DIAGEO UNVEILS £MULTI-MILLION CASUAL EATING OPPORTUNITY FOR SPIRITS 

Diageo, the global leader in beverage alcohol, has identified a £100 million untapped spirits opportunity for the on-trade in the casual eating occasion.

The UK is rapidly moving towards a more casual eating culture, with the nation’s increasingly fluid lifestyles having a significant impact on consumers’ eating and drinking out habits. As a result, casual meals are in growth and the Casual Dining segment is currently experiencing strong growth of 6.8%[1] driven by consumer demand for affordability, flexibility and informality, as well as a quality dining experience.

Within the casual eating occasion, Spirits are the fastest growing alcohol category, growing at 17% YOY[2], with almost 50% of consumers citing alcohol as an important factor when choosing where to eat out[3]. However, through a bespoke piece of market research, Diageo has identified an additional £100 million RSV opportunity which operators can unlock by expanding their drinks repertoire beyond traditional beer and wine, and maximising the full potential of spirits.

Ronak Mashru, Sales Director at Diageo GB, says: “A trend towards a more casual culture of eating out is emerging and through our research we strongly believe that spirits present a huge growth opportunity in the casual eating occasion. We encourage operators to think about how they maximise this opportunity by inspiring consumers to choose spirits, educating their staff to upsell, and supporting them to achieve consistent quality through the perfect serve.”

To help operators grow their business through spirits, Diageo has invested in and expanded its sales team in a bid to reach more customers outside the traditional on-trade and has launched a range of cuisine-led serves to help outlets upsell spirits and inspire consumers to choose spirits when eating out.

To arrange a booking with the Diageo sales team or for more information on the new cuisine-led serves please email: CasualDiningGB@diageo.com

Diageo’s NEW Cuisine-Led Serves: 

AMERICAN: 

Bulleit Peanut Butter Cup Hard Shake 

Ingredients

50ml Bulleit® Bourbon

1 spoon peanut butter

25ml caramel syrup

100ml single cream

Crushed peanuts 

Recipe

Add the bourbon, peanut butter, caramel syrup and cream to a blender with a small scoop of ice

Blend to a smooth consistency

Pour into a milkshake glass

Garnish with crushed peanuts 

2.2 UK units

Mint Julep 

Ingredients

50ml Bulleit® Bourbon

15ml Sugar syrup

8-10 mint leaves

Sprig of mint 

Recipe

Add the bourbon, sugar syrup and mint leaves to a metal julep cup

Add a scoop of crushed ice

Mix through with a bar spoon

Cap with more crushed ice

Garnish with a sprig of mint 

2.2 UK units 

For more information, please contact the Diageo team at Clarion Communications on diageo@clarioncomms.co.uk 

For more information on the Spirit Revolution website, visit www.spirits-revolution.com 

About Diageo

Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands including Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, JεB, Buchanan’s and Windsor whiskies, Smirnoff, Cîroc and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Tanqueray and Guinness.

Diageo is listed on both the London Stock Exchange (DGE) and the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and our products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world. For more information about Diageo, our people, our brands, and performance, visit us at www.diageo.com. Visit Diageo’s global responsible drinking resource, www.DRINKiQ.com, for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practice.

Celebrating life, every day, everywhere.

[1] MC Allegra Eating Out Report 2015

[2] CGA Strategy Brand Index data to P01 23.01.2016

[3] CGA Peach Brandtrack, February 2015

Poteen – the spirit of Saint Patrick’s Day

Tomorrow is St Patrick’s Day, and while I will inevitably drink a pint of Guinness and a shot of Jameson, I try to spend the day looking at another side of Irish drinks. Last year I delved into the world of Irish cream liqueurs, but this time I’ve decided to step further back into Ireland’s drinking history and look at the original Irish spirit – poteen aka poitín.

These days, whiskey is the best-known spirit produced in Ireland, but back before commercial distilling, poteen was what people made and drank. Poitín, pronounced ‘potcheen’ and often anglicised as poteen or potcheen, is Irish for ‘little pot’, in reference to the small stills in people’s homes that were once used to make it. With advent of licensing, stills moved to more rural areas and poteen’s reputation as an underground spirit began.

Things have moved on over the past few hundred years

With the current rise of Irish spirits, it was inevitable that commercially produced poteen would appear, and while it’s still a young category, there’s already considerable variation between the small number of releases. I recently tried a few while visiting the Irish Embassy, and while there were no Ferrero Rocher, the poteen did impress me.

