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New Booze: Pimm’s Blackberry & Elderflower (UK Only)

Here are some new spirits launching. The text is taken from these brands' press releases.

Pimm’s Blackberry & Elderflower (UK Only)

Pimm’s Blackberry & Elderflower is now available nationwide.  This twist on the iconic summer favourite blends the quintessential British flavours of fruity blackberries and fragrant elderflower. Based on a new Pimm’s blend, this first ever flavoured infusion from Pimm’s is perfect served over ice, mixed with lashings of lemonade, and topped with the freshest blackberries you can get your mitts on, perfect choice for adding some sunshine to summer shin-digs with chums and it tastes just as good on those not so sunny days.  RRP £15.49 for 70cl; 250ml pre-mix can (5.4%ABV), RRP £1.85

St. George California Agricole Rum (July 2013)

St. George Spirits will release its initial bottling of St. George California Agricole Rum at the end of June 2013. Bottles will start hitting shelves nationally in July. St. George California Agricole Rum is the re-launch of the California craft distillery's Agua Libre Rum, first released in 2010. While St. George California Agricole Rum is a new name and sports a new label design, the rum itself is the same spirit under the name Agua Libre.

St. George California Agricole Rum is made from fresh sugarcane, not molasses, in the style of a rhum agricole or cachaça. The sugarcane is grown in the Imperial Valley of Southern California. Immediately after harvest, stalks of sugarcane are shipped to the St. George Spirits distillery in Alameda, where the stalks are run by hand through a sugarcane press in order to extract fresh juice. The freshly pressed, uncooked cane juice is then fermented and distilled in the distillery's 500-liter copper pot still.

The SRP is $50 for a 750ml bottle at 43% ABV. 

Glenfiddich Cask of Dreams 2013

This month, Glenfiddich Single Malt Scotch Whisky celebrates the launch of the 2013 Cask of Dreams Limited Edition Bottling, exclusive for the USA. 

Cask of Dreams is a special marriage of Glenfiddich whiskies taken from a selection of American oak barrels holding matured whiskies of a variety of ages, with the youngest at 14 Years Old. This whisky was then decanted into virgin American oak barrels to bring an intense and powerful vanilla sweetness. Glenfiddich Cask of Dreams will be available in a very limited quantity of 6,660 bottles at select retailers starting in June with a recommended retail price of $99.

Canadian Mist Flavors (June 2013)

The makers of Canadian Mist announce the release of Mist Flavors in the United States. Launching in 14 markets beginning in June, the three products – Peach Mist, Cinnamon Mist and Maple Mist – are crafted with Canadian Mist which is mingled with proprietary liqueur. Canadian Mist is triple distilled and aged in white oak barrels, charred to expose the "red layer" and create a light-tasting, flavorful whisky. The whisky is then added to the proprietary peach, cinnamon or maple liqueur to create the unique, smooth taste of Mist Flavors.

Mist Flavors will be introduced in 14 markets this summer:  Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.Peach Mist, Cinnamon Mist and Maple Mist are available in 50ml and 750ml bottle sizes in select U.S. markets. Each bottle will be presented at 70 proof with a suggested retail price of $9.99 for a 750ml bottle.

 

Castello Mio Sambuca

Castle Brands announces that Castello Mio Sambuca is now available in the US in "classico" style as well as espresso. The classic Castello Mio Sambuca Superiore is a unique combination of all the traditional sambuca flavors with a secret blend of herbs and spices. One of the great traditions of sipping sambuca is to add three coffee beans to it, allowing the natural coffee flavors and aromas to lightly infuse the glass. Legend has it that this will also bring you good luck. Castello Mio Sambuca Espresso takes that tradition one step further - with an infusion of real Italian deep roast coffee beans added to the classic sambuca.  Both products retail for a SRP of $24.99.

Luxardo Aperitivo 

Luxardo, in partnership with Anchor Distilling Company, introduces Luxardo Aperitivo to its family of Italian liqueurs. Luxardo Aperitivo (11% ABV, 750 mL, SRP $19.99) expresses the rich aperitivo tradition for which it was named. This amari, or liqueur category of Italian bitters, is an infusion of herbs, roots & citrus. The mild alcohol content & bitter orange flavor offers a complement to several fruit juices, wines and Prosecco. The favorite Italian cocktail is the Spritz, or the mix of Prosecco and Luxardo Aperitivo.

