Link: http://tinyurl.com/y8ml8fu

Liquor Volume 2008-2009

We’ve posted on this before (check the “recession” tag) and the AP story follows the same tune as before, with a few more nuggets of information:

1. Industry growth as a whole slowed in 2009, with the smallest increase since 2001.

2. Cheap stuff is selling the best during the recession: low-end liquors saw volume increase by 5.5%.

3. Pricey stuff is selling the worst: high-end liquors saw volume decrease by 5.1%.

4. People are doing more drinking at home and less out on the town: sales at liquor stores rose 2.1% while sales at restaurants fell 3%.

5. Vodka is still far and away the most popular spirit in the country: “The $4.56 billion spent on vodka accounted for almost a third of all spirits sold.”

Link: http://www.valetmag.com/living/food-drink/2010/the-united-states-of-vodka.php

Putting vodka on the map

Some view vodka as a spirit that should be perfectly clean, neutral, and virtually flavorless. Others are increasingly viewing vodka as a sort of blank slate, onto which they can impart local flavors for their own unique twist on the spirit. In some ways, vodka’s blankness makes it a great canvas for different flavors, and more and more distillers are using it as such.

But what is important about the aging process, and how can variations in aging technique have different effects on the flavor of the liquor? Paul Clarke of Serious Drinks posted a good summary of the topic in December, check it out.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/yh9jg9a

In short, the aging process mellows the harsh edge of the alcohol and lets the liquor absorb some characteristics from the wood, including the color and flavors like vanilla, caramel, and chocolate. Different types of wood can add different flavors or textures to the spirit.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/yca36kd

The new Maker’s variety will be aged for an extra few months in toasted oak barrels, giving the bourbon a slightly different flavor than the traditional Maker’s offering. Clarke points out that Maker’s isn’t the first bourbon or whiskey to experiment a little with new varieties, as Brown Forman’s Woodford Reserve has released several different bourbon variations as part of its Master’s Collection series. But Maker’s is among the first to experiment with a new variety that it sells as part of its regular product line.

Maker's Mark

The upshot is that we’re seeing a continuation in the trend of what we at 200 Proof call Liquor Specialization. Brands are recognizing that, as part of the cocktail renaissance, many consumer palettes are becoming more sophisticated and people are taking a stronger interest in liquor as a whole. As such, there is opportunity for companies like Maker’s Mark to extend their product lines, creating different variations that cater to different consumer preferences. In the same way that oenophiles prefer Merlots or Cabs or Pinots, perhaps the new liquor aficionados will develop their own tastes in bourbons — with preferences ranging from the wood used for barrels to how long it was aged.

“With Clover Club, the modern cocktail bar enters its next generation, the one that does everything good the previous one did, but without waving its arms around and shouting “Hey, lookit me!” while doing it. With master mixologist Julie Reiner in charge and a crack squad of bartenders, the cocktails are as good as any in the world. But they’re a couple of bucks cheaper than at other top cocktail bars, and they feature far fewer flashy ingredients and trendy techniques. The decor, which incorporates a salvaged nineteenth-century back bar, is classic without camping things up with a bunch of cultural detritus bought on eBay. The crowd control — an essential if a popular cocktail bar wants to remain popular — is more a matter of expecting civilized behavior from its patrons as a matter of course than demanding it with printed rules. In short, a grown-up bar for grown-ups, where “grown-up” doesn’t mean “pretentious.”"

The Clover Club

Wondrich sets up an interesting dichotomy here: Clover Club vs. Today’s Bars. Less interesting than his actual description of Clover Club is the way that he seems to view it as an antidote to the maladies plaguing today’s popular establishments. From Wondrich’s description, today’s bars do the following:

Today’s bars waive their arms around and shout “Hey, look at me!”

Today’s bars are expensive and feature flashy ingredients and trendy techniques.

Today’s bars are camped up with Ebay cultural detritus.

Today’s bars control crowds by demanding it with printed rules.

Today’s bars are pretentious and don’t treat people like grown-ups.

Wondrich suggests that Clover Club represents the new generation in modern cocktail bars, leaving behind all the negative aspects of Today’s Bars. This ties in well with the previous post, which looked at whether the “speakeasy” bar was dead. Wondrich seems to hope that it is, or at least, some of the pretentious elements that accompany it.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/ydq5jna

Clarke points to Audrey Saunders, patron of the famous Pegu Club in New York, who is now opening a new bar in Los Angeles called the Tar Pit. Clarke writes that Saunders rejected the idea of making the Tar Pit another speakeasy-style bar, “describing that concept as being played out.” Clarke writes, “Instead, the approach will be that of a 1940s-era supper club, with an emphasis on vintage Hollywood style. “‘We need to get back to a point where things are fun again,’ she said of the cocktail culture. ‘We kind of got really heavy.’”