First up is Bán, pronounced ‘born’. This is the second edition of the company’s poteen, produced at Echlinville distillery in Northern Ireland. While the distillery hasn’t released any of its own whiskey yet, as it won’t be ready until at least August this year, the owners have let the folks from Bán use its equipment to produce a spirit that’s very different from their usual fare. While traditional poteen used grain as its base, over the years other sources of sugar were used by illicit distillers, depending on flavour, availability and cost. Bán has embraced this heritage and use a mixture of malted barley, sugar beet and potatoes, which makes for a complex spirit:

BAN POITIN, 48%

Nose: Sour cream, cinnamon toast and plasticine to start, with rich bready notes underneath – freshly sliced white bloomer and heavy German rye. The yeasty, bready notes grow, accompanied by black-pepper spice and sweet lemon cream.

Palate: Oily in texture and laden with sweet spice off the bat – cinnamon toast, clove and mace. Creaminess builds, with sweet milk chocolate and milky coffee balanced by underlying barrel-char and coffee-ground bitterness.

Finish: Creamy and clean, fading quickly to leave a hint of lemon Fondant Fancy.

Comment: Unexpectedly spicy and complex, with rich creaminess and carefully balanced sweetness. A tasty sipping spirit and one that I’d like to use to make sour cocktails.

At the other end of the poteen spectrum sits Glendalough. It is mainly known as an exciting new whiskey producer, with its own spirit still maturing and its award-winning releases using casks sourced from Cooley, but it also produces a range of bottlings that challenge the nature of poteen. While it is traditionally an unaged spirit, and Irish law both restricts the length of time it can be stored in wood to just 10 weeks and specifies what can be said  about the ageing on the label, Glendalough proudly calls its aged expression Sherry Cask Finish Poitin.

Glendalough’s poteen spends some time in sherry casks after distillation, giving it a very different character and colour to other poteens.

GLENDALOUGH SHERRY CASK FINISH POITIN

Nose: Cherry jam, menthol, strawberries and black pepper. Sweet medicinal notes – cough linctus and red Strepsils – are joined by red and black liquorice, fruit and malt loaves, and spicy cinnamon fireballs.

Palate: It starts with rich and spicy fruit cake – Dundee cake with dates rather than almonds on top – and rich Christmas pudding. The cherries from the nose then rush in, along with bitter liquorice pastilles and sweet Bertie-Bassett-shaped Liquorice Allsorts. Behind the sweet and fruity notes is a layer of charred oak bitterness, rich earthiness and hot cinnamon spiciness.

Finish: Dry spice, stewed apple, dates, Ryvita and cinnamon gobstoppers.

Comment: It may have only been in a cask for a short time – I suspect for longer than the 10 weeks the law allows – but it’s picked up a lot of sherry character.

As more new distilleries appear, I expect we’ll see many more poteens appearing – they are the equivalent of the gin and vodka being made at new distilleries elsewhere in the world. However, with years of tradition to draw on, I expect the differences to continue and look forward to a rich and varied category as Ireland’s distilling boom continues.

You can find these and more St Patrick’s Day ideas over on The Whisky Exchange website.

Lagavulin 8 year old 200th Anniversary Limited Release

200 years ago Lagavulin began legal distillation. Fast forward to 2016 and the world renowned distillery is still producing whisky of the highest standard. In the 1880’s Alfred Bernard tasted and fell in love with a remarkable 8 year old whisky which he described as “exceptionally fine”. Inspired by this beautiful expression, Lagavulin is celebrating its 200th Anniversary by recreating that exceptional 8 year old from all those years ago.

£51 – Pre-order your bottle of this very special limited edition today.

MARCH TASTINGS  

Chocolate & Whisky Pairing – The Vaults, Fri 18 Mar  More >

Central Europe Wine Dinner – 28 Queen St, Tue 22 Mar  More >

NEW – Sheffield Preview Tasting – Leopold Hotel, Fri 25 Mar  More >

April Outturn Preview – The Vaults, Thu 31 Mar  More >

FREE EVENTS AT THE VAULTS

6 Nations on the Big Screen – Next match Sun 13 Mar   More >

Peat Lovers’ Night – Tue 15 Mar   More >

Live music with Hot Tin Roof – Tue 22 Mar   More >

Browse All Events & Tastings >

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, The Vaults, 87 Giles Street, Leith EH6 6BZ

Contact: sales@smws.com or call 0131 555 2929 (Mon-Fri 9am-4.45pm). Visit the Society at here for membership information

This is your chance to join and to take advantage of their great offers!

