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11 October 2012

Breckenridge Distillery Planning Expansion

From Shanken:

With volume surging, Colorado’s Breckenridge Distillery has embarked on an expansion plan to keep up with rising demand across its 30-state distribution footprint. Known for its Breckenridge Bourbon ($42 a bottle) and Breckenridge vodka ($26), the company’s orders for 2012 to date—totaling 20,000 six-pack cases—have more than doubled compared with all of 2011. Colorado, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Illinois and Massachusetts currently rank among the craft distiller’s top markets.

Breckenridge founder and CEO Bryan Nolt tells Shanken News Daily the company has now broken ground on “phase two” of its growth plan, which includes increasing its Bourbon distillation from a few barrels a day to a maximum capacity of 15 barrels a day. “When that’s complete,” he adds, “we plan to head straight into phase three, increasing our barrel house holding capacity to 15,000 barrels.”

While its Bourbon and vodka have so far led the way, Breckenridge is preparing to spread its wings with several new products. Its Breckenridge bitters ($32) are currently being launched in select markets, and over the next month it will be releasing a few thousand bottles each of several specialty spirits, including a spiced rum, Colorado pear and peach eaux de vie, a chili vodka and a peach Bourbon liqueur.

A few new whiskey releases are also in the works. Breckenridge plans to introduce a single-barrel Bourbon packaged in a decanter and leather gift box this fall and will release a limited-edition spiced Bourbon around the holidays. Finally, next year the distillery will begin rolling out smaller-format bottles of a new barley whiskey, which Nolt says is made in the “Scotch style, but with a maximum utilization of specialty malts.” This Scotch-style Colorado whiskey is already garnering more than its share of interest, he adds, even with its release still several months off.
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10 October 2012

Johnnie Walker - The Strongest Spirit in 2011

BROMSGROVE, England, October 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/justmalt/ --

A brand new report has revealed that Johnnie Walker retained its position as the leading global spirits brand in 2011.

The annual report entitled 'Top Performing Spirits Brands' was recently published for the second time by just-drinks and IWSR. It confirms that out of the 124 brands ranked by volume, value and growth, Diageo owned Johnnie Walker was rated as the clear leader on the international stage.

Johnnie Walker also came out top in just-drinks' own survey, having been awarded an impressive 341 points for brand strength by readers worldwide. LVMH's Hennessy Cognac was named second strongest brand with 339 points followed by Pernod Ricard's Chivas Regal.

Scotch Whiskey also dominant

Scotch Whiskey also outperformed all other categories, accounting for 33 of the best-selling individual brands. This is largely attributable to Scotch's universal popularity, a strength that escapes many of its rivals. Vodka, rum, non-Scotch whiskies and tequila all featured prominently in the survey, boasting 21, 12, 10 and seven leading brands respectively.

The report was compiled by IWSR editor Alexander Smith and combines quantitative and qualitative research with insightful industry opinion to identify the best-performing brands in any given year. The annual volume, value and growth data is complemented by the findings of just-drinks' unique spirit brand ratings survey.

To obtain the full report and user-friendly additional Excel files, please go to: Top Performing Spirits Brands.

About just-drinks.com

Established in 1999, just-drinks is a leading online resource for the global beverage industry, publishing around 20 news articles, analysis features and insights every working day. Under the direction of managing editor Olly Wehring, its experienced team of journalists, consultants and analysts provide a unique and comprehensive blend of reports and interpretation of the beverage industry, including key events, trends, interviews and research that is delivered to over 92,000 business executives per month.

Via its web site, webinars and in-depth management briefings just-drinks offers insight into soft drinks, wine, beer, liqueur and whiskies industry developments and supply-chain trends, brand and corporate strategies, CONSULT research platform, enterprise technologies such as PLM and ERP. Furthermore, just-drinks supplies news on manufacturing developments and how the drinking industry retailers perform around the world.
For details of how just-drinks is helping decision-makers make decisions, visit http://www.just-drinks.com

PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1pFih)

09 October 2012

Rebel Yell–Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

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Rebel Yell–Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey – 40% ABV, 50 ml, 200 ml, 375 ml, 1 Liter, 1.75 Liter.

