Indholdsfortegnelse for May 2015 i Market Watch

For years, rum has been waiting for its moment. That’s not to say the category has done so badly—it’s always been among the most popular spirits in the United States and has never endured a dark age like whiskies did prior to their recent renaissance. Whiskies now account for much of the spirits industry’s volume growth, while also capturing the high ground with an array of aged and upscale expressions. That’s a marketer’s dream—and one that’s been elusive for rum, as the category has never managed to scale the lofty value heights enjoyed by other spirits categories. Could that change? The conventional wisdom is that rum has tried to move upmarket so many times in the past that it seems to be hopeless. I respectfully disagree. Whiskies were written off…

The United States Of Craft Beer The new book from beer industry veteran and home brewer Jess Lebow explores the country’s craft brewing landscape, starting with Alabama’s Straight to Ale Brewing and ending at Wyoming’s Snake River Brewing Co. The 208-page paperback ($19.99) dedicates each chapter to a state, highlighting a significant brewery and its origins, along with other notable producers in the region, key facts about the market, maps and photos. Published by Adams Media, the book hit stores in April. For more information, visit Adamsmediastore.com. The History Of Wine In 100 Bottles Wine expert Oz Clarke traces the seminal moments along wine’s journey, from 6,000 B.C. to the modern era, in this new 224-page hardcover ($24.95). The tome features full-color photos of bottles, wine cellars and vineyards; artwork…

Highland Park Odin Scotch Whisky Edrington Americas introduced the fourth and final expression from the Highland Park Valhalla Collection in April. Odin ($350 a 750-ml. bottle) is a 16-year-old single malt Scotch with a rich, full body and notes of oak, peat, walnuts and plums. Just 2,000 bottles of the 55.8-percent alcohol-by-volume (abv) whisky are available nationwide. For more information, visit Highlandpark.co.uk or call Edrington at 212-352-6000. New Amsterdam Mango Vodka E&J Distillers grew its New Amsterdam vodka line in April. New Amsterdam Mango ($14.99 a 750-ml. bottle) is made from 100-percent American grain and has mango, papaya and passion fruit flavors. The 35-percent abv spirit is now available nationwide. For more information, visit Newamsterdamspirits.com call E&J Distillers at 877-425-5696. I.W. Harper Bourbon Diageo North America reintroduced classic Bourbon brand…

California’s Bottle Barn Changes Ownership.... Bruce and Loretta Emmons have sold their Bottle Barn store in Santa Rosa, California, to Sajive and Tina Jain for an undisclosed price. A 25-year industry veteran and MARKET WATCH LEADER, Bruce Emmons originally took over Bottle Barn in 1990 and turned it into a Sonoma County destination. The store’s 14 employees will remain on staff. A native of San Jose, Sajive has run several successful manufacturing and retail businesses in India and sought a new opportunity when he and his family relocated to the Bay Area last year. The Jains will spend the coming months learning Bottle Barn’s business and making small improvements, but Sajive says he plans no major changes. “I’m driven by Bruce’s advice to me: ‘Why fix it if it ain’t…

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay launched Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill at Caesars Atlantic City Hotel and Casino in February. A sister venue to the original Las Vegas unit, the restaurant offers British pub fare like bangers and mash, Yorkshire rib roast, and steak and ale pie, as well as 26 draft beers and myriad bottled and canned offerings. The Museum of Contemporary Art in Detroit unveiled Café 78 in February. Operated jointly with the team behind local restaurant Wright & Co., the American café serves soups, salads, sandwiches and snacks, as well as wine, beer and craft cocktails inspired by pieces in the museum. Featuring seasonal American cuisine and a regularly changing menu, Kindred opened in February in Davidson, North Carolina, just outside of Charlotte. Operated by husband-and-wife team Joe…

Laphroaig Select Beam Suntory launched Laphroaig Select last summer as a limited-time expression, and the offering has performed well. “We’ve brought it on as a main liquid in our portfolio,” says brand director for world whisky and Cognac Claire Richards. “We’ve seen a very positive response, both from critics and consumers.” Retailing for $55 a 750-ml. bottle—a $5 premium to Laphroaig 10-year-old—the 40-percent alcohol-by-volume (abv) Laphroaig Select is a blend of Laphroaig’s 10-year-old, Quarter Cask, PX Cask and Triple Wood expressions. “Select delivers the key characteristics of Laphroaig in a way that helps bring new people into the brand,” Richards explains. “It offers an alternative version of Laphroaig.” She adds that key Laphroaig enthusiasts enjoy Select as a more sessionable version of the brand. Its sales are evenly split between…