 

 

Malibu Sundae and Malibu Swirl, May 2013

Malibu announces the launch of two dessert-flavored additions to the Malibu family marking the brand’s debut into the confectionary spirits segment. Malibu Sundae combines the brand’s signature coconut taste with the flavor of chocolate ice cream while Malibu Swirl pairs the flavor of coconut with the taste of strawberries and cream.

Malibu Sundae, and Malibu Swirl, 21% ABV will be available in 1L, 750ml, and 50ml sizes and will retail for a suggested price of $14.99/750ml. 

 

 

Expresiones del Corazon Tequila, June 2013

Expresiones del Corazon, a limited, tequila collection aged in barrels from Buffalo Trace, and made at the Casa San Matias Distillery located in the Los Altos region of Jalisco. Offered in five unique expressions: Buffalo Trace Reposado, George T. Stagg Anejo, Sazerac Rye Anejo, Old Rip Van Winkle Anejo, and Blanco.

Using 100% blue agave from the highlands of Jalisco in Mexico, the brix was measured to determine sugar levels before harvest, rather than a traditional clear cut.  Two sets of agave were harvested, one with a lower sugar content and flavored a little drier, and one with a higher sugar content considered a little sweeter for agave, resulting in more floral notes. The result was a harmonization of the two sets of agave in the amazing Blanco, which was then used as the base for the other four Expressions noted above.    The agave was then slow cooked in stone ovens, infused with oxygen to further enhance the flavor and aroma, and then double distilled.

Expresiones del Corazon will be available nationally in mid-late June. Quantities are limited, with only 6,000 bottles of each variety available.  Suggested retail prices range from $59.99 to $89.99, depending on expression.

Buffalo Trace Reposado – 10.5 months in Buffalo Trace Bourbon barrels. 80 proof.
George T. Stagg Anejo – 22 months in George T. Stagg Bourbon barrels. 80 proof.
Sazerac Rye Anejo – After 24 months in Sazerac Rye Whiskey barrels. 90 proof.
Old Rip Van Winkle Anejo – 23 months in the wood of Old Rip Van Winkle Bourbon barrels. 80 proof.
Blanco. 80- proof. 

Tapatio 110-Proof Blanco Tequila (May 2013)

Carlos Camarena, the iconic distiller of Mexico’s 75-year-old Tequila Tapatio brand has launched a 110-proof Tequila. Tapatio 110-Proof Blanco (55% alc. by vol.) was distilled at Alteña Distillery from 100% estate-grown blue agaves in the Arandas Highlands of Mexico. Under Master Distiller Carlos’ Camerena, the agaves were hand-selected for ripeness and slow-baked for four days. After being crushed, the agave ‘Mosto’ was fermented in small wooden fermenters using their proprietary 75 year-old yeast culture. The ‘Mosto Muerte’ was then double-distilled in small (90-250 gallon) Alambiques Tequilano copper pot stills and aged lightly in stainless.  

Suggested retail for Tapatio 110-Proof Blanco is $48 (1 Liter). It is available in CA, WA, OR, TX, NY, NJ, CT, FL and MO.

Ron Barceló Imperial Premium Blend 30 Aniversario

Ron Barceló Celebrates 30 Years Since the Introduction of Ron Barceló Imperial with a Limited-Edition Release of Ron Barceló Imperial Premium Blend 30 Aniversario. Each year since Miguel Barceló first created Ron Barceló Imperial in 1980, private reserves of this prestigious ten-year-old blended rum were set aside for two years of additional aging.  Aged in barrels made from selected cuts of white oak, these reserves, some from the Bordeaux house of Château d’Yquem, each with different grades of toasting, were blended to create the limited edition Imperial Premium Blend 30 Aniversario in 2011.

