. 

In this great first week match, Johnnie ensures at least one of the 4 brothers in this tournament is guaranteed a Final Four.

Popularity: 19% [?]

Kirin and Suntory in merger talks

The first and the third biggest Japanese whisky makers are discussing a merger, according to the Asahi Shinbun newspaper.　(Correction: I think this was actually originally from Nikkei)

Suntory, which owns the Yamazaki and Hakushu distilleries, already accounts for about 70 per cent of domestic whisky sales. Kirin is the third largest whisky maker, although it is far behind Nikka (owned by Asahi), which has about 20 per cent of the market.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Diageo to cut 900 jobs in Scotland

Drinks group Diageo, home to Guinness, Captain Morgan and Tanqueray, is cutting 900 jobs in Scotland as it closes one of its Glaswegian distilleries and consolidates its packaging operations from three sites to two in a bid to slash costs.

The move is expected to reduce costs by £40m as Diageo battles with the impact of the recession on cash-strapped drinkers. Two months ago the world’s largest drinks maker announced that sales over the first quarter of the year were down 7%, and it had dropped its inventory by a million cases to meet slumping demand.

The company, which employs almost 4,000 in Scotland, said it will close its distillery in Port Dundas, Glasgow, which first opened its doors in 1811 and employs about 140 people. The plant is a grain spirit distillery producing 39m litres of alcohol a year, which finds its way into Diageo brands including Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff.

Full Story

Popularity: 33% [?]