SCOTLAND GIN TRAIL IS SUPPORTING CRAFT DISTILLING

If anyone is to grow and compete against Scotch, Irish and Bourbon whiskys, a huge education job lies ahead. Education is key to consumer support.

“That’s why we started our academy down at Midleton,” says Anna Malmhake, CEO of Irish Distillers. “We run courses for the trade from all over the world on Irish whiskey history, its production, what makes it unique and so on. In a year at least 1,000 people have gone through it, and of course these are people who go back home and write about it and talk about it.” (The Spirit Business).

For the longest time, I have said that we need a 'Cognac Trail' like the so famous and successful "Scotch Whisky Trail'.

I guess the Scots are beating us to it again with the first 'Scotland Gin Trail' just launched this month by The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA).

UK, Scotland, London Gin Trail, i.e., The UK Gin Trail

This launch follows the earlier launch of the London Gin Trail.

“From premium brands, such as Hendricks, to craft distillers such as Crossbill, this new trail captures the variety and diversity of UK gin making, ... There has never been a more exciting time for the industry with the UK being the biggest exporter of gin in the world ... I want to harness the ambition of our Scottish gin-trepreneurs, helping them to grow the UK’s reputation for quality gin both here and abroad. I want to see it up there with Scotch whisky in terms of global sales" says Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss.

This is real support from the government and strong organizational skills.

“The flourishing UK gin industry is being driven by the hard work and ingenuity of distillers and we're proud to be working with WSTA to promote Scottish gin throughout the UK and abroad... Our distillers are creating some really unique gins through experimenting with techniques from the whisky industry and using new blends of local botanicals – it’s exciting to see such innovation within the great British tradition of gin distilling" says David Mundell, Secretary of State for Scotland.

I wonder what they are going to do next? Succeed?

Source: WSTA

A NEW VERMOUTH MADE WITH PINEAU DES CHARENTES

EWG Spirits & Wine is launching La Quintinye Vermouth Royal, a collection of vermouths produced in Cognac by Jean Sébastien Robicquet, founder and master distiller.

La Quintinye Vermouth Royal takes its name from Jean-Baptiste de la Quintinye, botanist to King Louis XIV.

La Quintinye Vermouth Royal

The vermouth is made from a blend of Pineau des Charentes, white wines, and a range of plants and spices, including Artemisia, vine flower, nutmeg, liquorice, angelica, and iris root.

La Quintinye Vermouth Royal comes in 3 expressions:

1. La Quintinye Rouge features 28 herbs and spices and is a blend of white wine and red Pineau de Charentes with a caramel, burned vanilla and warm spice flavour.

2. La Quintinye Blanc is a blend of 18 botanicals, white wine and white Pineau des Charentes that gives the drinks a honeyed, citrus flavour.

3. La Quintinye Extra-Dry features 27 botanicals and has a tannic, dry mouthfeel with notes of citrus, anise and liquorice.

Pineau des Charentes is a fortified wine made from fresh grape juice and Cognac that is aged in French oak barrels for at least one year. It is the best tasting fortified wine available but mostly unknown outside of France. Hence, EWG through 'La Quintinye Vermouth Royal' has found a clever way to introduce Pineau des Charentes to the general public.

Best of luck!

Source: The Spirit Business, La Quintinye Vermouth Royal

DIAGEO IS INNOVATING IN THE SPIRIT INDUSTRY USING THE FIRST INCUBATOR PROGRAM

It is very difficult when you are a start-up which is ahead of the curve. It is very difficult for many reasons but one which is that you see and make changes, and that many people want change but they expect changes to come from the established companies. Why? Less risk, more comfortable for them, wait for a plan and process, etc.

But change comes mostly from small companies. Savvy large corporations know that 'for the most part' they are behind the curve and many try different strategies to cope with this.

One smart process used by large companies to gain innovation, besides buying a 'promising' start-up, is to work with incubators.

A business incubator  is a company that helps new and startup companies to develop by providing services such as management training or office space.

Mot many large companies are doing it because very few companies get the point of this at the moment.

Disney Accelerator is a rare exemple. It is powered by Techstars, is helping today's tech innovators turn their dreams for new media and entertainment experiences into reality.

Some cities get into this, for instance the city of Los Angeles is supporting an incubator campus named LACI, for LA Cleantech Incubator.

LA Cleantech Incubator is the City of Los Angeles's official cleantech business incubator established to accelerate the commercialization of clean technology in Southern California.

Now, in the wine & spirits industry innovation is mostly driven by merger and acquisition. The concept of accelerator and incubator is mostly unknown. DIAGEO, Pernod-Ricard, Bacardi, etc. the big guys are struggling with generating 'disruptive' innovations and they are often relying on buying out companies which have successfully launched something new which made sense.

My biggest surprise was to hear in 2013 that DIAGEO was creating its own accelerator and incubator program.

DIAGEO!! Are you kiddin me!

Well they are the biggest and they know how to stay the biggest by taking all the necessary steps to maintain their leadership.

DIAGEO called this 'Distill Ventures'. I am blown away, check them out!

Screenshot of website of Distill Ventures by DIAGEO 18 Nov. 2015

I believe there are incubating 8 spirit companies right now.

