JULIAN VAN WINKLE SITS AT HIS DESK IN THE SUBURBS OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, STARES OUT OF HIS OFFICE WINDOW, AND ALL BUT WINCES. I have only asked one question, one which I thought was a pretty straightforward one – about the healthy state of the American whiskey industry in general and his Van Winkle range in particular. “The thing is,” he says after some thought, “we haven’t…

Though the 16 American bars on Drinks International’s World’s 50 Best Bars list vary widely in focus – from high-volume cocktail bars such as Trick Dog to high-end hotel cocktail bars such as Elephant Bar at the Nomad Hotel to whisky bars Canon and Dead Rabbit to the molecular mixology mecca that is The Aviary – common trends emerge when we look at them…

TASTES ARE CHANGING. Bitter foods and drinks are challenging the palate and coaxing consumers to experiment with bitter alcoholic beverages, breathing new life into a rather staid category.  “For decades, bitter was the redheaded stepchild of flavour in the US, taking a backseat to salty, savoury and sweet,” Dave Karraker, Campari America vice president of engagement and advocacy says. “But the American palate…

OLD TOM’S BEGINNINGS WERE DRIVEN BY COMMODITY, INVENTION AND DESIRE. But the details of both the name and style aren’t straightforward. Holes in history and the romance of storytelling – and drinks marketing – present exciting theories.  It’s likely that Old Tom was the nickname for a cat. This cat appeared on signs of houses that were selling bootleg gin and it was started…

At the WSET Building on February 24 judges David Longfield, freelance; Richard Bampfield, wine educator and consultant; and Justin Smith, publisher Drinks International handed out the following accolades.   Best Integrated Campaign  Winner: Chapel Down Chapel Down Wines’ Share the Passion crowdfunding campaign took Best Integrated Campaign in the closely fought category. The two judges – Bampfield declared a vested interest having worked with the…

In a formal statement the wine warehouse chain said it had acquired Naked Wines, a customer funded international online wine business, to create an “international, multi-channel specialist wine retailing group”. The deal is worth up to £70 million, which includes approximately £50 million payable on completion in cash, plus up to £20 million contingent consideration payable in Majestic’s ordinary shares. Cash consideration is being funded…

……………………………………………….. CHAMPAGNE IS AT A CROSSROADS. Growth in consumption has stagnated over the past seven years since the 2007 peak. French domestic sales have been in decline for the past four, falling back to pre-1997 levels and although France remains the largest single market this downward trend is expected to continue.  Other large mature European markets like Italy and Germany look unlikely…

Jim Beam Apple will be available at an RRP of £19.70 and is set for release in the UK, Germany and Poland in May. Janice McIntosh, marketing controller for imported whiskies at UK distributor Maxxium UK, said the release won’t cannibalise the other Jim Beam flavours and hopes it will add to the growth of American whiskey in the UK.  “We have to learn from…

………………………………………………………………. HISTORICALLY, THE TWIN FRENCH ICONS OF CHAMPAGNE AND COGNAC HAVE BEEN MUCH PRIZED IN RUSSIA, from the days of the tsars to the age of the oligarchs. But doing business in Russia has never been a simple affair – witness the country’s rather slapdash attitude to cognac’s GI status, not to mention its current economic plight. So, while the Russian cognac market…

Tang will initially be available at DFS Hong Kong until May, when distribution will extend to select partner restaurants in China. “When we succeeded in creating Tang, it made sense to us that China be the first in the world to experience it,” said Guillaume Dock, Bacardi’s global research and development director. “With green tea forming the cornerstone of Tang, we believe we have created…