The Dalmore Launches First Single Malt Scotch Collection In U.S. For Over $200,000

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NEW YORK, Oct. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/justmalt/ -- A new collection of some of the world's rarest single malts has launched at the Houston location of Spec's, one of the largest wine, spirits and fine food retailers in Texas. For the first time in the U.S., The Dalmore has released the Constellation Collection – the brand's very best whiskies created at its iconic Scottish Highland distillery between the years 1964 to 1992. The rare collection, which in its entirety will be sold for $250,000, was released to the public for sale on October 8th at an in-store unveiling.



The Dalmore Constellation Collection consists of 21 individual vintage expressions, which have spent their lives finessing in the finest casks from around the world before being bottled at natural cask strength and at natural color to ensure that none of the collection's character has been diluted. Each expression is housed in a spectacular hand-blown crystal decanter, which has been engraved by hand and adorned with a solid silver stag. The Dalmore plans to only release nine full collections in cities around the world such as London, Paris, Moscow, and Hong Kong.

"It is with great pleasure to introduce the Constellation Collection at Spec's and to the United States," says David Robertson, Rare Whisky Director at The Dalmore. "These rare bottles of whisky, often referred to as Investment Grade Scotch, are rapidly becoming a hot commodity in the alternative investment market, and outperforming luxury goods such as gold and diamonds. These single cask whiskies from The Dalmore distillery are a truly remarkable piece of craftsmanship. They will certainly stand the test of time and continue to rise in value year after year."

Investment Grade Scotch has made waves in the media recently for high-ticket prices and even more so, their return on investment. In the last two years, The Dalmore has sold a number of rare and precious whiskies in record time. The Dalmore's Sirius peaked at $16,140 a bottle, and with only 12 available worldwide in 2009, the bottles sold out in four days and now have changed hands for twice that price. The Dalmore is also the fastest growing malt whisky in the world amongst the top 25 global malt brands, as verified by the IWSR (International Wine & Spirits Research), and is rated the top investment whisky by independent authority Whisky Highland.

"The Constellation Collection is an extremely rare and precious offering, and our customers will appreciate the opportunity to purchase something that only a few other people in the world have the privilege of owning," says John Rydman, CEO of Spec's. "Our customers who purchase some of the rarest bottles of scotch understand that this can be a superior alternative investment, actually outperforming some traditional alternative investment assets, and we are confident this collection will attract the right buyer."

The Dalmore distillery has been producing exceptional single malt whisky since 1839 and has some of the oldest and rarest stocks of any Highland distillery. Crafted using a process which has been perfected over the last 150 years, The Dalmore is now the world's fastest growing single malt and is home of the record-breaking The Dalmore Trinitas 64 year old and a number of other rare expressions such as Sirius, Selene, Candela and Oculus.

Parent Company History:
Whyte & Mackay was founded on the docks of Glasgow in 1844 by James Whyte & Charles Mackay. As part of its award winning portfolio of spirits, Whyte & Mackay also own The Dalmore, Jura and Glayva liqueur.

Whyte & Mackay was bought by The UB Group in 2007, one of India's largest conglomerates with diverse interests in aviation, brewing, distilling, engineering, fertilizers, biotechnology, information technology and real estate. Becoming part of United Spirits Limited means that the Whyte & Mackay brands are now part of the world's second largest drinks group. For more information on The UB Group or United Spirits please log on to www.theubgroup.com

Spec's Company Information:
Since 1962, family-owned Spec's has been providing exceptional service and an impressive selection of unique finds for hungry and thirsty Texans. With locations all across Texas, this once-small company now has tens of thousands of products in Texas Superstores(SM), including thousands of wines and spirits, mixers, hundreds of craft beers, walk -in humidors, gourmet foods and accessories.

PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1pAfh)
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Whiskey Advocate WhiskeyFest 10/16-10/27 In NY City

From Shanken:

Coming off of a sold-out showing at WhiskyFest San Francisco on October 5, Whisky Advocate is gearing up for its first-ever WhiskyFest Weekend, to be held at New York City’s Marriott Marquis Times Square on October 26 and 27. WhiskyFest New York 2012 will include Grand Tastings on Friday and Saturday evenings—with more than 250 of the world’s finest whiskies on offer—as well as a host of whisky seminars running from 9am to 3pm Saturday. VIP packages for the event are already sold out, but tickets remain for both Grand Tasting sessions as well as the seminars. Purchase them here.