NUEVO MANHATTAN By Leo Robitschek Ingredients: 1½ ounces Riazul Plata Tequila; ½ ounce Dolin Blanc vermouth; ½ ounce Punt e Mes vermouth; ½ ounce Combier orange liqueur; ½ ounce Nonino amaro; 3 dashes Angostura bitters. Recipe: Combine Tequila, vermouths, orange liqueur, amaro and bitters in a cocktail shaker with ice and stir. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass. LA ROCA Y LA ROSA By Esteban Ordoñez Ingredients: 2 ounces Roca Patrón Añejo Tequila; ½ ounce Patrón Citrónge orange liqueur; 1 ounce Fonseca Bin No. 27 Port; 1 bar spoon agave nectar; 3 dashes hibiscus bitters1; Lemon peel. Recipe: In a large mixing glass, combine Tequila, orange liqueur, Port, agave nectar, bitters and ice and stir until well chilled. Strain into an ice-filled double rocks glass, express the lemon oils over…

A decade ago at Richmond, Virginia’s popular Mekong Restaurant & Bar, bottled beer was the big sales driver. Today, 95 percent of the venue’s beer sales are on draft. Mekong, often cited as one of the best beer bars in the country, has slashed its bottled beer menu to about 100 listings, half of what it was a few years ago. The Philadelphia café Tria Taproom, which opened over a year ago, has never stocked a beer bottle and serves wine, cider and soft drinks on tap as well. According to founder Jonathan Myerow, the decision to make the venue bottlefree was an effort “to be greener.” His customers haven’t blinked an eye. “No one has asked for a bottled beer since the taproom opened,” Myerow says. “Our customers prefer…

Bacardi Ltd. named Mauricio Vergara as its global category vice president of rums. Vergara previously served as Bacardi’s vice president of global commercial and has held marketing roles with Coca-Cola, SABMiller and Brown-Forman Corp. He will report to Bacardi chief marketing officer and global brands president Dima Ivanov. San Francisco –based Anchor Distilling Co. has promoted senior vice president of sales Dennis Carr to the role of president. Carr has been with Anchor since 2011 and replaces David King, who left the company in March. Concurrently, the company has split its sales organization into two separate regions and promoted Gregory Fitch from regional manager of control states to regional vice president of eastern sales. William Grant & Sons has tapped chief commercial officer Simon Hunt to chair its branded business…

Tara Heffernon knows local. The bar director of Spoonbar in Healdsburg, California, grew up in nearby Forestville and has cultivated a passion for gardening into a flourishing career. Her approach to Spoonbar’s cocktail program reflects this dedication to the local movement. “We want everything to be as handmade and as farm-to-bar as possible,” Heffernon says, noting that she grows 20 to 30 herbs and an array of edible flowers for use in the venue’s drinks ($7 to $11). “We take classic recipes and doctor them to be more modern, sustainable and creative.” Heffernon has come up with methods for extending the shelf life of her fresh ingredients, often in the form of vinegar-based shrubs. These concoctions can preserve a fruit or botanical for weeks, allowing Spoonbar to highlight seasonal produce…

Boasting 48 draft lines and an extensive selection of whiskies and bottled brews, Tapworks Tavern & Grill opened in February in Chicago’s Greektown neighborhood. The venue boasts two separate bars and offers spiked milkshakes and beerinfused food, including fish and chips, burgers, and cheese dip. Chicago-based Bottleneck Management opened a location of its Old Town Pour House brand in Gaithersburg, Maryland, this March. The tavern has more than 90 local and global brews on draft and offers specialty cocktails and wines on tap, as well as a menu of reinvented classic American fare like filet mignon sliders and crab cakes. Wine rules at Augustine, an approachable bar with an upscale menu that opened in February in Los Angeles’ Sherman Oaks neighborhood. The venue offers more than 75 glass pours, including…