Only 9,000 bottles of the Imperial Premium Blend are bottled annually, and of that 9,000 only 600 are allocated to the United States where this Dominican rum was recently introduced. The Imperial Premium Blend 30 Aniversario is 43% alcohol by volume.Ron Barceló Imperial Premium Blend retails for $120.00 per 750ml bottle and is currently available for sale in Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island. For more information or to request an interview, please visit www.ronbarcelo.com 

 

Sia Scotch (June 2013)

SIA Scotch Whisky, a blended whisky distilled in Scotland and matured, blended and bottled by Douglas Laing & Co., Ltd., is heading for US shelves. Created by Scotch Enthusiast, licensed bartender and former Creative Director Carin Luna-Ostaseski, SIA is a blend of Speyside, Highlands and Islay malts, specifically created to appeal to a contemporary palate. The product is initially available in San Francisco.

SIA (43% ABV) is expected to be on shelves beginning in June with a retail price of $44.99 (750ml). SIA is imported by Spirit Imports, Inc. of Sunrise, FL. Named after the Gaelic word for the number six, SIA is the first Scotch to be funded through Kickstarter, the crowd sourcing website that is commonly used to fund start-up projects such as films or tech innovations. For additional information, visit www.SiaScotch.com.

UV Vodka Salty Watermelon and Peach (May 2013)

Phillips Distilling Company (Phillips) today announces two juicy new flavor additions to the UV Vodka portfolio, UV Salty Watermelon and UV Peach. Just in time for summer, the new flavors extend UV Vodka’s award-winning selection to 19 flavors. UV Salty Watermelon is the world’s first salted fruit flavored vodka. The flavor was inspired by memories of eating salted watermelon during hot summer days. Phillips experimented with various amounts of salt with all-natural watermelon flavors until they arrived at the blend of sweet, ripe watermelon and a hint of salt to bring out the flavor.

UV Vodka is distilled four times for premium quality and activated carbon filtered to ensure the highest level of purity and the perfect pH balance. UV Salty Watermelon and UV Peach are available in all bottle sizes with a suggested retail price of $12.99 for a 750mL bottle.

Five Gabriel Boudier Liqueurs

21st Century Spirits, a Los Angeles-based importer and producer of wine and spirits, extends its import portfolio holdings with France's Gabriel Boudier to include five new liqueurs. Four of the five new liqueurs will broaden the Gabriel Boudier Mixologist Range from 8 to 12 liqueur flavors with the addition of premium flavors: Caramel, Hibiscus, Darjeeling Tea and Vanilla and Cognac. The fifth Gabriel Boudier introduction is a special dedication to the late French Chef, Bernard Loiseau whose collaboration with Gabriel Boudier to create a unique cherry and chocolate liqueur blend lives on through the Gabriel Boudier Bernard Loiseau Morello Cherries and Chocolate Liqueur bottling, now available to U.S. purchasers nationwide.

The Caramel, Hibiscus, Darjeeling Tea and Vanilla and Cognac flavor additions to the Gabriel Boudier Mixologist Range join the original Mixologist Range portfolio, including: Lychee, Apple, Maraschino, Orange, Parfait Amour, Pomegranate, Ginger and Williams Pear.

Suggested retail pricing for a 750 ml bottle of the existing Gabriel Boudier Mixologist Range, as well as all five new liqueurs, including Gabriel Boudier Bernard Loiseau Morello Cherries and Chocolate Liqueur is $30 USD.

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See more New Booze by clicking the link below. 

First White Whiskey, Now Brown Gin: Beefeater Joins the Unusual Aging Trend

Today Beefeater annouced the launch of Burrough's Reserve, a gin aged in Lillet barrels. It comes as part of a larger trend of reversing the traditional aging times of spirits and cocktails. 

White whiskies have been a huge trend for several years, mostly led by the craft distilling movement. The small batch distillers couldn't afford to wait for their whiskies to fully mature before selling them, so they all started selling young, barely, or not-at-all-aged spirit. The trend became so big that the major brands couldn't ignore it. Even Jack Daniels and Jim Beam released young/unaged whiskies at the end of last year. 