WhiskyFest’s new Saturday seminar program replaces the whisky seminars held in prior years during the Grand Tastings themselves, allowing aficionados and newcomers alike to dig deeper into their favorite whiskies in the expert-led seminars while still maximizing their time on the Grand Tasting floor. Seminar topics and speakers will include:

•Opening remarks by Whisky Advocate editor and publisher John Hansell

•Whisky collecting and auctions- Whisky Advocate’s Jonny McCormick and Bonhams whisky specialist Martin Green describe the exploding auction and collecting scene. They will offer tips on collecting and participating in whisky auctions, highlighted by the whiskies offered for tasting; very rare bottlings that have starred on the auction block:

  • Glenmorangie 1963 Vintage, presented by Dr. Bill Lumsden
  • The Glenlivet Cellar Collection (1983 Vintage), presented by Ian Logan
  • Gold Bowmore, presented by Iain McCallum
  • Balvenie Islay Cask 17 year old, presented by Sam Simmons
  • Brora 30 year old, presented by Nick Morgan

•Debut whisky #1, Scotch - John Glaser of Compass Box Whisky introduces Great King Street Limited Edition New York Blend with Whisky Advocate contributor David Wondrich

•Trending Scotch whisky - Whisky Advocate’s Dave Broom leads a discussion about current directions in Scotch whisky: brand premiumization, smoky blends, designer whiskies and single malt extremes. The panel is an A-list of master distillers and blenders, talking about the cutting edge whiskies that typify these trends:

  • Richard Paterson – Dalmore Castle Leod
  • Matthew Crow – Johnnie Walker Double Black
  • Dr. Bill Lumsden – Glenmorangie Malaga Wood Finish 30 year
  • Simon Coughlin – Bruichladdich Octomore 4.2

•Debut whiskey #2, Bourbon - Truman Cox, Master Distiller of A. Smith Bowman distillery, unveils a top-secret new Bourbon

•Understanding Irish: deciphering single pot still, single malt, and blended Irish whiskey - Take a tour of Ireland with Whisky Advocate’s Dominic Roskrow; learn—and taste—the differences between the whiskeys of Ireland: grain, single pot still, blended, and single malt. The tasting part will include some very special examples of each, presented by the master distillers who make them:

  • Noel Sweeney from the Cooley distillery will be pouring a very special Grain whiskey – Greenore 8 year old
  • Barry Crockett of Midleton distillery will pour Powers John's Lane and Jameson Rarest Vintage Reserve (Blend)
  • Colum Egan of Bushmills distillery treats us to a very special Bushmills 21 year old single malt

•Lagavulin Lunch - Time to relax and enjoy a delicious lunch... and some more whiskies. After your meal, Dr. Nick Morgan of Diageo will lead us through a tasting comparison of three special Lagavulin whiskies: Lagavulin 16, Lagavulin Distillers Edition, and the very limited 2012 Lagavulin 21 year old Special Release.

•Debut whiskey #3, Irish - Barry Crockett from the Midleton distillery will present the U.S. debut of Barry Crockett Legacy


•Bourbon and rye innovations – Whisky Advocate’s Lew Bryson will lead a discussion of the recent profusion of innovations in Bourbon and rye. Joining him will be three legendary master distillers and one young pioneer, pouring some very special new releases:

  • Harlen Wheatley - Buffalo Trace Single Oak Project, comparing two Single Oak bottlings
  • Craig Beam – Parker's Heritage Collection new 2012 release
  • Chris Morris - Woodford Reserve Master's Collection new 2012 release
  • David Perkins – High West "Campfire" (a blend of Bourbon, rye and Scotch!)

