Whisky thieves on CCTV !

CCTV of Waitrose whisky thefts released

January 31, 2012

Police would like to speak to these men in connection with a series of thefts at a Caversham supermarket where hundreds of pounds worth of whisky was stolen.

The first happened on Wednesday, January 18, when two men entered the Waitrose store in Church Street, between 10.45am and 10.50am. They selected four bottles of whisky, worth £100, and left without paying.

One of the men is described as white, 6ft, in his early 30s with short brown hair and a light brown beard. He was wearing a burgundy and navy top with blue jeans and white trainers. The other man, also described as white and 6ft, was wearing a black zip up Adidas hooded top with black jeans, hat and trainers.

The same men visited the supermarket the following day and once again took four bottles of whisky without paying for them.

On Saturday, January 22, they stole five bottles of the spirit, worth £120, between 10.40am and 10.50am, while a third man tried to distract staff. He is described as white, 6ft and slim. He had short, light brown hair and is in his early 20s. He was wearing a white short-sleeved T-shirt, light blue jeans and a gold chain around his neck.

One of the men from the earlier thefts attempted to steal two bottles of alcohol, worth £44.64, on Saturday but he was stopped by staff as he tried to leave the store and the items were recovered.

PC Aaron Gibbs said: "We are keen to speak to the men in these images as we believe they can help with our enquiries. I am appealing to anyone who saw the men, or if they can identify them, to contact police."

If you know who the men are, call PC Gibbs on 101. Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Beware of 'Collectables' Hype malt-mates !

Whisky investors cheered by rise in values

Recent figures suggest it might be best to invest in whisky, rather than drink it. Picture: PA

By JANE BRADLEY
Published on Sunday 29 January 2012 00:00

CAREFUL with that dram – it might be better off left in the bottle, as Scotch whisky is now outperforming traditional investments, including the stock market and gold.

Figures from investment firm Whisky Highland show that some portfolios’ value has risen by almost 300 per cent in the last year.

Three-year figures reveal that an investment in the 100 best-performing whiskies in 2008 would have risen by 163 per cent in 2011, while gold – which has soared due to the recession – rose 146 per cent. Diamonds rose by just 10 per cent, while shares and crude oil stock values fell.

Arthur Motley, buyer at Royal Mile Whiskies, said: “Collectors used to be interested in whisky as a drink and wanted a good bottle as part of their collection. Increasingly, people are buying as they see prices rising on eBay or at auctions. It is simply seen as an investment.”

Former banker Andy Simpson, who founded Whisky Highland after leaving Bank of Scotland, said investors are only just starting to become aware of the value of whisky.

“It is expanding quite rapidly,” he said. “A few years ago, you might have seen the odd bottle tagged on the end of a wine auction. Now there are a lot of specific whisky auctions held all over the country.”

A total of 8,500 bottles of single malt – the most valuable form – were last year sold at auction, compared to 1,500 four years ago. The value of the auction market is estimated at £3.6 million and expected to rise to £17m by 2020.

Worldwide, investor and collector bottle retail sales are thought to total 85,000 – worth £44 million a year. The most expensive bottle of whisky so far is a bottle of limited-edition Dalmore, bought last year for £135,000 by a Chinese businessman in Singapore.

Another high-performing investment bottle, the Glenfiddich Foundation Reserve, went on sale in a limited-edition 500 bottle run last May for £50 and is now worth about £250.

David Robertson, Dalmore’s rare whiskies director, said: “People see whisky as an asset and with stocks and shares being so tough and interest from bank accounts so low, investors have been starting to look for other opportunities.”

Robertson said Dalmore regularly received calls – including from investors and whisky retailers in Asia and Africa – enquiring about specific bottles.

Mahesh Patel, 45, a British civil engineer who lives and works in the US, began collecting in his early 20s.

“My first serious bottles were bought 20 years ago on the Royal Mile – a Black Bowmore and an Ardbeg Provenance – which cost about £200 and are probably worth about £4,000 to £5,000 now. I have about 2,500 to 3,000 bottles, but I like to see it as quality, not quantity. My family used to think it was a mad obsession. Now they can see the benefit.”

Tail-end of the Talisker TransAtlantic drama !

Well-wishers throw leeks to mark end of firefighters' epic Atlantic row

TWO Welsh firefighters have spoken of their emotional reunion with friends and family after rowing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic.

John Haskell and Jamie Windsor battled exhaustion, salt sores and 20ft waves in a rowing boat from the Canaries to Barbados.

The dynamic duo, from South Wales, were greeted by scores of well-wishers throwing leeks after an almost record-breaking 45 days, 19 hours and 21 minutes.

TWO Welsh firefighters have spoken of their emotional reunion with friends and family after rowing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic.

John Haskell and Jamie Windsor battled exhaustion, salt sores and 20ft waves in a rowing boat from the Canaries to Barbados.