Meanwhile, in the mixology world, bartenders are taking things that are usually not aged and aging them: cocktails. This trend has also become too big to ignore, with even Vegas casino bars offering barrel-aged drinks. Bartenders are aging  straight spirits in small casks as well; sometimes to make them woody, sometimes to absorb the previous spirit soaked into the wood into the current spirit aging in it (the equivalent of cask 'finishing' frequently used in scotch whisky).

A couple months ago, word leaked about Absolut Amber, which is "a 40% abv vodka that has been aged for a minimum of six months with a variety of wood, including ex-Bourbon barrels, American oak and Swedish oak, as well as a variety of roasted American and French oak chips."

That was a pretty big departure for a company with mostly fruit and spice flavored vodkas, and seems to acknowledge the barrel-aging trend.

So too does the new Burrough's Reserve Gin from Beefeater, which is "distilled in a small historic copper still from the 19th Century, then uniquely rested in Jean de Lillet oak barrels. " (Jean de Lillet is a vintage reserve version of Lillet aperitif.) It will launch first in Spain in June, then the UK, then the US in October 2013. 

These are not by a long shot the first aged vodka and gins on the market. There was a big spike in aged gins several years back, after the launch of Bols Genever and Hayman's Old Tom, with other distillers deciding to create vintage-styled spirits. And some aged vodkas, like Starka from Poland, go back centuries. 

But with some of the world's biggest spirits companies now getting behind the unusual aging trend, many more people will be exposed to it, and perhaps more people will consider  how and why spirits are aged, and what that does to create the flavors of their favorite brands. 

 

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Global Booze Brands Embrace Small-Scale Strategies: Absolut's Our Vodka Program

Diageo is experimenting with crowdsourcing and Absolut has set up a boutique distillery in Berlin.

The following story comes from Mixology Magazine in Germany. It was written by Helmut Adam and was originally published in German here. It was translated into English by Kirstin Müller. Below is an edited version of the translation.

Bartenders participating in Diageo’s World Class Programme [in Europe] are encouraged to submit their ideas for a [new spirit or liqueur]. In May 2013, a jury of Diageo professionals and industry heavy-weights such as Salvatore Calabrese and Jörg Meyer is going to evaluate the submissions and select a winner. The prize is a 5% share of earnings after tax or an installment of £ 25.000 (about € 29.000) alternatively. 

Pernot Ricard, Diageo’s strongest competitor in many markets, is taking a different route.  Last Friday, a boutique distillery producing a new vodka has opened its doors in Berlin’s trendy hot spot Kreuzberg.

The new product is called “Our/Berlin”. The distillery is run on its own terms, independently from Pernot Ricard Germany. Initiators behind the “start-up”  are The Absolut Company and the international holding of the corporation, the Pernod Ricard Group. In order to simulate start-up-criteria, the new vodka is not available via the usual distributing channels of Pernod Ricard. At the same time, Berlin clubs and bars are major target markets, as the company’s website states. With 37,5 % Vol. and at 350 ml per bottle, “Our/Berlin” is obviously meant to cover a different segment than Absolut Vodka, its bigger brother in the cooperation.

From a PR-Agency with love

An agency called „Paul Sanders“ is Pernod Ricard’s partner in crime. They list “consulting, production, press relations and guest management” as their main areas of expertise and have so far been involved in fashion and lifestyle projects. On their website, the agency describes their cooperation: “Pernod Ricard provides the distillery, the recipe and the ingredients. Paul Sanders are in charge of production, sales and marketing.”

Can corporations reinvent themselves as start-ups?

Åsa Caap, „Director for Global Innovation Projects“ at Pernod Ricard and in charge of the project – in spite of the theory described above – believes her company grew from innovation. In an interview with MIXOLOGY ONLINE, she said: "Since I've been working in that position I've seen a lot of innovation inside Pernod Ricard. The origins of Pernod Ricard are entrepreneurial, as both Ricard and Pernod were innovative entrepreneurs."

The idea for „Our/Vodka“, as the project’s umbrella brand is called, came to life over two years prior. According to Caap, developing a strategy on how Pernod Ricard could locally produce a vodka, that would have actual local market relevance, was a lengthy process.

„We decided very early that Berlin was a good market to start from”, Caap explains. The German capital is indeed the first major city to test the concept. If successful, „Our/Stockholm“, „Our/Detroit“ or „Our/Paris“ might soon follow suit.


The production process of Our/Vodka

How exactly is “Our/Berlin” Vodka produced? According to Åsa Caap, the final product is part locally purchased alcohol of regional descent, part centrally produced distillate using a secret type of yeast (“Low wine”) and part local water. The distillate is then refined to drinkable alcohol (“High wine”) in the Our/Berlin Distillery. The pure grain alcohol may consist of various agricultural bases, such as sugarcane or grain, depending on the market. Further details are not yet being disclosed. The 350 ml bottle of Berlin Vodka is sold for € 13.

Caap is surprisingly open when addressing the obvious reservations to a major cooperation meddling with grassroots craft: "Probably it is a contradiction and the only way to get around it is to be totally transparent." In her opinion the fact that the project is “one part global and one part local” makes it so special. “No other brand has that”, Caap says. In Berlin, “Our/Berlin” Vodka is produced and marketed by the Tioli Gmbh & Co. KG. Tioli is a wholly owned subsidiary of V&S Vin and Sprit AB, the Swedish branch of Pernod Ricard, which also owns Absolut Vodka.

It is vitally important, Caap says, that the project be co-run by locals, who get their fair share of the profits. The partners are independently responsible for sales and marketing. Hence, the market positioning of the brand will vary greatly from city to city.

Landmines at the Berlin testing grounds

Is this new type of „global boutique distillery“ going to prevail? The direct local environment for the first edition of Our/Vodka definitely has it’s stepping stones. The very area, where the new distillery was set up, is currently under fire as a major battlefield in gentrification-conflicts. In Schlesische Straße, a residential building was squatted recently. Plans for the Guggenheim Lab, which was set to occupy the open space in Cuvrystraße were overturned by local residents. And close by at the East Side Gallery, demonstrations are condemning plans for tearing down parts of the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall. Everything reeking of “upgrade” is at best met with skepticism by the local population.

Will Pernod Ricard’s balancing act succeed to break into Berlin’s sub and club culture? Can a global spirits company really mask as a start-up? Will people see the product as a trendy party accessory or as a corporate wolf in sheep’s clothing? Since last Friday, when the showroom of “Our/Berlin” officially opened, industry professionals and barflies can make up their own minds. And for those looking to enter the micro distilling vodka business themselves, Pernod Ricard has put up a message on their global Our/Vodka website: “Are you interested in opening an Our/Vodka distillery in your city, let us know!”

Go here for more information (in Egnlish) about Our Vodka.

 

This article first appeared in MIXOLOGY magazine. MIXOLOGY is a bar and beverage magazine based in Berlin, Germany.

Author: Helmut Adam http://about.me/helmutadam
Translation: Kirstin Müller http://oeaeue.wordpress.com/

 

Wine and Spirits (in the Same Bottle)

I'm not exactly sure what brought on this trend, but over the past year multiple brands have begun combining their spirits with wine. Here's what I know about so far.

Absolut Tune

Is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough region of New Zealand and Absolut vodka. It's 14 percent alcohol.

Courvoisier Gold

Courvoisier Gold is a blend of Moscato wine from the South of France and Courvoisier cognac. The product is 18 percent alcohol.

Courvoisier Rose

This is a blend of Courvoisier cognac and French red wine grapes. It's 18 percent alcohol. 

Exclusiv Rose

Exclusiv Rosé Vodka merges raspberry vodka with Moscato Rosé wine. It 32 percent alcohol by volume. 

The Fizzy Mary with Carbonated Garnish

The Fizzy Mary combines the enriching vegetables and hair-of-the-dog booziness of the typical Bloody Mary with stomach-soothing fizz created by Nitrous Oxide. The drink has a wonderful tingle on the lips and better yet, the nitrous bubbles will go right to your head.

After a few experiments I found I liked the Fizzy Mary best charged with whipped cream canisters (nitrous charges), while the garnish I preferred carbonated (soda chargers).

I ended up using the Perlini cocktail carbonating system for the liquid and the iSi whipped cream canister for the garnishes, but there’s no reason you couldn’t use one tool for both.


Fizzy Mary

You will need:
Perlini cocktail carbonating system or iSi whipped cream canister
Cream (nitrous) chargers

Ingredients:
2 parts Your Favorite or Homemade Bloody Mary Mix (I use Low-Sodium V8 juice)
1 part Vodka
5 dashes Tabasco Pepper Sauce

To the Perlini shaker add ingredients and ice. Charge with a whipped cream canister (NO2), then shake drink. Allow to settle for at least 30 seconds before opening cap. Strain into a wine or Collins glass. Note that the nitrous increases the perception of sweetness, so extra Tabasco or lemon juice will help tame it. Add carbonated garnish.

Note: If making a Fizzy Mary in an iSi whipped cream dispenser, mix ingredients well before adding to siphon, then do shake only lightly, avoiding splashing the top part of the siphon to prevent gunking it up. Release pressure slowly, then open the canister and pour and strain the contents into your glass.

 

Carbonated Bloody Mary Garnish

You will need:
iSi whipped cream canister or Perlini carbonating cocktail system
Soda (carbon dioxide) chargers

Ingredients:
Various garnishes
Vodka
Tabasco pepper sauce

Note, you’ll leave these garnishes to carbonate overnight, so remember to begin a day before you need them.

Possible garnishes include cherry tomatoes, lemon wedges, olives, cocktail onions, cucumbers, pickles, tofu cubes, pickled vegetables etc. The more porous the better. Non-porous vegetables like pepperonchini, celery, carrots, green peppers, etc., will not carbonate well.

I added vodka and Tabasco sauce to my charger to infuse the veggies while carbonating. When you eat the carbonated garnish, it tingles in the mouth and the Tabasco enhances the sensation.

Add garnishes to an iSi whipped cream dispenser. Fill with vodka and many dashes of Tabasco up to the level of the fruit. Charge the canister with a Carbon Dioxide charger. Gently shake the canister and place in refrigerator.

Leave to carbonate in the refrigerator overnight. Open canister directly before serving. Carbonation doesn’t last more than a half hour or so, longest in the tomatoes and only 15 minutes or so in less porous veggies.

On the Modernist Cuisine website, they do a shorter-time version (two hours) by using extra CO2 canisters, but I didn't find this so useful for tofu or tomatoes. 

Note: another way to carbonate garnishes (and probably the Bloody Mary as well) is to use dry ice and a Nalgene bottle. I haven’t tried it yet but it looks fun.

Here are some other pictures. I didn't mean for them to be artsy; I'm just terrible with white balance. 

 

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This recipe was developed with support from Tabasco. 

The Double Rainbow Cocktail in a New Recipe Book

In 2010 I created the Double Rainbow Cocktail, a simple drink I named after the YouTube video. It contains vodka, St. Germain elderflower liqueur, grapefruit bitters, and soda water, and has a lemon peel garnish. 

Anyway, now it's in a mini cocktail book called The Cocktail Hour: Vodka. 

It's a 3"x5" book of about 30 recipes plus a few infusions, with black and white illustrations. It's part of a series - there is a rum and a gin book too. 

Just thought I'd let you know. 

How Grey Goose is Made

This September I visited Cognac, France to judge a competition for Grey Goose vodka. While there, I learned about the production process. I'm sorry I don't have pictures of all this to share- you like reading, right?

Grey Goose is made in two parts: in Picardy, in the north of France, where the wheat is grown and distilled; and Cognac, France, where the wheat spirit and water are filtered and bottled.

 

Picardy, France. Image from Wikipedia

The Wheat

Grey Goose is made from soft winter wheat grown in Picardy. In that region they grow tons of wheat for France (and you know how the French like baguettes). The temperature never goes below -5 degrees Celsius and in the summer not hotter than 25 or 35 degrees. Winter wheat is sewn in October and harvested in August, giving it 10 months to grow strong, as opposed to summer wheat that grows in 6 months and is more fragile. 