Spot the SMWS bottles in this amusing You Tube video

United States

Michter’s US #1 Sour Mash Whiskey (750ml) $39.99 View

Canada

Whistle Pig 12 Year “Old World Marriage” Rye Whiskey (750ml) (1 bottle limit – ships as 1.5L) $119.99 View

Scotland

2000 Highland Park 13 Year Old Alexander Murray Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky (750ml) $89.99 View

K&L Wine Merchants
http://www.klwines.com
Phone: 877-KLWines (toll free 877-559-4637)
Email: wine@klwines.com
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA

Speyside’s hidden distillery gems open their doors for the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival exclusive tours

Whisky connoisseurs from around the globe have been scrambling for the chance to catch a glimpse inside the region’s hidden distillery gems during next month’s Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival.

Just four weeks after event tickets went on sale, over 80 distillery tours – many of them at venues not usually open to the public – have been completely sold out, while more than 50 exclusive whisky tasting events are now full.

But whisky fans will still find plenty of opportunity to learn more about distilleries in the region – a true powerhouse of Scotland’s whisky industry – when the Festival welcomes visitors from April 28 to May 2.

There are still tickets on sale which will allow visitors a sneak peek inside some distilleries that are throwing open their doors just for the Festival, ranging from exclusive VIP events down to free tours where guests enjoy a dram at the end.

And for the real aficionados, there are still opportunities to sample some rare and exclusive Speyside malts at tasting events being hosted by both world-leading brands and distilleries at the smaller end of the production scale.

Festival manager Pery Zakeri says the speed at which tickets have sold for distillery tours and whisky tasting events has taken organisers by surprise. They expect there will be a further rush on tickets before the curtain rises on the event.

She adds, “We know that events at distilleries not normally open to the public will sell very quickly, but the volume of tickets sold has been quite staggering. I think people now know that if they want the chance to see inside these distilleries, the only time they are going to be able to do that is during the Festival.

“But the good news is that some tickets are available, and the quality of the events is exceptional. There are quite a few events where guests are going to be given a very rare opportunity to sample some vintage malts and take part in unique experiences for a very reasonable cost.

“Our advice would be for visitors to make sure they book their tickets as soon as possible, because we fully anticipate that the vast majority of tours and tastings will sell out in advance of the Festival starting.”

Tours at venues such as Dalmunach, Knockando, Tomintoul and Inchgower distilleries sold out the day tickets went on sale, but limited numbers of tickets for tours of Aultmore, Speyside, Auchroisk, Dufftown and Coleburn – all usually closed to the public – are still available.

Whisky aficionados who want to push the boat out will be able to take part in some very exclusive events. Benromach Distillery is offering people with discerning noses the chance to select the next single cask that will be bottled as a Benromach Distillery Exclusive.

Guests will be able to nose and taste a selection of cask samples before voting for their favourite, and then writing up the tasting notes. The £100 ticket price also includes a bottle of the malt once it has been bottled.

There’s also the chance to visit Drummuir Castle, the home of Diageo, which is only open to the company’s guests. The event costs £195 and will include a visit to Mortlach Distillery, a tutored in-depth nosing and tasting of the Mortlach range and a fine dining experience during which guests will enjoy wines from the cellars and an opportunity to pair whisky with food.

Visitors can learn about illicit distilling and whisky smuggling with Glenlivet Hill Trek, who will be transporting guests by eight-wheel-drive argocat into the hills above Glenlivet Distillery for an off-road tour. The ticket price of £130 includes a picnic lunch with a selection of drams in a stone-built bothy followed by an in-depth tour of The Glenlivet Distillery, which pioneer George Smith was the first to license as a distillery in the parish of Glenlivet in 1824.

In contrast, The Whisky Shop Dufftown will be staging taste challenges where visitors will be asked to vote on their favourite drams from the Speyside region and the rest of the world. The ticket price for these events is just £5, and includes samples of a range of top quality malts.

Whisky Shop Dufftown owner Mike Lord has also arranged some in-store extravaganzas with world renowned brands including Wemyss Malts and Gordon and MacPhail which are completely free of charge, as is the chance to browse and sample whisky at Logie Steading near Forres.

The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival programme comprises almost 500 different events including distillery tours and tastings, outdoor activities, arts and crafts, food, music and comedy.

Tickets for all events in the 2016 Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival programme are available to buy now at www.spiritofspeyside.com. The Festival is also active on social media – facebook.com/WhiskyFestival and @spirit_speyside on Twitter and on Instagram.

