Talk show host and wine lover Graham Norton is releasing a South Australian Shiraz following the international success of his Sauvignon Blanc. He teamed up with Invivo Wines in 2014 and has sold more than 500K bottles of his own Sauvignon Blanc by Invivo, and now aims to replicate the success with his new Shiraz. The inaugural Graham Norton’s Own 2015 Shiraz will be released this October and is a blend of grapes from South Australian regions Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Langhorne Creek.
Tim Lightbourne, Invivo’s Marketing Director, said, “We asked Graham if he would be keen to make a South Australian Shiraz, which he was really excited by, so we took six or seven samples from across South Australia and he chose his favourite blend.
Baileys has unveiled Baileys Pumpkin Spice, a limited edition flavour set to spice up drinks menus this Autumn.
The new product blends Baileys Original Irish Cream flavoured with autumn spices such as cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.
Inspired by the key ingredient in American-style pumpkin pies, Baileys’ seasonal blend is already proving a hit in the U.S.,where it was a Gold Medal winner at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
Marina Thompson, Baileys Europe Brand Manager, said, “We have created a seasonal twist on Baileys by combining the luxurious taste of Baileys Original Irish Cream with the flavour of autumnal spices.”
She added, “There’s also a growing trend towards the coffee cocktail, presenting outlets with a huge opportunity to drive incremental sales and cash margin. The coffee category is currently in growth, with 70 million cups of coffee being drunk in the UK every day.”
Baileys Pumpkin Spice is available from 1 September until stocks last.
Scottish vodka brand Ogilvy is shaking things up with a new range of premixed drinks.
Launched in three blends, the Perfect Pour line is made from ingredients sourced locally to the small batch producer’s farm in Forfar, Angus.
Ogilvy’s Graeme Jarron stressed the importance of keeping things local. He said, “We have tried to work closely with local suppliers as much as possible. The raspberries and elderflower are grown and pressed locally here in Angus. The raspberries are grown in nearby walled gardens, not polytunnels, which gives them a fantastic natural flavour and colour.”
Starting with a base of Ogilvy Potato Vodka, 001 Milton Mule adds dashes of Scottish raspberry juice and lime; 002 Ogilvy Orchard combines apple and elderflower, while 003 Cottarhouse Cooler boasts a zing of lemon, lime and mint.
They can be mixed with tonic, lemonade, ginger beer or Prosecco.
BenRiach Distillery has released Batch 13 of its renowned single cask bottlings. It comprises twelve superb casks that were bottled in June and all are now available. The twelve go from 40 to 16 years old, demonstrating a hugely eclectic range of expressions for which multi award-winning BenRiach is renowned worldwide.
The variety sets BenRiach’s single cask series apart, including whiskies in the classic Speyside style, peated expressions and wood finishes, such as Tawny Port, Burgundy, Pedro Ximenez Sherry, Claret, Madeira and Tokaj.
All twelve casks have been hand-selected by Master Distiller, Billy Walker, who described them as “truly sensational” and added, “Our much-anticipated batches allow us to identify very special casks in our inventory and every single cask bottling is an exclusive limited release. I have selected these twelve casks because they are outstanding and full of personality.”
Amongst them are some real highlights but the standout is the oldest from 1975. Cask 7028, at 53% vol, is a gleaming rich amber peated Sherry Butt. On the nose, it bursts with tropical fruits and ripe banana with the most distant hint of campfire embers, while the taste is of plum skins, dark raisins and hints of yellow pear which hold a robust peat reek. Rich vintage leather and old oaky characters add a classic aged depth.
Katharine Gemmell will be following our DRAM Mixxit Bar Apprentice of the Year 2016 each week as a quasi-contestant to experience the competition and let us know what they have been up to.
Day one of the DRAM Mixxit Bar Apprentice course begins nice and early, and I get the impression that this doesn’t mix well with our contestants’ late night bar schedules. A few coffees later and we are introduced to our first master mixologist – David Miles. You can tell that cocktails are in David’s blood: he tells us that he started out on the back bar and worked his way up to his current position as a key member of the Mixxit team. David stresses that working in the drinks business is the best job in the world as it’s always interactive and fun. He jokes that there are people who sell cat food for a living and enjoy it – so just think what selling premium alcohol liquids for a living must feel like! Inevitably my first thoughts are – ‘How do I get his job?!’. A few of the other contestants are obviously thinking the same thing as David laughs that someone always asks this question and it just serves to show how starting off as a bartender can take you to may different places in life.
We then move on to the first question of the day: ‘What makes a good bartender?’. Answers pour out ranging from patience and confidence to interest and attention. David agrees with all the answers and gives us all key advice that should drive us – to make sure that people leave our bar a wee bit happier than when they came in (of course not accounting for the alcohol in their system!). A grounding in the basics is next on the agenda as we learn the essential build of making a drink; the 7 mixed drinks families; and are given a history lesson on some key drinks facts. David grinds into us that cocktail making is an art and jokes that you can teach anybody to pour a pint – I beg to differ as I think of my atrocious pouring skills – but his emphasis on creativity is very much being ingrained into us.
After our morning of theory, David gets us to put all that we have learned into practice. This signals our first cocktail making session of the competition – focusing on the sour family. But first, we are asked the most important question of cocktail making (one I’ve always wondered about): shaken or stirred? The answer: shake it if it has fruit or dairy and stir it if there is just alcohol (and sugar).
First up to get their hands dirty is Chris with an attempt at making a Whiskey Sour. He admits that he’s only ever used pasteurised egg whites from a carton and learns a messy lesson in getting the white separated from the yolk. He tastes the cocktail and, modestly, gives a humble reaction; however, David says this is no good. He teaches us that when we taste cocktails in front of customers, we have to give a reaction that they will fully believe in.
Loren is next up making a classic Daiquiri. I shamefully realise that I don’t actually know what a classic Daiquiri looks like as I’m only familiar with the radioactive, frozen variety. We taste it and although it is delicious, David advises that Loren needs to make sure to shake it for 10-12 seconds to ensure it is cold enough – as this massively improves the flavour. Marc then gets up and does the Daiquiri again so that he can shake it for longer. Of course, David is quite right.
Gavin is then chosen to make a Sidecar, a cocktail made with cognac. Cognac isn’t an ingredient that I imagined would be popular on modern cocktail menus, but it turns out to be a really tasty and versatile ingredient. This gets us thinking about ingredients we may not have previously used and to think outside the box when thinking about new flavours. Joseph is then asked to create a Between The Sheets – it is the same as the Sidecar but with the addition of rum. This makes me realise that if you know the fundamental families you can make anything. As Joseph shakes his heart out, the jokes around cheeky or awkward (whatever way you see it) customer comments on ‘you’ve done that before’ arise and all the bartenders nod in common consensus at this universal embarrassing joke.
Throughout the day, I notice that a few of the contestants make comments about the brands stocked on the Mixxit bar, and the bottle of Midori is the subject of a few raised eyebrows. David notices this too and gets Drew, who is up next, to make a Midori Sour. The tasting of it dispels any apprehension – it’s delicious! The lesson here? Always be open to trying new things and do not be so quick to judge.
The day then comes to an end with a bit of a chemistry lesson as we learn all about the process of making alcohol. This is like giving sweeties to a baby as our keen contenders soak up all of the knowledge and absolutely ace David’s pop quiz. As a reward we all get to freestyle make a drink with all the tips we have learned. After everybody putting in such a stellar effort on their first day, it is truly well deserved.
The DRAM Mixxit Bar Apprentice Course 2016, in partnership with Maxxium, has officially kicked off and our 8 contestants are ready to be put to the test for the prize of Bar Apprentice of the Year 2016.
Now in its 10th year, the aim of the course is to extend the apprentices’ cocktail and mixology knowledge and teach them about the history and distillation process of a number of different spirits – all taught by some of the country’s top mixologists.
Not only will the apprenticeship help enhance the skills of those participating, but at the end of the 4-week course the group will be put head to head in a cocktail competition judged by both DRAM and Maxxium.
The winner will be the bartender who exhibits the best performance at this competition combined with the most outstanding progress made throughout the course.
We will be detailing the whole process for DRAM as our reporter Katharine Gemmell will be joining the competition as a quasi-apprentice and blogging about the experience each week.
Our DRAM Mixxit Bar Apprentice of the Year 2016 will be crowned at The Scottish Bar and Pub Award’s glittering ceremony on Tuesday 16th August at The Hilton, Glasgow.
This year’s contestants are: Loren MacGregor from The Busby Hotel, Glasgow; Marc Connelly from The Torrance Hotel, Glasgow; Gavin Millar from Elliot’s, Prestwick; Sandy McNally from Tiki bar, Glasgow; Chris Allen from The Boozy Cow, Aberdeen; Jack Morlin from The Boozy Cow, Edinburgh; Drew Gray from Lulu’s Edinburgh and Joseph Robertson from Tigerlilly, Edinburgh.
Lager comes from the German word ‘lagern’ meaning ‘to store’.
Lager was first brewed in Scotland in 1884 by Hugh Tennent, at Tennent’s Breweries in Glasgow’s Duke Street. A year later, the first bottles of Tennent’s Lager came off the production line.
This autumn, Menabrea is launching ‘Brewspoke’ in Edinburgh, Manchester and London, which will give men the chance to own a beautiful fitted suit by inviting them to bring old suits to top tailors to have them trimmed and made to fit like new.
Tennent’s Lager was the official beer supplier to Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show in 1892, showing it had an early adoption of being involved in entertainment sponsorship.
In olden times, lager was known as a woman’s drink. Tenenit – the Egyptian god of beer – is female, as is the Zulu beer goddess, Mbaba Mwana Waresa.
Italian lager brand Menabrea has teamed up with an Italian ice cream maker, La Gelatiera, to create a beer-infused ice cream. The resulting “Grown up Gelato” tastes of ambrata lager and hints of Sorrento lemon and real ginger. It was launched by the brand using a bicycle-mounted freezer full of the ice cream which made an appearance in Glasgow which resulted in hundreds of free tubs being handed out.
Lager was discovered by brewers when they started the fermentation process in winter. They found that the ale yeast didn’t ferment well in the cold, so it found a different variant to hybridize with.
Heineken used the word ‘refreshment’ in its ads in 1974, which combined with unusually hot summers in 1975 and 1976, was the game-changer for the industry. Suddenly lager started selling.
Tsingtao, is distributed in the UK by Halewood, and is heavily involved in Super bike sponsorship with its continued support for the Hampshire MV Agusta motorcycle racing team, which will see it compete in the MCE British Superbike Championship until the end of 2016. And you can win tickets to a round of the British Superbike Championships. Check online at tsingtaobeer.co.uk/competitions.
This summer Birra Moretti is sponsoring the Summer Nights festival in Glasgow in August at the Kelvingrove Band Stand. Acts appearing include Van Morrison, Idlewild, C Duncan, Primal Scream and Super Furry Animals.
Coors Light is the fastest growing lager brand in the Top 10 in Scotland. The brand has seen sales rise 35%. And an agreement with the Universities of St Andrews, Glasgow and Dundee with Norther Services will see the brand become the official lager of more than 100,000 students.
Tennent’s are unveiling new founts this summer at T in the Park, which will be rolled out to pubs and clubs throughout Scotland thereafter. It’s the first major fount redesign in 8 years and they will feature iconic artwork from the brand’s 130 years of brewing history. The first founts highlight the Tennent’s Lovelies, the two pint glasses, ‘ThirsTy’ slogan, the animated pint, the alphabeT and an art deco image of the brewery. More designs will be released so they can be tailored to suit the style and audience of Scotland’s licensed trade.
Brahma is Brazil’s oldest beer, this light lager is brewed in Rio and consumed in vast quantities.
Tsingtao Beer also sponsors the Dragon Ping Pong events, unearthing talent from across the UK, and every now and again finding a new Dragon Master.
From end of February 2014 to the end of February 2015 beer volume in Scotland declined by 2%. The on-trade was down 4%. The downturn was partly caused by the introduction of new drink-drive legislation and last year’s poor summer. However since February sales have picked up again.
Menabrea held a ‘Maestro Classe’ at the Raven in Glasgow recently. Luthiers, people who make stringed instruments, came to the pub to talk about their profession, and the event was oversubscribed.
Tennent’s is in 8 out of 10 pubs in Scotland and it accounts for almost 2 in every 3 pints of lager sold in the country. The company has 90 Trucks, which make 5,000+ deliveries a week.
Carling, the UK’s biggest selling lager, became Scotland’s number two by volume last year after growing by 22% in 2014. The brand, which is Scotland’s fastest growing standard lager, revealed it will be the official beer partner of Dundee United Football Club for the next two seasons. The new partnership, which also includes advertising space and full hospitality experiences for Carling guests, will continue to mark the next chapter in Carling’s long-standing support for Scottish and UK football.
Lager ads from the 70s are still referenced today, such as “I bet he drinks Carling Black Label” and “Australians wouldn’t give a Castlemaine XXXX for anything else”.
Lager only accounted for 1% of the beer sales market in 1961.
The rise of lager in the 1890s came from consumers wanting American and German lagers, so British brewers struggled to export its ‘beer’.