The wheat is grown by many farms, then sold to and classified by a co-op. They use only that classified as "superior bread-making wheat" for Grey Goose.  Soft wheat, as opposed to hard wheat, is better for distilling according to Maitre de Chai Francois Thibault. I takes about 1 kilo of wheat to make 1 bottle of vodka.

Milling and Fermentation 

Interestingly, Grey Goose doesn't own their distillery, yet they have an exclusive contract with the distillery and they produce only Grey Goose there. The distillery is also located in Picardy, and it sounds like quite the huge operation. The entire distilling process is one continuous operation - wheat goes in and spirit comes out with the whole thing in motion. 

The wheat, purchased from three different co-ops, enters the distillery, where it is cleaned and then milled. It is milled four times over the course of 24 hours. The husks, which won't ferment, are sold as cattle field. The flour goes through to fermentation. 

To break the carbohydrates in the flour down into fermentable sugars, enzymes are added. They add one enzyme that cuts the starch into random sized pieces, then cool it, then add another enzyme that cuts those pieces into evenly sized fermentable sugars.

Why use enzymes? I asked Francois Thibault that question. He said that unlike barley, which can be prepared to transform into fermentable sugars by the malting process, wheat doesn't germinate (see geeky explanation by Ben in the comments). However, as with bourbon, malted barley could be added to the corn/wheat to help transform its starches into fermentable sugars. Thibault says though they could use malted barely, using enzymes is more stable, efficient, and cleaner; and no undesired microorganisms will be added during the process.

Now the wheat is ready for fermentation. They use a commercial (non-proprietary) yeast strain that is prepared elsewhere. 

Fermentation takes place in a continuous manner - this is something I've not seen at other distilleries, though I think this technology is used elsewhere. Typically, the wheat/corn/whatever that is being fermented goes into a big vat, ferments completely, then the vat is emptied out. This is a batch process.

For Grey Goose, they use a continuous fermentation process over a series of six cascading tanks. Wheat and yeast goes in the first tank, then pours into each successive tank operating at a different phase in the fermentation process. At the end, the liquid is fully fermented in the form of a beer at 10% alcohol by volume. This takes about 30 hours. New wheat and yeast is constantly added to the first tank and beer is constantly pulled out of the last one. 

Distilling

Then the beer is distilled into spirit. They use a five column distillation process. Despite the names given to each of thecolumn stills, they're more or less the same stills, just fine tuned  with number of plates, pressure and temperature settings, etc., to do a certain job. 

• The first column strips out the water and produces a spirit at 92% alcohol.
• The second column is tuned for "hydro-selection," meaning the spirit is watered back down before entering it, and it is redistilled to remove certain components.
• The third column is "rectification under pressure" and the fourth is "rectification under vacuum." Both of these strip out high and low oils.
• The last column is tuned for "demethanolisation." 

The waste products of distillation are redistilled and sold off as industrial alcohol.

The entire process from when the wheat enters the distillery until it leaves takes four and a half to five days. 

 Filtration, Water, and Bottling

 I didn't have the opportunity to visit the wheat fields and distillery in Picardy, but I did get to visit the bottling facility near Cognac. 

The water used to bottle Grey Goose comes from a well 500 feet deep beneath the bottling plant. As the soil is full of limestone (just like in Kentucky), the resulting water is full of calcium. 

The water is filtered to remove the minerals using double reverse osmosis. Thibault emphasized that the machine can't make great water out of bad water, so they have to start with good stuff like they have. Furthermore Thibault says they don't filter it to 100% pure H20 - they do it to their specifications and leave in the rest for character. 

The water is mixed with vodka to bottling proof and then filtered again, this time through pads of cellulose and carbon. 

I was curious as to why they don't just bottle the vodka up in Picardy. Thibault says they didn't really consider it - he was based in Cognac (he was a cognac and other spirit maker) when Sidney Frank asked him to develop Grey Goose, and he knew the water in the region was good. He says it was a practical decision to grow the wheat and distill in Picardy and transport it Cognac rather than ship the water of Cognac to Picardy or to try to grow wheat in the Cognac region. 