AS PICTURED: 1. Chef and television personality Anthony Bourdain (left) celebrated with knife maker Bob Kramer at the Rare Craft Fellowship Awards, sponsored by The Balvenie single malt Scotch whisky, at Le Bernardin Prive in New York City on March 10th. 2. Bacardi brand master David Cid and mixologist Josh Wagner enjoyed Art of Rum, an evening of art and food pairings sponsored by Facundo rum, at Matador Terrace at The Miami Beach Edition hotel on March 18th in Miami. 3. Retired soccer player Ramon Ramirez signed autographs for fans at a friendly match between Mexico’s Santos Laguna and Chivas del Guadalajara soccer teams at the BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, Texas, on March 27th. The beer brand Tecate sponsored the game. 4. Mixologist Lacy Hawkins won the “Are You…

• With 2.6 million residents, Brooklyn is New York City’s most populous borough. It was an independent incorporated city until 1898.• New York state only allows the sale of beer in grocery and convenience stores, while wine and spirits must be purchased in liquor stores. Beverage alcohol sales are prohibited between 4 A.M. and 8 A.M. Monday through Saturday and between 4 A.M. and noon on Sundays.• Brooklyn’s population is ethnically and linguistically diverse, with 38 percent of residents born outside the United States and nearly half claiming a language other than English as their mother tongue.• According to NYC & Co., Brooklyn welcomed over 14 million domestic and international tourists in 2013, supporting more than 20,000 local jobs.• New York state has passed legislation in recent years making it…

In 2005, when Ralph Erenzo founded Tuthilltown Spirits in Gardiner, New York, his friends and relatives responded with confusion and skepticism. Small-batch spirits? New York Bourbon? They’d never heard of such a thing. Why would he want to go into the beverage alcohol business—the most highly regulated, highly taxed industry in the world? “Everyone thought I was nuts,” Erenzo says. Ten years later, they’re no doubt singing a different tune: Tuthilltown has emerged as one of the great successes in the first wave of new American distillers—those who launched their businesses between roughly 2005 to 2010. More than 500 craft spirits producers are now operating in the United States, and the trade group American Craft Spirits Association (ACSA) expects that number to double by the end of 2016. The industry…

For bartenders who enjoy theatrics, there’s nothing quite like adding flames to a cocktail. Besides creating an impressive show, fire also enhances many drinks by providing smokiness and heat, caramelizing sugars and lowering the alcohol content of certain high-proof spirits. The practice has long been used in tiki culture and is now gaining momentum at more mainstream bars. “Fire gives a sense of danger and allure,” says Rob Ficks, lead bartender at Craigie on Main in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “In the midst of creating serious cocktails, sometimes it’s necessary to take a step back and show our guests that we have fun with what we do, and fire is certainly a way to do that.” Craigie On Main offers drinks like the Queens Park Swizzle ($11), comprising Cruzan Black Strap rum,…

On-Premise News World Of Beer Expands To New York City Tampa, Florida–based World Of Beer has opened a new location in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood this spring. Located in a 5,000-square-foot space with a 1,200-square-foot indoor patio, the Chelsea location will offer 50 rotating taps and over 500 bottled beers, including numerous offerings from New York breweries. World of Beer has more than 70 locations across 20 states. José Andrés Opens Fast Casual Restaurant ThinkFoodGroup founder and chef José Andrés debuted his first fast casual concept in March. Located in Washington, D.C., Beefsteak offers customizable bowls of fresh-cooked vegetables. A second location is already in the works for D.C.’s DuPont Circle, with further expansion planned. ThinkFoodGroup operates numerous other concepts around the country, including the small plates– focused Jaleo.…

Shiso Flora lINGREDIENTS: 1½ ounces Plantation 3 Star rum; ¼ ounce Spirit Works sloe gin; 1⁄3 ounce Bing cherry shrub1; ½ ounce lime juice; ¼ ounce simple syrup;Splash seltzer; 2 large shiso leaves; Fennel frond; Edible flower. RECIPE:Muddle one shiso leaf in a shaker, add rum, sloe gin, shrub, juice and syrup, and lightly shake. Top with seltzer and pour contents into an ice-filled Collins glass. Garnish with a shiso leaf, a fennel frond and an edible flower. The Antidote INGREDIENTS: 1 ounce Sia blended Scotch whisky; ½ ounce Skinos mastiha liqueur; 1⁄3 ounce ginger syrup2; ½ ounce lemon juice; Dash Angostura bitters; Dash St. George absinthe; Fennel frond. RECIPE:Combine whisky, liqueur, syrup, juice, bitters and absinthe and shake hard roughly 25 times. Double strain into a rocks glass, top…