Carling is now the sponsor of the Premier League which will mean tickets and ‘money can’t buy’ prizes for the Scottish on-trade. Says Scottish boss Hugo Mills, “Most Scots back a premier league club, so this news should help drive footfall.”
Heineken forked out £28 million to have James Bond’s iconic vodka martini replaced with a Heineken in Skyfall.
According to Marketing Director of Tennent’s Paul Condron, “The latest market data from CGA highlights that in the last 12 weeks, draught lager in Scotland is declining at -3.2% However, we’re pleased to say our flagship brand Tennent’s Lager retains its position as Scotland’s favourite and has grown by 0.3% at a time when the top 10 other brands in the draught lager category have seen a decline.”
NB Gin, the spirit produced in North Berwick, has been chosen to feature in the only official commemorative album, which will be presented as a gift to all VIP guests attending the Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations from 12th May.
Each evening – until the 15th May – 900 horses and more than 1,500 people from around the world will participate in a 90-minute show at Windsor Castle to celebrate The Queen’s life. The show will take the audience from The Queen’s birth, through the Second World War, her marriage, her coronation and a reign of more than 60 years, and will incorporate actors, bands and dancers to tell the story. The final performance will be broadcast live by ITV and will feature well-known hosts, narrators and singers from the British entertainment world. Confirmed participants include TV’s Ant and Dec, television presenter Alan Titchmarsh and singer Katherine Jenkins.
Over the four evenings, more than 25,000 VVIPs, VIPs, guests and spectators are expected to attend the events, and receive a copy of the publication, which is the only one endorsed by the organisers.
“Our commemorative album will be presented as a gift to VVIP and VIP guests at each of the four evenings,” says Richard Freed, chief executive of St James’s House. “Copies of the book will also be distributed to key figures and organisations around the world including heads of state, ambassadors and leaders of industry.”
In addition to celebrating the life and reign of The Queen, the publication showcases a selection of organisations in the UK and Commonwealth, or with strong ties to Britain. These organisations are drawn from educational, cultural, social, technological and business spheres, and include Royal Charter holders, Royal Warrant holders and recipients of the Queen’s Awards.
“NB Gin was approached by publisher St James’s House with an invitation to appear in the event’s official commemorative album,” says Vivienne Muir, CEO of NB Distillery. “We were invited based on our good editorial fit for the project, and it’s a great honour to be part of this historic celebration.”
The publication will also be distributed through targeted circulation, and pre-ordered online at www.hmq90books.com
Captain Morgan is taking its iconic ‘Captain’ back on TV with a new £4.6 million marketing campaign that will also make use of social media and digital platforms.
With the tagline ‘Live Like The Captain’, the 20 second TV advert shows a party in full swing on a pirate ship, the main character has the Captain’s face superimposed onto his. A 10 second TV spot shows the same Captain character with another character on horseback on the beach. The female rider has a can of cola superimposed on her. The juxtaposition is meant to highlight the perfect serve of Captain Morgan and cola. The 10 second clip will be available to view on YouTube, VOD, Vevo pre-roll, digital out-of-home and mobile.
Claire McQuattie, head of Captain Morgan marketing for Western Europe, said; “We hope our campaign will drive excitement and mass awareness for our portfolio in an engaging way that consumers can relate to. Rum is one of the fastest growing categories within spirits. This trend presents a great opportunity and with Captain Morgan White we hope to replicate the fantastic growth we’ve seen with Captain Morgan Original Spiced Gold.”
Seaside Gin has now joined Edinburgh Gin’s permanent portfolio. First launched in summer 2015, Seaside Gin started as a limited edition, and sold out with its first run of 2,500 bottles. Now the distiller has released 6,000 70cl bottles, with a RRP of £35. Seaside Gin is the result of a longstanding collaboration between Edinburgh Gin and Heriot Watt University’s MSc in Brewing & Distilling; a partnership that seeks to push boundaries. As part of the project, masters students were tasked with scouring the east coast in search of botanicals that would encapsulate a taste of the Scottish shoreline. Seaside Gin has been distilled with foraged seaweed, scurvy grass and ground ivy, and boasts, says the company, “ta sweet yet refreshing salinity.” This means Edinburgh Gin now offer three brands in its permanent portfolio they are: Edinburgh Original (43% ABV) and Navy Strength Cannonball (57% ABV) and Seaside Gin (43% ABV)
Edinburgh Gin’s co-founder, Alex Nicol said, “The expansion of our core range is testament to customer appetite for distinctly different gins that blend art and science. It’s a delight to see Seaside Gin added to our permanent roster and that there is demand for a gin that pioneers the use of unusual native botanicals such as this.” The newly-formed trio – Original, Cannonball and Seaside – are all presented in the brand’s new custom-made bottles, crafted in Milan by Bruni Glass.
Sailor Jerry is launching a series of collectable, iconic flash art bottle wraps and cups, with the first two being launched this month. On a slick black bottle, each of the four new collectable designs – the homeward bound ship, an American eagle, a pin-up girl and a Gypsy – are based on the greatest flash designs from Norman ‘Sailor Jerry’ Collins, the undisputed father of old school tattoos,. Each design holds a specific meaning. The Gypsy design represents good fortune; the ship design was tattooed on sailors as a reminder of home; the American eagle represents honour and the pin-up girl design represents femininity. Dave Hort, Senior Brand Manager of Sailor Jerry, which is owned by William Grant & Sons, said, “These designs are based on the great, iconic works of our founding father Norman Collins and showcase some of the highest quality flash art that has spanned generations.”
Portobello Road Gin have created the first ever London Dry Gin made with British Asparagus. The limited edition ‘Directors’ Cut’ distillation contains a unique blend of botanicals including asparagus from Cambridgeshire, harvested by Director Paul Lane.
The concept of the ‘Directors’ Cut’ edition was conceived by the four Directors of Portobello Road Gin: Ged Feltham, Paul Lane, Jake Burger and Tom Coates who wanted to satisfy their desire to produce a very special gin, for which they could hand-source the botanicals themselves.
1,000 bottles of this distinctively nutty-flavoured spirit will be available for juniper-loving fans to buy this October.
Paul Lane comments “We’ve played around with the botanical of British Asparagus at the Ginstitute for a couple of years, where gin fans can come up with their own creation but this is the first time we’ve worked with a producer directly to select the produce and create a gin for sale. This is not a gin for everybody but those who like it love it. Before you ask, no it doesn’t…”
A super premium Scottish gin has been launched by Scotland’s first farm to bottle distillery, Arbikie. ‘Kirsty’s Gin’ is the second spirit to be released by the company following its launch of Scotland’s first potato vodka, which was awarded ‘Best Vodka’ at the Paris ‘Cocktail Spirits’ Awards in 2015.
‘Kirsty’s Gin’ is named after Arbikie’s Master Distiller Kirsty Black (above) who has been developing the gin for over two years. It retails at £35 per bottle and is available UK-wide through major retail outlets distributed by Gordon and MacPhail.
Visitors to Kingsbarns Distillery Visitor Centre can now buy new make spirit. Distilling started in January 2015 and the Distillery Manager and his team were so delighted with the quality of the spirit being produced that they decided to bottle the spirit for all to try. The New Spirit Drink is bottled at 63.5%, the same strength at which the casks are filled and available for sale in 20cl bottles priced at £14.95.
Distillery Manager, Peter Holroyd, comments,“The spirit itself is an elegant, fruity and floral spirit and I can’t wait to see how it is going to develop into Scotch whisky over the coming years.”
DRAM’s Top 6 stories from the industry over the last few days.
An Aviemore shed with a gin distilery inside has won Channel 4’s Amazing Spaces Shed of the Year. The property at Inshriach House has beaten over 2500 other entries to be crowned the winner.
Wine connoisseurs have been excited about making wine in one of Europe’s wettest climates but unfortunately the first of Scotland’s home grown wine has been branded undrinkable by its makers.
Doctors are urging the government to increase tax on sugary drinks to 20% in a bid to tax products that fuel obesity. The British Medical Association has said that the money raised from the higher tax can be used to subsidise the price of fruit and vegetables for poorer families.
A young chef from Mintlaw in Aberdeen has won the Scotch Beef Young Aspiring Chef Challenge. The 17 year old won a cook off against seven other entrants in which competitors had to highlight the quality of local meat produce.
Two food scientists from London have created a ‘cocktail cloud’ which allows users to breathe alcohol into their system, through their eyes and lungs. The 50 minute experience uses industrial humidifiers which pump out drinks like gin and tonic and whisky and soda with more complex flavour cocktails being added later in the year.
Scotland’s biggest festival, T in the Park, has received mixed reactions following a change of site to Strathallan Castle in Perthshire. Many revellers have complained about failed transport links and a cramped set up and bosses have apologised saying this year “hasn’t been perfect”.