The limited edition Elijah Craig 20-year old

Announcing the launch of a new, limited 20-year old single barrel edition of its Elijah Craig bourbon whisky, Heaven Hill has revealed a shift in focus for the brand onto a limited edition series.

The move follows the successful single barrel-bottling test launch of the Elijah Craig 20-year old to mark the 20^th anniversary of the Kentucky Bourbon Festival last year, at which the expression was critically acclaimed.

Less than 1,300 bottles of the expression will be produced from fewer than 80 barrels and released to only selected markets across the US.

To cope with the additional strain the production will have on its warehouse, and in order to produce further extra-aged limited editions, the distillery has temporarily suspended production of its regularly-produced Elijah Craig 18 year-old expression.

Craig Beam, master distiller at Heaven Hill, said: “With literally thousands of aging barrels over 10 years old, we have a huge and one-of-a-kind resource to tap into.

We’ve carefully identified several hundred that are at middle to high storage in our best rickhouses, and these will be the source for these very special future Elijah Craig Single Barrel editions. These are some of the best older barrels of traditional rye-based Bourbon we have in our inventory.”

Bottled with an ABV of 45%, the Elijah Craig 20-year old will be available across 36 states by the end of the month, with additional extra-aged expressions to follow soon.

El Charro, one of the brands bought by Sazerac from White Rock

Effective from 31 May 2012, Sazerac will acquire the Baja tequilas, Tenure vodkas, Epic vodkas, Superia vodkas, Stroyski vodkas, El Charro tequila, Blackmaker root beer liqueur and Chocolate Valley Vines chocolate wine brands amongst others for an undisclosed sum.

Paul Coulombe, chief executive of White Rock, which also recently disposed of the Pinnacle Vodka and Calico Jack rum brands to Beam, said: “We are very pleased to be able to consummate a second sale of brands to Sazerac, the brands have been an important part of White Rock’s portfolio and we know that their future will be in good hands.”

The move comes just months after Sazerac purchased more than 30 brands from White Rock in September last year.

The project at the former Crumlin Road Gaol, planned by the Belfast Distillery Company (BDC), will create the first distillery to be built in the Northern Irish capital for 175 years, and will be the first to operate there in more than 75 years.

BDC has acquired the historic building, which closed as a jail in 1996, from the Northern Ireland Executive, and plans to create 60 jobs with the new venture.

The prison’s A wing will house pot stills to produce whiskey aimed at international markets, and production of BDC’s existing Titanic and Danny Boy Irish whiskeys, and its Danny Boy Irish Cream Liqueur, will eventually transfer to the new plant.

BDC, established in 2005 by Belfast businessman Peter Lavery, is aiming to revive the traditional Belfast sipping whiskey that was popular in the late 19th century and early 1900s, especially in the US.

The new attraction will also house restaurants and a visitor centre, in which people can find out about Belfast’s Irish whiskey heritage, as well as watching new spirit being produced.

“The BDC will be the first distillery to operate in Belfast for over 75 years and will be bringing back to prominence an industry with which the city has long historical associations,” said Lavery.

This latest announcement caps an exciting period for Irish whiskey, in which William Grant has unveiled plans for a new Tullamore Dew distillery, Cooley was bought by spirits giant Beam, and the owners of Slane Castle Irish whiskey announced their own plans for a new distillery.

For a detailed analysis of the current Irish whiskey renaissance, see the May issue of The Spirits Business.

Actor Ian Somerhalder promotes Ketel One and GQ's A Gentleman Call's campaign

As of this week Ketel One is inviting “today’s genuine and honourable men” to “present an idea, inspiration or endeavour that will raise society’s behavourial bar”.

Five ideas demonstrating the values of craftsmanship, entrepreneurship or philanthropy will be shortlisted before one is selected to win an investment of US$100k to fund their project.

Three mentors have been enlisted to guide potential entrants throughout the campaign: actors Ian Somerhalder and Carlos Ponce, and co-founder and chief executive of the Movember Foundation, Adam Garone.

Ideas are to be submitted via www.AGentlemansCall.com.

The second Crown Royal XR blend of select whiskies from the former LaSalle Distillery in Quebec with Crown Royal’s own, will be released in the US from June.

It follows the 2006 launch of the original Crown Royal XR whisky blend featuring rare expressions from the Waterloo Distillery.

The new bottle will be shaped and packaged in the same fashion but with a royal blue colour scheme, instead of red, to “echo the regal nature of the product”.