Notes

The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival is committed to promoting responsible drinking. Visitors travelling to and from festival events can take advantage of a range of transport options. Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival has received funding from Highlands and Islands Enterprise and is also financially supported by many other private and public partners.

The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival is part financed by the European Regional Development Fund Programme 2014 to 2020. The Scottish Government is the managing authority for the European Regional Development Fund Programme.

Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design

2016 will shine a spotlight on Scotland’s achievements in innovation, architecture and design through a wide-ranging, variety of new and existing activity.

The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design will run from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2016 and will build on the momentum generated by the 2015 Year of Food and Drink as well as previous years including Homecoming Scotland 2014, the Year of Creative and the Year of Natural.

Through a series of exciting events and activity, the year will showcase Scotland’s position as an “innovation nation”, its outstanding built heritage, and its thriving, internationally acclaimed fashion, textiles and design sector.

The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design is a Scottish Government initiative being led by VisitScotland, supported by partners including Scottish Government, Creative Scotland, Architecture + Design Scotland, Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Enterprise, The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS).

The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design events fund is managed by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate

Whisky Month 2016

• May is Whisky Month in Scotland, inviting visitors and locals to sample Scotland’s national drink and explore the subtle blend of stories and provenance behind our vast array of marvellous malts.
• In 2016, Whisky Month will also celebrate the 2016 Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design, turning the spotlight on other related areas, such as the famous feats of engineering and innovation in today’s whisky industry as well as the distinct architecture of many of Scotland’s wonderful distilleries.
• To encourage even more visitors to sample Scotland’s whisky a series of eBooks are available. Each book focuses on one of the country’s five distinctive whisky-producing regions in Scotland – Campbeltown, Islay, Speyside, Lowland and Highland.  VisitScotland’s The Land of Whisky guides can be downloaded at visitscotland.com/see-do/food-drink/whisky/distilleries
• Find out more and search for events, recipes and trails at visitscotland.com/see-do/food-drink/whisky/whisky-month and join the conversation using #WhiskyMonth

Cask No. 31.30                              $205 

Going Dutch

Highland, Island

This one took us to old Amsterdam; first stop was a cobbler’s shop selling traditionally handmade clogs. Next we entered an antiquarian bookshop with a coal burning fire in the back room and finally we went into an old fashioned apothecary. Then we stopped and had a bite to eat – a plate of cured meat with Jenever followed by a black cherry and kirsch truffle dessert. A drop of water and we happily headed to an Amsterdam coffee shop famous for its ‘cannabis cups’, the ideal place to relax and reminisce over the day’s events and to plan the next adventure.

Drinking tip: Ideal with a charcuterie board

Colour: Lemon curd

Cask: Refill hogshead

Age: 26 years

Date distilled: September 1988

Alcohol: 48.4%

USA allocation: 120 bottles

Flavour profile: Old & dignified 

*President’s Choice* 

Cask No. 64.59                               $115

Gymkhanas and gym class

Speyside, Lossie

A gaggle of girls perched on dusty haybales as they fussed over groomed ponies. The scent of oiled wood mingled with plaited manes and well worn leather saddles. They feasted on well stewed apple and cinnamon crumble with creamy toffee sauce, along with hazelnut praline. The giggling girls pursed their cherry lips in surprise at the sudden heat. They fed their ponies waxy apples and hard pears. They bounced old basket balls on freshly cut grass, then lolled in the sun while weaving daffodils into their hair. They munched on banana bread with clotted cream washed down with homemade ginger beer.

Drinking tip: With friends – it’s a cheery wee soul

Colour: Fading Summer sun

Cask: First-fill barrel

Age: 11 years

Date distilled: June 2003

Alcohol: 62.6%

USA allocation: 120 bottles

Flavour profile: Spicy & sweet 

Cask No. 30.87                              $135

A skinny dipping dram

Speyside, Spey

The panel jumped straight in and found treacle tart, baked prunes, smoked paprika, cinnamon and plums. Bubbles of aroma popped on the nose with heather, toasted brioche, walnut oil and fragrant bergamot. One felt it bracing like sea air after a dip. The taste was curiously herbaceous with bamboo shoots and wicker cane. A bracing picnic of jacket potatoes, sultana cake, coffee chocolate fudge and black tea from a billy can. Old fashioned canvas tents and camphor reminded one of Scottish holidays. A good dram to have once you had bagged a Munro. Not complicated but ticked all the boxes.

Drinking tip: When you are out and about in the great outdoors!