Finally, the bottles are also produced in France. At the bottling facility they only bottle Grey Goose, no other products. 

The Glycerin Question

Grey Goose has long been the victim of rumors that it has something added to it to make it smoother. Darcy O'Neil tested Grey Goose for glycerol and found none. But other additives are allowed by US law (sugar, and I think citric acid, for example). So I asked Thibault directly if anything was added to Grey Goose after distillation besides water. He said "Absolutely nothing," and I believe him. 

The Grey Goose 10 Cocktail Competition

Last week near Cognac, France I helped judge the first international Grey Goose 10 cocktail competition. My co-judges were Dimi Lezinska, Global Brand Ambassador for Grey Goose, and Francois Thibault, the Maitre de Chai (basically, the dude in charge of production) of the brand. 

This year the ten bartenders from around the globe were hand-picked by their local brand teams. Many of them have worked with Bacardi in some capacity in the past. Next year, I believe the plans is to hold regional cocktail competitions to choose the 10. 

The competition took place poolside at the Logis du Fresne, an ancient walled property that the brand purchased recently. It was kinda nice. The drinks made in this competition were generally awesome, and got better with each subsequent round. 

In the first round, bartenders were supposed to make drinks inspired by their own countries. Diego Diaz from Puerto Rico used soursop (guanabana) juice in his drink; Felipe Silva of Mexico used guava jam in his; Marcelo Serrano from Brazil used both cupuacu syrup and jambu (sp) foam; Emilio Tiburcio from the US used caramelized apples suspended above a dry-ice bubbling drink; Joseph Biolatto from France used creme de cassis in a drink inspired by lovemaking (how very French).

Here's the cocktail by Joseph Biolatto:

 

L'Amour a la Française

1 1/2 parts Grey Goose vodka

1 part Liqueur de Gingembre Maison

1/2 part fresh lemon juice

1/2 part sugar syrup

splash creme de cassis

Shaken and garnish with a sprig of mint

 

Five bartenders went on to the second round, in which they were supposed to make drinks inspired by a classic French cocktail, with French ingredients.Jay Jones from Canada made a cocktail with Grey Goose L'Orange, Noilly Prat vermouth, Amer Picon, and Benedictine. 

Yao Lu from China (and formerly of Anvil in Houston) made a drink with Grey Goose original, Lillet blanc, Yellow Chartreuse, absinthe, and a lemon twist. 

Moshe Budnik of Israel made a cocktail inspired by the French 75 with Grey Goose original, lime, rosewater, and a cucumber foam. 

Nitin Tewari of India made his drink with Grey Goose L'Orange, lavender syrup, cranberry juice, and Angostura bitters. 

Richard Woods of the UK (London) made a drink with Grey Goose La Poire, Chambord, Benedictine, Chartreuse, and pineapple that was a sophisticated twist on the French Martini. 

Here's the cocktail from Yao Lu:

 

King of Fools

2 parts Grey Goose vodka

1 part Lillet Blanc

2/3 part Yellow Chartreuse

1 barspoon absinthe

Stir and garnish with a lemon twist

 

For Round Three, the three finalists had to make drinks inspired by the previous days of the trip. Jay Jones from the Shangri-La Hotel in Vancouver made a drink he called The Protagonist with Grey Goose original, pineau des charantes, Bordeaux wine, and dry curacao, with a mist of ginger and orange blossom. 

Yao Lu of The Alchemist in Shanghai made one called Against the Current with grey Goose original, red chili peppers, Campari, a cherry and prune liqueur, and Angostura bitters. 

Richard Woods of The Upstairs Bar at Sushi Samba in London made a "Borrower's Cocktail" with Grey Goose Cherry Noir, Suze, Noilly Prat Ambre, and cardamom-coriander bitters. One day earlier all the bartenders were given a mini barrel to make barrel-aged cocktails when they returned home, but Woods aged this cocktail in the hopes that he'd make it this far in the competition. 

He did, and the drink was delicious, so Richard Woods was the winner of the first annual Grey Goose 10 cocktail competition. Well done!

 

 

To see more pictures from the event and trip to France, check out my Flickr page or the Alcademics Facebook group.