They came fourth in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge and are hoping to raise £100,000 for Breast Cancer Care, Help for Heroes, WRVS and the Fire Service Fund.

Mr Haskell, 44, said of the challenge: “We’re both grown men, we’re both firefighters and we’ve done some pretty extreme stuff but the pair of us were terrified and we could see it in each others’ eyes.

“We’d have knockdowns on the boat, the waves were breaking on us and we had eyes like dinner plates. It was terrifying.

“But to be given the experience of doing that I do feel spoiled, as hard as it was sometimes.”

The second half of Team Pendovey Swift, Mr Haskell, said the return to shore was overwhelming.

“There were 100 people waving flags and throwing leeks at us because we are Welsh, which was brilliant. The two of us had tears in our eyes coming in,” he said.

The Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge saw 17 crews from around the world leave La Gomera in the Canary Islands on December 5.

But with two capsizes, seasickness and boat defects, only seven crews are still participating in the marathon 3,000-mile crossing.

Read More http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2012/01/23/well-wishers-throw-leeks-to-mark-end-of-firefighters-epic-atlantic-row-91466-30181228/#ixzz1kbMNAtCm

We hear these claims now and again !

Make Cheap Whisky Taste Like Fancy Whisky

1:30PM Yesterday | Kyle Wagner

You like whisky. You looooove good whisky. You can’t afford to drop hundreds of dollars on high-end bottle. You stick with rotgut, right? Nope. There’s a new process of hyper-aging booze that apparently turns run-of-the-mill whisky into dark and delicious firewater of the gods.

The process is called TerrePure, and it was dreamt up by a retired chemist named Orville Tyler. It involves pumping the whisky through oxygenated chambers, which “[subject it] to high-intensity ultrasonic energy”, which in turn trigger esterification, the process that creates flavour-imparting lactones in whiskey as it’s dehydrated.

According to someone who’s tasted a processed sample, the resulting whisky is a good bit less harsh, and the flavour is easier to take in. It’s a cool bit of boozehacking, but it’ll have to be pretty amazing to justify shipping off all your whiskey to South Carolina. [Terressentia via Popular Science]

Crying Wolf !




'We won't back your whisky if you break away,' Hague tells Scotland

By MAIL ON SUNDAY REPORTER

Last updated at 2:12 PM on 22nd January 2012

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Scotland’s most famous export will be hit by a Foreign Office ban if the country breaks away from the UK, says William Hague.

The Foreign Secretary says Britain’s 140 embassies and high commissions will stop promoting whisky and other products if Scotland becomes independent.

Many UK diplomatic missions help to promote whisky for free. Last year, whisky exports earned Scotland £3billion, equal to £125 a second and more than 20 per cent up on 2010.

Warning: Foreign Minister William Hague has said that Britain's embassies will not promote whisky if Scotland breaks away

Mr Hague told a private meeting that if Scotland goes it alone, embassies will stop promoting the drink. Scotland would have to take over the job – and pay for it.

 

More...

Meanwhile, David Cameron and Alex Salmond will meet within weeks for talks about holding a referendum on Scottish independence.

The talks were revealed as opinion surveys showed that support for a break up of the Union is higher in England than it is north of the border.

It is unclear whether the meeting will be held in London or Edinburgh.

Shot in the arm: Scotland's whisky trade is boosted by Britain's embassies

Two polls revealed widespread English support for allowing Scotland to go its own way – and hinted at a growing backlash against the country’s demands.

An ICM survey for the Sunday Telegraph found that 43 per cent of voters in England want Scotland to become independent, with only 32 per cent wanting the Scots to remain in the UK.

By comparison, 40 per cent of Scots supported independence while 43 per cent want to retain the Union. A Survation poll for The Mail on Sunday put support for independence at 26 per cent in Scotland, against 29 per cent in England.

The surveys are the first comprehensive opinion polls in Scotland and England since David Cameron decided to throw down the gauntlet to Alex Salmond.

Conducted separately in England and Wales by polling form Survation, the surveys apparently showed there is more support in England for Scotland leaving the United KIngdom than there is north of the border.

Scots do not want the English to meddle in whether they end their 300-year union with England, but English voters are much keener to have a say in the matter.

Canadian Whisky Awards 2011

Celebrating Canada’s Best Whiskies

January 19, 2012. Victoria B.C. - Canada’s top whiskies of 2011 were announced today at the annual Canadian Whisky Awards, a gala celebration at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia.

The Canadian Whisky Awards reward the very best tasting Canadian whiskies, and recognize outstanding contributions made by highly successful individual whiskies and producers in generating favourable attention for Canadian whisky. Winners are chosen by a panel of seven judges following extensive blind tastings. Among the judges are some of Canada’s top whisky writers and bloggers.

Whisky makers nominate their very best whiskies creating a strong competitive field. Among these, gold medals were awarded to five entries, and silver medals to another twelve. Eight whiskies were recognized with bronze. Awards of Excellence were also presented. Here are the details:

Kittling Ridge Estate Wines and Spirits took home the award for Canadian Whisky of the Year with their 2011 release, Forty Creek John’s Private Cask No. 1. The whisky also won Connoisseur Whisky of the Year – Domestic earning the overall highest score for whiskies available only in Canada, and Best New Whisky of the Year as the highest scoring new release. Kittling Ridge also won Whisky Value of the Year for the Canadian market with it’s Canada Gold whisky.

Gold medals for Canada’s top whiskies went to several perennial favourites and one surprising newcomer. Gibson’s Finest Rare 18 year old, a scrumptious creamy, long-aged whisky with both elegance and power is a limited production whisky, available in Canada only and a strong favourite of Canadian whisky lovers. Wiser’s Small Batch, a rich, spicy and mouth filling delicacy was highly praised by the jury. Its upscale stable mate, Wiser’s Legacy, a pot-distilled rye just bursting with rye spices also took home gold, as did Forty Creek: John’s Private Cask No. 1.

The pleasant surprise of the evening came when Masterson’s Rye was announced as a gold medalist. Huh? Yes. Masterson’s is a whisky distilled in Calgary Alberta by Alberta Distillers Limited for a Sonoma, California-based purveyor of fine spirits, called 35 Maple Street. Released in the summer of 2012, Masterson’s has quickly gathered strength among American rye whisky lovers. As the highest scoring whisky available in the export market only – it is not yet available in Canada – Masterson’s was voted Connoisseur Whisky of the Year – Export. The company has promised to release Masterson’s in Canada in 2012.

Wiser’s Legacy, available in both Canada and the U.S. got the nod for Connoisseur Whisky of the Year – Multiple Markets. Wiser’s Legacy with its assertive rye flavour profile has quickly become a favourite of connoisseurs.

Awards of Excellence went to Alberta Springs 10 year old as the Sippin’ Whisky of the Year – Canada Only, Canadian Mist Black Diamond as Sippin’ Whisky of the year – Export Only, and Wiser’s Small Batch for Sippin’ Whisky of the Year – Multiple Markets. Canada Gold took Whisky Value of the Year – Canada Only, while Canadian Mist was acknowledged as Whisky Value of the Year – Multiple Markets.

The Awards also recognized Canadian Whisky Innovations. In a hotly contested competition, the judges eventually settled on White Owl Whisky from Alberta’s Highwood Distillers. Introduced in Alberta in 2010, White Owl really took the Canadian cocktail scene by storm the following year, bringing whisky flavour to a whole new demographic and generating new interest in Canadian whisky. White Owl is made by filtering long-aged Canadian rye whisky until it is as clear as vodka, making it an ideal mixer for bartenders wanting to give their fancy cocktails a rye flavour boost.

Canadian Club took home an Award of Excellence for Canadian Whisky Profile. This award recognizes the whisky or producer that in the opinion of the judges has contributed the most to raising the profile of Canadian whisky. Highlighting the role of Canadian Club during Prohibition, the brand supplemented its prominence on the HBO series, Boardwalk Empire, with a strong social media campaign, putting the words “Canadian whisky” (and its flavours) on the tip of many a new tongue.

The Award of Excellence for Line Extension was again, hard fought with Brown-Forman emerging as the victor with its Collingwood whisky. Collingwood was one of the most successful new launches of 2011 bringing the Canadian Mist line to the connoisseur’s whisky shelf. Collingwood’s unique flavours are attributed to leaving the mingled component spirits to rest in a huge “marrying vat,” with staves of toasted maple wood.

The organizers would like to thank the Victoria Whisky Festival for hosting the awards. More information about the Canadian Whisky Awards is available at www.canadianwhisky.org.

The medalists:

Gold

Gibson’s Finest Rare 18 year old

Wiser’s Small Batch

Wiser’s Legacy

Forty Creek: John’s Private Cask No. 1

Masterson’s Rye

Silver:

Canadian Club Sherry Cask

Forty Creek Barrel Select

Alberta Springs 10 year old

Royal Canadian Small Batch

Pendleton 1910

Canadian Mist Black Diamond

Forty Creek Confederation Oak

Gibson’s Finest 12 year old

Canadian Club Reserve 10 year old

Forty Creek Double Barrel Reserve

Caribou Crossing Single Barrel

Wiser’s 18

Bronze

Pendleton

Gibson’s Finest Sterling

Collingwood

Canada Gold

Centennial Limited Edition

Canadian Mist

Canadian Club Classic 12

About the Canadian Whisky Awards

The Canadian Whisky Awards are presented annually to recognize the very best Canadian whiskies and to encourage distillers to maintain the highest standards for making whisky. Only whiskies distilled and matured in Canada are eligible to compete. A panel of independent whisky writers, bloggers, and broadcasters selects the winners after tasting each whisky blind. The Awards are fully and fiercely independent of the Canadian whisky industry and operate on a not-for-profit basis.