Colour: Mariner’s bell

Cask: Refill Port Pipe

Age: 14 years

Date distilled: March 2001

Alcohol: 55.6%

USA allocation: 150 bottles

Flavour profile: Spicy & dry 

Cask No. 10.85                              $150

Live life on the edge!

Islay

From the word go it became clear this was no ordinary dram. Imagine yourself opening a box of brand new leather riding boots, or squeezing a tube of double concentrate tomato puree or drinking a hot steaming mug of Bovril to which you have added Maggi seasoning sauce. The taste was sweet, thick and comforting like a steamed treacle sponge pudding and sherry soaked raisins in an almond cake. Adding water, and we were horse-riding across an empty beach on the Costa de la Luz during a short sharp shower and we ended up eating bacon-wrapped dates with a glass of Amontillado.

Drinking tip: YOLO!

Colour: Amber with an orange glow

Cask: Second-fill butt

Age: 17 years

Date distilled: April 1998

Alcohol: 55.8%

USA allocation: 90 bottles

Flavour profile: Deep, rich & dried fruits

Cask No. 42.17                              $100

Beachcomber’s dram

Highland, Island

The unreduced nose evoked various suggestions from the panel – warm hay bales, rum-soaked sultanas, ginger cake, honey drizzled on fried bananas, Thai prawns and a new car. The palate was robust, sinewy and youthful, but we had no trouble enjoying its hot, sweet flavours neat – dark chocolate, pineapple, mango and gooseberry; Liquorice Allsorts ice-cream (is there such a thing?); bacon rolls and balsamic reduction. The reduced nose found light smoke, quite a bit of vanilla, burnt toast and wood and plastic gathered on a pebble beach. The reduced palate suggested scorched rhubarb, dark sugar and pepper and salt on fried food.

Drinking tip: One to take wild camping – on the coast

Colour: Star-bright platinum

Cask: Refill hogshead

Age: 9 years

Date distilled: April 2006

Alcohol: 60.9%

USA allocation: 90 bottles

Flavour profile: Oily & coastal

Please visit the Scotch Malt Whisky Society of American at http://www.smwsa.com/ for further information.

THURSDAY 31 MARCH
AT 7.30PM
£40 PER TICKET

Tickets on sale
17 March at 3pm
BOOK YOUR TICKET »

WITH STEWART BUCHANAN

Join The Whisky Exchange and Benriach brand ambassador Stewart Buchanan for an evening of whisky from the heart of Speyside, including our exclusive 1998 single-cask PX-finished bottling. Once a little-known distillery making whisky for blends, Benriach is now one of the best-loved producers in Speyside. Taken over by Billy Walker in 2004, it relaunched as a single malt distiller and quickly turned heads. Now its wide range covers everything from delicate old whiskies in the classic Speyside style to brash young peated drams.

Joining us for the evening will be brand ambassador and former distillery manager Stewart Buchanan. Stewart started in the industry in 1993 at Tobermory, Billy Walker’s former stomping ground. He moved to Benriach with Billy, and became distillery manager in 2008. He is now the distillery’s global brand ambassador, roaming the world teaching people about the whiskies he has helped create.

We will be trying eight whiskies from across the distillery’s extensive range:

Benriach Birnie Moss Intensely Peated
Benriach 10 Year Old
Benriach 12 Year Old Sherry Wood
Benriach 15 Year Old Port Finish
Benriach 17 Year Old Septendecim
Benriach 1998 17 Year Old PX Finish – TWE Exclusive
Benriach 25 Year Old
Benriach 35 Year Old

The tasting will take place on Thursday 31 March at 7.30pm

£40 per ticket

BOOK YOUR TICKET »

Tickets go on sale 17 March at 3pm

VENUE

THE JUDGE’S COURT, BROWNS,
82-84 ST MARTIN’S LANE,
LONDON WC2N 4AG

PLEASE ARRIVE AT THE VENUE FROM 7.15PM FOR A 7.30PM START

Whisky Ramblings Via Video #124

Mark Dermul, Belgian Whiskyblogger, tries another duty free expression from his favorite distillery. Auchentoshan recently launched two new expressions in the Global Travel Retail segment. A no age statement Blood Oak and a 24 Year Old Noble Oak. The Noble Oak – another a great name! – is a vatting of triple distilled Auchentoshan matured on bourbon casks and oloroso sherry wine casks and is the successor of the celebrated Silveroak. The result, bottled at 50,3% ABV, is a fine dessert dram from the Lowlands

https://youtu.be/nsPIt3xAUAs

Banff 1966 Rare Old

Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky