Whisky PR Corner for Friday May 16th , 2014

Bitter Bastards! Cocktail Bitters Made with Centrifugal Force

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UK Drinks Distributor Maverick Drinks is proud to announce the launch of Bitter Bastards—a groundbreaking, state-of-the-art new range of cocktail bitters flavoured with rapid maceration extraction and clarified with a centrifuge machine which subjects the bitters to a force around 5,000 times that of Earth’s gravity.

Cocktail bitters—the salt and pepper of the cocktail world—are traditionally made by soaking the ingredients in spirit for several weeks before bottling, essentially making a kind of stewed-tea with various bitter, richly flavoured botanicals, then clarifying the resulting liquid using either filters or fining agents.
Bitter Bastards takes a new approach, rapidly macerating the botanicals in top-quality base spirit for just a few minutes to extract only the fresh-tasting, intense flavours by instantly opening up the botanicals’ surface area. After the rapid maceration, the spirit is then clarified using a centrifuge. This machine applies a force equivalent to roughly 5,000g to the liquid, clarifying it beautifully whilst retaining the essential oils. The result? Bitters with a fresh, vibrant flavour-profile.
This centrifuge also mitigates the need of chemical fining agents or filtration for clarification.

The following bitters are available from today:

Bitter Bastards Black Pepper Bitters – 5 cl – 75.0% abv

Bitter Bastards White Truffle Bitters – Tuber Borchii – 5 cl – 40.0% abv

Bitter Bastards Sweet Orange Bitters – 5 cl – 49.5% abv

Bitter Bastards Naga Chilli Bitters – 5 cl – 49.5% abv

Benriach Appoints New Regional Sales Manager

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THE BenRiach Distillery Company, owners of the award-winning BenRiach, GlenDronach and Glenglassaugh brands, is beefing up its sales team with the appointment of Nigel Robinson as Regional Sales Manager.

Nigel, from Cupar in Fife, joins the fast-growing company after twenty years’ experience in building brands, driving sales and managing growth.

Before joining BenRiach he was an Agent working in the whisky and animal feed industries.

Reporting to Global Sales Director Alistair Walker and working alongside the company’s other two Regional Sales Managers Douglas Cook and Donald MacLellan, Robinson (44) will be responsible for developing BenRiach’s stellar portfolio of brands across Western European markets.

Alistair Walker commented: “I’m delighted to welcome Nigel to the team. He brings a great track record in sales and excellent industry experience with him, and these will prove invaluable in developing our brands and reputation worldwide.”

Nigel said: “I’m absolutely delighted to have a joined a company that is dynamic in its approach to the market, creative with its expressions and has a fantastic range of whiskies in a strong growth sector.”

Gordon & MacPhail Glen Grant 1948 launched in Poland

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Gordon & MacPhail has launched a limited edition 66-year old whisky from the Glen Grant Distillery. Only 160 numbered decanters have been released for sale.

Distilled in 1948, cask number 1369 was bottled 66 years later in 2014 at cask strength (46.6%), at natural colour and is non-chillfiltered. This unique Single Malt is presented in stunning packaging. Each decanter is numbered and comes with a special mahogany box. The box contains a book by Charles MacLean, especially written and produced for the occasion. It provides information on the project, the whisky bottled and on the history of Gordon & MacPhail.

Renowned whisky expert and Master of the Quaich, Charles Maclean describes the Single Malt: “Such scents and flavours can only be achieved by long maturation in the right cask, yet neither the aroma nor the taste has been adversely influenced by wood. The best single descriptor that comes to mind is exquisite.”

The limited edition of the 66-year old Glen Grant whisky was bottled by Gordon & MacPhail for the Polish based Wealth Solutions, a company that specialises in delivering unique spirits, collectibles and works of art to demanding connoisseurs and collectors. The whisky was officially launched on 13 May 2014 in Polonia Palace Hotel in Warsaw. The event was graced with the presence of Michael Urquhart, Managing Director at Gordon & MacPhail and Charles MacLean.

The launch of this unique whisky was preceded by a tasting of Single Malts bottled by Gordon & MacPhail, led by Charles MacLean. Participants sampled whiskies from various regions of Scotland, including five created at the now silent distilleries of Brora, Port Ellen, St Magdalene, Rosebank and Caperdonich.

The demand for Gordon & MacPhail Glen Grant 1948 has been such that all but one of the decanters was sold ahead of the official launch event. The owner of the last decanter will be selected among individuals who watched the event on-line and took part in a special contest.

Michael Urquhart, Managing Director at Gordon & MacPhail said: “The pioneering approach adopted by my father and grandfather has today provided Gordon & MacPhail with an unprecedented portfolio of greatly aged Single Malt Scotch Whiskies. As custodians of this liquid history the third and fourth generations of the Urquhart family are honoured to release this exceptional example of whisky distilled at Glen Grant Distillery in 1948.”

“I am very happy to be able to offer this unique, very rare, greatly aged Single Malt Scotch Whisky to Polish connoisseurs and collectors. It was created before man went into space and landed on the Moon, before he climbed Mount Everest. This is not only whisky, it’s a living witness to the second half of 20th century”, says Michał Kowalski, Vice-President of Wealth Solutions.

Vestal Vodka is Now Distributed by Maverick Drinks

VESTALMaverick Drinks is proud to announce it is now the UK distributor for the critically acclaimed Vestal Vodka.
Vestal Vodka has made huge waves in the spirits world since launching in 2010. Their mission was to create a vodka with character and a sense of place. Their craft spirits are made with potatoes from single regions with a clear focus on quality over quantity. Much like fine wine, their vodka is also bottled by vintage, allowing connoisseurs to compare the flavours of different regions, as well as different years.
“Commercial vodkas are all the same,” said William Borrell, creator of Vestal. “Multi-distilled, then filtered and then filtered again, it’s left tasteless. We take tiny new potatoes when they’re smaller than the Jersey Royal, and we keep in the impurities, unlike the commercial vodkas, as they’re the flavour. At the end we have a spirit that has as much identity as a whisky, brandy or cognac.”

Commenting on the new partnership, Borrell said: “Maverick Drinks has a wide portfolio of handcrafted spirits and shares many of the same values as we do at Vestal. Their refreshing approach to brand development is creating quite the stir in the drinks industry and they’re the kind of people we love to work with.”
Michael Vachon, Head of Brand Development at Maverick Drinks, said: “Vestal has challenged the dominant players in the Vodka market and produced one of the most flavourful and exceptional spirits available. We’re excited to bring them on board and feel that they perfectly compliment our existing portfolio of craft spirits.”
Pricing for the Vestal range is as follows:
Vestal Kaszebe 2009 Vintage: RRP £68.99
Vestal Podlasie 2009 Vintage: RRP £514.29
Vestal Kaszebe 2010 Vintage: RRP £514.29
Vestal Podlasie 2010 Vintage: RRP £514.29
Vestal Kaszebe 2011 Vintage: RRP £48.00
Vestal Kaszebe 2013 Vintage: RRP £33.99
Vestal Pomorze 2013 Vintage: RRP £32.25
Vestal Blended Potato Vodka: RRP £29.55

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