About the judges

• Chairman of the Judges, Davin de Kergommeaux publishes the Canadian whisky website canadianwhisky.org. His book, Canadian Whisky: The Portable Expert will be released in May 2012 by McClelland & Stewart.
• Jason Debly is a Fredericton New Brunswick-based whisky blogger who publishes Jason’s Scotch Whisky Reviews, jason-scotchreviews.blogspot.com “If the whisky tastes good or bad,” he tells us, “you will know, in no uncertain terms.”
• André Girard is co-president of the Quebec City Whisky Club and co-founder of Quebecwhisky.com, an ever growing French-language independent database with tasting notes for nearly 1000 whiskies.
• Mark Gillespie is a professional broadcast journalist in the U.S. and is the host and executive producer of Whisky Cast, the Cask-Strength Conversation, heard weekly at whiskycast.com. Mark is a Malt Maniac and long-time supporter of Canadian whisky.
• Based in Southwestern Ontario, Kris Shoemaker is a whisky fan with a nose for Canadian whisky. While his website, Daily Dramaddicts, dailydramaddicts.blogspot.com, is taking a backseat to impending fatherhood, he continues to comment regularly about Canadian whisky on Twitter.
• Edmonton, Alberta’s Chip Dykstra, aka Arctic Wolf, aka The Rum Howler, collects a wide range of spirits and reviews them on his Rum Howler blog, therumhowlerblog.wordpress.com.

       .   Lawrence Graham is a Malt Maniac, organizer of the always sold-out Victoria Whisky Festival                                        and publishes the highly popular website Whisky Intelligence, whiskyintelligence.com.

The awards are hosted by, but independent from the Victoria Whisky Festival victoriawhiskyfestival.com.

The Diageo sponsored Atlantic Row sets record !

Man breaks 'toughest' Atlantic solo rowing record

Page last updated at 15:41 GMT, Monday, 16 January 2012

By Del Crookes
Newsbeat reporterAndrew Brown suffered from salt rash, blisters and cramps on his voyage

A 26-year-old man from Surrey has broken the record for the fastest solo Atlantic crossing.

Andrew Brown took 40 days to row 2,936 miles from Tenerife to Barbados in a 19ft (5.7m) boat.

He was taking part in the Atlantic Challenge, billed as the world's toughest rowing race, and was raising money for two UK children's charities.

Andrew Brown says it feels amazing to have finished the challenge and to have broken a record at the same time.

"I don't think the feeling has quite sunk in yet," he admitted.

"I thought perhaps the record was on from about the 15th day onwards if the conditions carried on.

"Even though I've had it in mind for such a long time, now it's actually happened I can't really believe it."

Emmanuel Coindre from France had held the record for the fastest solo Atlantic crossing since 2004.

Organisers say more people have travelled to space than have rowed across the Atlantic.

Power problems

Andrew Brown, who works in the toy industry, was narrowly beaten in the race by a pairs team.

Toby Iles and Nick Moore arrived in Port St Charles, Barbados, around half an hour before Brown.

They missed out on breaking the course record for a pair.

ANDREW BROWN'S ROW

Continue reading the main story

• Andrew consumed around 6,500 calories per day
• He took just under a ¼ tonne (250kg) of food on the boat
• He lost three stone (19kg) in weight
• He's only the 26th person from the UK to have rowed solo across the Atlantic

Seventeen crews started the race on 5 December but eight have pulled out because of problems including poor weather and sea-sickness.

Other contestants were disqualified after calling for help - the rules of the race ban external assistance.

Two rowers, Tom Fancett and Tom Sauer, were rescued by a cruise ship when their boat capsized after being hit by a massive wave before Christmas.

Another team that includes four veterans who lost limbs in Iraq and Afghanistan, Row2Recovery, has had to take on emergency water supplies and also has a broken rudder.

Andrew Brown admits he had his own issues to contend with on the crossing including a serious power problem.

"Everything on the boat was powered by solar panels and for the first two weeks we didn't have much sunshine," he said.

"I became really tight on electricity, which I needed to make water.

"I was having to be really careful about how much I drank, which, when you're doing that much exercise isn't what you're wanting to be doing."

As well as power problems including a battery which needed to be fixed and regular storms, the 26-year-old also had to contend with salt rash, blisters and cramps.

His first meal on arriving in Barbados was a burger and chips.

Andrew Brown says he will return to the UK next Monday (23 January) after recovering in Barbados with his girlfriend.