NYC's Pegu Club

Clarke also points to a review of the Clover Club in Brooklyn by Esquire‘s David Wondrich. Clarke writes that Wondrich’s review shows “the emphasis is swinging back to a very simple concept: fun places that serve good drinks—secret passwords and exclusive policies be damned.”

Clarke points out that the classic-mixology trend is spreading gradually into neighborhood bars and restaurants. Perhaps this means that people don’t have to put up with the pretentiousness of a speakeasy if they want a high-quality, craft cocktail.

Plenty to think about.

Hosted by John Myers, the panel consisted of three cocktail experts:

This “cocktail renaissance” is something we’ll be looking at more and more here on 200 Proof. Stay tuned.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/l3h4k4

Link: http://www.chambordbydonaldedge.com/edge-chambord-bottle.html

Chambord also showed the bottle during the opening party for a “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” play that the brand sponsored. The bottle is for sale and is now expected to go on a “world tour.”

Commissioning an extravagant piece of art in the middle of a global recession is an interesting move. In a Youtube video from the party (after the jump), Edge’s brand manager essentially summed what both the jeweled bottle and the Chambord brand were hoping to project: “The bottle is a thing of beauty and extravagance and indulgence, but there is a serious element to it, which is that it showcases traditional technique and craftsmanship.”

More (including the Youtube clip) after the jump:

Here’s the full text of the press information on the Chambord / Donald Edge website:

Chambord by Donald Edge is the collaboration of bespoke jeweller Donald Edge with Chambord, the black raspberry liqueur, to create an exquisite, hand crafted version of Chambord’s iconic Royal Orb made from diamonds, pink pearls and solid gold.

On completion the bottle will be worth more than $2 million, featuring over 1100 exquisite round brilliant cut diamonds with princess and pear cut diamonds, a square emerald cut diamond and the finest round pearls all set in hand wrought eighteen carat yellow gold. It will remain under wraps until a special party at Somerset House on the final day of London Fashion Week, September 22nd where it will be unveiled in front of the media and fashion industry insiders.

Under tight security, it will also go on display in the Chambord Bar for the launch night of “Chambord presents Breakfast at Tiffany’s” with Anna Friel and Joseph Cross at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, 29th September.

The bottle will be entered for the title of Most Expensive Bottle of Spirits in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/ybssc68

Three years ago, a Nikka Co. 21-year-old Malt was named the world’s best blended malt at the prestigious Whisky Magazine awards in Glasgow, Scotland. Since then, whiskey aficionados have been waiting for Nikka to distribute its whiskeys in the U.S., and this year they’ll be getting their wish.

Japan is not a country the average drinker would associate with whiskey, but its a good example that the liquor market is opening up. So much of a liquor’s popularity can be tied directly to its provenance — look at the way Grey Goose plays up its French origins. It will be interesting to keep an eye on the Japanese whiskeys and whether they succeed in the U.S. market.

Full story after the jump:

Japan’s High-End Distillers Are the Toast of Whisky World

A Sake Scion Who Learned His Trade in Scotland Paved the Way for Blends That Would Make Robert Burns Proud

By KENNETH MAXWELL

YOICHI, Japan—In 1918, Masataka Taketsuru, the son of a Japanese sake-brewing dynasty, sailed to Scotland to study chemistry—and he learned the craft of distilling fine Scotch whisky. Some 89 years later, a blend named after him prised something else from the Scots: the honor of being named best whisky in the world.

But making expensive whisky is one thing, selling it another: Nearly three years after Nikka Whisky Distilling Co.’s 21-year old Taketsuru Pure Malt was named the world’s best blended malt at the prestigious Whisky Magazine awards in Glasgow, the Japanese company is finally planning to launch a range of its prize-winning whiskies in the U.S. by the end of the year.

Nikka—owned by Asahi Breweries Ltd.—and rival Suntory Holdings Ltd. hope their premium branded whiskies can follow a long list of successful Japanese exports from autos to electronics, and from sushi to anime.

“The fundamental thing in premium whisky is the whisky itself and both Nikka and Suntory have, over the last two decades, proved that they can produce some of the best whisky in the world,” says Christopher Bunting, founder of Japanese whisky blog Nonjatta, which translates as “drunk it all.” “The Japanese distillers are taking it slowly and cautiously but there are definite signs that the foreign market is being taken very seriously. Times are changing.”

At the snowbound Yoichi distillery on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido, little has changed over the decades in terms of the principles of whisky distilling, says production manager Koichi Nishikawa. The stills—the large vessels in which the core of the distilling process takes place—at the Yoichi distillery are fired using coal, a method long since abandoned in most other distilleries. It makes for subtle differences in the way vapors pass into processing pipes before starting the process that converts them into alcohol, says Mr. Nishikawa.

Fresh from a traditional New Year’s blessing by a local Shinto priest, the distillery is preparing for the first coal-firing of the year set for Jan. 24—the day before Scots mark their traditional celebration of national poet Robert Burns with a hearty meal of haggis washed down with Scotch whisky. (Unlike whiskey from the U.S. or Ireland, Japanese whisky is spelled without the ‘e’ like Scotch whisky.)

Until recently, Japan’s whisky industry has taken a conservative approach to sales too, focusing on relatively low-cost brews that first rose to popularity in the domestic market in the 1970s.

Ulf Buxrud, author of “Japanese Whisky: Facts, Figures and Taste”, says Japan’s whisky makers missed a big overseas opportunity in the mid-1990s, when young and affluent consumers in Europe and the U.S. developed a taste for premium whiskeys that had previously been the province of connoisseurs and older drinkers.

“The Japanese were almost absent [from international markets] until 2006-2007 and, hence, lost an opportunity to take a significant slice of the market pie,” Mr. Buxrud says.

In recent years, Japanese distillers have had to face declining sales of whisky in the domestic market, which had been a mainstay of demand.

Naofumi Kamiguchi, general manager of the wines and spirits division at Asahi, says whisky drinking in Japan has fallen off the scale since the smoking salarymen heydays of the 1970s and 1980s. Consumers have drifted to novel products such as beers made without malt and pre-mixed fruit cocktails, as well as traditional Japanese brews such as sake and white spirit shochu. Japan’s league of whisky drinkers is now only about a fifth of what it was 20 years ago, says Mr. Kamiguchi. Tax changes in the 1990s that made whisky relatively more expensive than other alcoholic drinks have also hurt sales.

In contrast to the shrinking home front, overseas markets offer Japanese distillers a new market, for premium products in particular.

Last month, in a traditional stone building off the Boulevard Saint Germain in Paris’s tony 6th arrondissement, liquor distributor La Maison du Whisky opened a pop-up store selling a range of Japanese whiskies including Suntory’s 12-year-old Hibiki. (Hibiki’s 30-year-old whisky was voted best blended whisky in the world at the 2008 World Whiskies Awards.) Originally slated to close Jan. 16, La Maison du Whisky’s manager for Nikka products Geraldine Landier says the store concept—devised by the French company—proved more popular than expected: Its four-week run was extended by a week and will now close on SaturdayJan. 23.

“We’ve built up some local custom in just that short time,” says Ms. Landier, “as well as connoisseurs and even some tourists who came specially for the store.”

While most customers have spent about €50 to €60 (about $70 to $85) per bottle, those who want to really splurge can buy the highest-end Japanese whiskies that are on sale for €700 to €800, says Ms. Landier.

Paris also saw the opening last year of the only official Nikka bar outside Japan, in the cellar at the Curio Parlor cocktail club in the left bank just off the Seine river. The club hosts monthly “Nikka’fterwork” tasting events as well as funky club nights with guest DJs running into the wee hours.

Japanese distillers have also tested their wares in the U.S. The Nihon Whisky Lounge in San Francisco’s Mission district—one of a relatively select band of U.S. outlets selling a range of Japanese whiskies—offers Suntory’s flagship 12-year-old Yamazaki single malt at $13 a shot, while a Hibiki 12-year-old sets drinkers back $16 a pop. Bar staff say demand is rising, along with awareness of the existence of such a thing as premium Japanese whisky.

Nikka declined to disclose details of plans for the U.S. launch, including timetable and pricing, saying it is still finalizing terms of a distribution deal.

Takahiro Itoga, general manager of business planning for the spirits division at Suntory Liquors, says Europe and the U.S are a top priority for the company’s whisky sales. Suntory launched its Hibiki brand in Europe and the U.S. last year, and saw overseas sales hit 6,000 cases. This year’s target for Hibiki is 8,000 cases. Suntory has also targeted a 23% increase in overseas sales of its flagship Yamazaki brand to 31,000 cases from 25,000 last year.

Those numbers are a drop in the vat compared to the overall size of markets such as the U.S., where sales are worth well over $5 billion a year, according to the U.S. Distilled Spirits Council. But growth targets of the Japanese distillers indicate their ambitions in Europe and the U.S.—they are also looking at potentially lucrative emerging markets for premium whisky such as India, China and Russia.

Whisky enthusiast and author Mr. Buxrud is optimistic Japan’s distilleries can succeed overseas.

“For me, Japanese malt whiskies are another color on the global palette…Their exclusivity not only lies in being true to and preserving the scheme they adopted from Scotland, but also in the desire to experiment and carry the concept forward, for example, using Japanese oak for maturing vessels, and developing own strains of yeast cultures.”