Andrew MacKay, master blender for Crown Royal, said: “LaSalle holds a historic place in the whisky world and is incredibly special to me, because it’s where I first learned about creating memorable blends. To be able to incorporate these Extra Rare LaSalle whiskies into the new Crown Royal XR is an honor.”

Available for a limited period, the 750ml bottle has a retail price of US$129.99.

The launch will be supported by print and online advertising plus PR, POS and digital marketing.

The Glenlivet Guardians Single Cask Edition

The new rare expressions of the world’s number two single malt, all non chill-filtered and bottled at cask strength, will retail from £150 a bottle at UK prices, brand owner Chivas Brothers said.

They include today’s (17 May) launch of The Glenlivet Guardians Single Cask Edition, an 18-year-old whisky selected by The Glenlivet Guardians, the brand’s online community – with just 631 bottles available to Guardians only.

H is for Helios, a 20-year-old malt aged in a second-fill hogshead cask, while The Glenlivet Josie Single Cask Edition commemorates the distillery’s well; both will be available globally through specialist outlets.

Locally available editions include The Glenlivet Inveravon, exclusively for Taiwan, and Kilimanjaro and Legacy – both sold exclusively in Germany.

The six new editions double the size of The Glenlivet Single Cask Editions range, introduced in 2005 and previously including Atlantic, Blairfindy, Cairn Daimh, Drumin, Eclipse and Faemussach.

The bar is hidden from the tourist track in the London Marriott Hotel County Hall at Westminster Bridge, and offers a range of English-themed drinks focusing on native ingredients, with the spotlight on gin.

The bar and restaurant are named after the satirical cartoonist, James Gillray, who portrayed political life of the late 17^th century through his irreverent drawings.

In keeping with the theme, the menu is broken down into different eras of English history, and many of the drinks are named after the famous cartoons. Each picture has a brief explanation about the subject of the cartoon offering some coherence between the drink and the historical period to which is it linked.

“The menu, like the history of alcohol, is always evolving,” explained bar manager Leo Zangarini. “We work with seasonal produce, so long as it is always English.

“The idea is to set a benchmark for English food and drink, because English fare is good, and should be recognised as that.”

While a propitious time for an English themed bar to open with the Jubilee and the Olympics, the idea has been a long time coming. The bartenders and their drinks are also pushing their sphere of influence beyond the bar itself, with a “kick start” drinks menu flyer that has made its way into the food menu.

SB recommends the Gunpowder and Smoke and the Lyrical Ballad.

Ongoing discussions between the two parties are set to reach a head imminently as Cuervo’s distribution contract with the Smirnoff owner approaches its June 2013 expiry date.

According to Reuters, the Beckmann family are keen to retain an initial 70-80% majority share in the Cuervo business rather than face changing distributor when its contract comes to an end next summer. The deal will then allow Diageo to move in on a majority stake at a later date.

One source close to the talks told Reuters: “A deal with Diageo taking a minority stake in Cuervo for cash or shares seems the most likely outcome with an agreement expected in the next six weeks.”

When talks began between the two businesses last year, Diageo chief executive Paul Walsh expressed his concerns that Cuervo was not realising its potential in the US, where sales outside North America fell 11% in the last six months of 2011.

It is thought that Diageo will be better positioned to increase resources and boost global growth of the Cuervo brand once it has acquired an equity stake in the business.

Bols Natural Yoghurt Liqueur was created in response to demand from Chinese consumers for a milk-based spirit.

“The Chinese market asked us for a milk-based spirit, but we decided to evolve the idea into a natural yoghurt liqueur so it could be used in cocktails,” Guenael Fily, Bols commercial director, told The Spirits Business at the UK launch in Amsterdam this week.

“It took a long time to get the blend exactly right so it doesn’t curdle or go flakey when you mix it,” Fily added.

The company has collaborated with a leading Dutch dairy company on the project, which is supplying the yoghurt made from milk from Dutch cows.

“Being yoghurt-based, it’s much lower in fat than cream liqueurs, but we’d never go on record promoting its health benefits,” Fily said.

Fily insists there is no shelf life issue with the liqueur, despite it being made from natural yoghurt, but admitted that it would taste best within a year of purchase. The coated white bottle was conceived to protect the liqueur from exposure to UV light.

The liqueur has already been launched in China, Russia, Ireland and Bulgaria.