Source: Distill Ventures

PREMIUMISATION THROUGH TRAVEL RETAIL MARKET

In an excellent post from The Drinks Report, we learn that 'driving luxury, exclusivity and premiumisation' is not just about having great products in a great pack, it is also about creating consumer experiences.

Pernod Ricard Prestige Travel Brands

Newly appointed Manager for the consumer market for all Pernod Ricard Travel Retail, Cristina Carmueja talks about the 5 tenants of premiumisation.

1. Brand Innovation:  innovate in every category and even create new categories, by tapping into different consumer needs.
2. Consumer Experiences: consumers are looking for unique experiences they can get only in one place.
3. Exclusive Products: limited editions are really important for us. They differentiate travel retail from domestic markets, but not only that, they allow to offer consumers a product that is unique. engaging the consumers, either through the activation we create at point of purchase or through the way we talk about our products.
4. Exclusive Packagings: the purchase is made on shelf within three/five seconds – so you have to catch the eye. Special Martell 300th anniversary packs, or a beautiful gift bag with Globetrotter (the travel company).
5. Partnership: making co-branding partnership with another brand. Exemple, designed by X, made by X, or partnership with the specific store in this airport. For instance, having an exclusive with a retailer for three months to make it quite unique to that airport. 

Source: The Drinks Report, Pernod-Ricard Travel Brands

THE AMAZING STORY OF JAPANESE SINGLE MALT WHISKY

I am always fascinated and often inspired by unique situations and stories...

You need to make beer before you make whisky (sort of!) and it makes sense that Japanese make whisky based on their long tradition of beer making and even going back more in time with the Sake production (sort of flat beer) which pre-dates by far the beer making. 

Japanese Single Malt whisky is today considered a classic for whisky connoisseurs.

It is an irony that one of the most prized Japanese Single Malt Whisky went out of business because it was ahead of its time and failed just shy of a few years just before the Japanese whisky craze (see, adoption and diffusion concepts).

Another interesting bit is the 'insane' appeal which followed once the distillery stopped producing (see, prestige and scarcity concepts).

"Karuizawa is one of the legendary whisky distilleries in Japan. It was founded in 1955 and situated on a beautiful vineyard in Asama of Karuizawa where is also a famous summer palace to Japanese. 

Karuizawa is the smallest distillery in Japanese but its ambition is big. Karuizawa adopted the top standard in making of whisky. It used the famous barley Golden Promise, distilled in small batch and aged their spirit in finest Spanish sherry casks that made Karuizawa malt perfection in quality.

Although all these uncompromising principles made Karuizawa malt the masterpiece, it was irony that its persistence was unsustainable commercially at that time as the market was not ready to accept such a premium Japanese malt. Karuizawa distillery was stopped production in 2000 and completely closed in 2011.

Karuizawa’s old stocks are now the most precious and rarest Japanese malt ever existing in the market. It is foreseeable that Karuizawa malt, such a great, rare and classic but diminishing whisky will definitely becoming the treasures exclusively for the rich very soon .Why don’t you collect some when it is still available and affordable? 

Can’t find any at your local shops and even the big on-line shops? Yes, you can’t. Karuizawa malt is indeed too rare and too popular to meet the demand from the connoisseurs from all over the world. Only the very lucky people may grab one or two bottles from the limited choices of collection."  The Rare Malt (www.theraremalt.com)

                                                  Karuizawa Whisky

Sources: The Rare Malt

GRAND MARNIER TRIBUTES TO TWENTIETH CENTURY PARIS WITH 'LE CAFE PARISIEN'

Grand Marnier unveils latest bottle design.

Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge has unveiledits 13th limited edition bottle design – Le Café Parisien.

Marnier Cordon Rouge Cafe Parisien

Le Café Parisien is the latest addition to Grand Marnier’s limited edition collection, which was established in 1927 to pay tribute to its Parisian heritage.

Dressed in Grand Marnier’s iconic vibrant red, and adorned with an intricate golden pattern, Le Café Parisien is designed to echo the flamboyance of the Parisian café scene and capture the spirit of early twentieth century Paris, a time when many famed cafés and palaces were put on the map.

The Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge Le Café Parisien bottle launched in October 2015 during the show at TFWA Cannes and is the 13th addition to Grand Marnier’s limited edition collection.

Source: The Drinks Report

MARTELL MARKS ITS 300TH ANNIVERSARY WITH A NEW XO CORDON BLEU

As part of its 300th anniversary Martell is re-designing its iconic Cordon Bleu cognac.

The new design reflects the luxury nature of the product, besides maintaining the existing strengths of the current packaging including its simplicity, authenticity and consistency over time.

Martell Cordon Bleu XO

London agency Nude Brand Creation has used inspirations from past elements to re-create a traditional appeal.

The new Martell visual elements have been incorporated including the crest and swift. The signature of Edouard Martell is given a prominent position to honour Martell Cordon Bleu’s creator. Every element has been carefully considered. Nude worked closely with a hand-lettering artist to ensure the typography evokes the rich and luxurious side of the prestigious cognac.

What is interesting about this new bottle of cognac is the age statement. Traditionally, Martell Cordon Bleu was a proprietary blend rather secret with a certain quantities of Borderies into it, which is sais to explain it lightness and smooth appeal. Now this product is described as 'Extra Old Cognac' which is the long description of XO. Hence, this must be an XO!

Source: FOODBEV MEDIA