•A tasting of select Whisky Advocate award-winning whiskies - Moderated by John Hansell, but includes the entire Whisky Advocate review team of Lew Bryson, Dave Broom, Gavin Smith, and Dominic Roskrow. Taste a representative sampling of the 18th Annual Whisky Advocate Awards winners published in the spring issue of Whisky Advocate magazine. The chosen pours, along with the Whisky Advocate contributors who will be presenting their rationale for the choices:

  • Lew Bryson: Canadian Whisky of the Year - Wiser's 18 year old
  • Dominic Roskrow: Blended/Blended Malt Whisky of the Year - Compass Box Great King Street
  • Dave Broom: Islay Single Malt of the Year - Bruichladdich 10 year old
  • Gavin Smith: Lowland/Campbeltown Single Malt of the Year - Springbank 18 year old (2nd edition)
  • Dominic Roskrow: Irish Whiskey of the Year - Redbreast 12 year old Cask Strength
  • John Hansell: American Whiskey of the Year - Elijah Craig 20 year old

08 October 2012

Albany–New Make Whiskey, Bourbon Whiskey, Rye Whiskey, Rye Malt Whiskey, Single Malt Whiskey, Corn Whiskey, Light Whiskey

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Albany–New Make Whiskey (40% ABV, 750 ml), Bourbon Whiskey (40% ABV, 750 ml), Rye Whiskey (40% ABV, 750 ml), Rye Malt Whiskey (40% ABV, 750 ml), Single Malt Whiskey (40% ABV, 750 ml), Corn Whiskey (40% ABV, 750 ml), Light Whiskey (40% ABV, 750 ml).

Black Velvet Canadian Whiskey Launching Toasted Caramel

From Shanken:

•Constellation Brands’ Black Velvet Canadian whisky brand is entering the flavored whisk(e)y arena with a new variant—Toasted Caramel. The 70-proof extension is available now nationwide for a suggested retail price of $12.49 a 750-ml. The brand’s lineup previously included Black Velvet Original and Black Velvet Reserve 8-year-old. The flavored whiskey category is among the fastest-growing areas of the U.S. spirits market, up 114.5% in case volume in Nielsen channels in the 52-week period ending September 15, 2012, lead by entries like Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey, Beam’s Red Stag, Wild Turkey American Honey and Evan Williams’ flavored reserves, among others. In other company news, Constellation has secured exclusive U.S. import rights to Carlsberg’s Somersby cider, marking its entry into another fast-growing segment. U.S. cider volume rose 23% to 5.7 million cases last year, according to Impact Databank.

07 October 2012

Dark Corner - Lucid Whiskey

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Dark Corner - Lucid Whiskey--750ml, 50% ABV.
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Signatory Vintage - Glenlochy 1980, Glenglassaugh 1979, Islay Laphroaig 1998, Lowland Bladnoch 993, Highland Mortlach 1999, Highland Mortlach 1990, Highland Auchroisk 1990, Dailuaine Speyside 1997, Longmoren Speyside 2002 & Benrinnes Speyside 1999

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Signatory Vintage - Glenlochy 1980 (750ml,53.8% ABV), Glenglassaugh 1979 (750ml, 50.7% ABV), Islay Laphroaig 1998 (750ml, 56.2% ABV), Lowland Bladnoch 1993 (750ml, 56.7% ABV), Highland Mortlach 1999 (750ml, 43% ABV), Highland Mortlach 1990 (750ml, 52.8% ABV), Highland Auchroisk 1990 (750ml, 60.8% ABV), Dailuaine Speyside 1997 (750ml, 46% ABV), Longmoren Speyside 2002 (750ml,46% ABV) & Benrinnes Speyside 1999 (750ml, 59.2% ABV).

Heaven Hill - Tom Sims 4-year Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

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Heaven Hill - Tom Sims 4-year Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey--100ml, 40% ABV.

06 October 2012

Red River Texas Bourbon Whiskey

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Red River Texas Bourbon Whiskey--750ml, 41.2% ABV.

Cragganmore & Glenturret Distilleries - Single Malt Scotch Whiskey 21-year & 18-year

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Cragganmore Distillery - Single Malt Scotch Whiskey 21-year, one of 264 bottles charges from a refill hogshead, bottled for the Loch & key society--750ml, 52.2% ABV.
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Glenturret Distillery - Single Malt Scotch Whiskey 18-year, one of 2354 bottles charges from a refill hogshead, bottled for the Loch & key society--750ml, 49.9% ABV.