whisky and food stuff for sale at MacSorleys Bar in Glasgow

http://macsorleys.wordpress.com  ... Blog
http://www.macsorleys.com   ... Web site

Macsorleys Bar in Jamaica Street is conveniently located in the centre of Glasgow and has the local reputation of being one of the best Bars for buying Whisky in the West of Scotland.

If you happen to be passing through Glasgow on your way to the 100 + Distilleries of Scotland for your own personal malt-perusals  ... good value and good food to be found at this venue.

Three best Whisky Bars in Glasgow (and ralfy-recommended)
Bon Accord - North Street.
Macsorley's - Jamaica Street.
Ben Nevis - Argyll Street (Finnieston)

... Enterprise ! (but not the legal sort )

 

Delhi whisky gang who sold Indian blends as Scotland's finest arrested

 

 

BY DEAN NELSON, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH FEBRUARY 7, 2011

 

 

A gang blending cheap Indian whiskies and selling them off as premium brands like Chivas Regal has been arrested.

Photograph by: Postmedia News, Photo Handout

A gang blending cheap Indian whiskies and selling them off as premium brands has been arrested.

Police last week found a "Scotch whisky" production line in a rundown local authority housing estate in Delhi.

Six men were arrested, including a former brewer, when police found old bottles and fake labels for brands such as Johnnie Walker, Chivas Regal and Glenfiddich.

They were mixing a local brand called Bagpiper, which is popular with lorry drivers and nicknamed "Punjabi rocket fuel", with 'Signature', a slightly more upmarket Indian whisky. Police said the men were distributing their fake whiskies to Mumbai and Calcutta through a wholesaler and making more than pounds 60,000 profit per month.

Whisky experts said the case highlighted the triumph of brand snobbery over taste and knowledge in the world's biggest whisky market. They said many buyers would not know that Glenfiddich is a sweet-tasting Speyside malt, but would be content to buy the status which comes with the label.

Police said the gang had bought empty bottles discarded by five-star hotels and restaurants from ragpickers who live on rubbish dumps. Raghuraj Kanodia, of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society's India chapter, said he believed only one in every 25 Indian whisky drinkers would be able to discern a single malt from a blend or even an Indian "whisky", many of which are made from distilled molasses such as rum.

India is the world's largest consumer of the drink if sales of its domestic molasses-based version are included. Sales of cheap Indian brands rose by 300,000 cases to more than five million last year, while single malt sales are estimated at below 40,000 cases

... it's a rum doo !

Row breaks out over rum advert making fun of Scotsmen in kilts

Feb 7 2011 By Charlie Gall

A ROW has broken out over a booze advert that pokes fun at Scotsmen in kilts.

Angostura rum-makers in Trinidad and Tobago launched a bid to woo whisky drinkers with a series of ads showing a man in a kilt dancing a Highland Fling.

But he fails to impress a mini-skirted beauty in heels as the billboards proclaim: "In Scotland, men dance in skirts. In Trinidad, men dance with WOMEN in skirts."

The campaign is Angostura's bid to lure locals away from whisky.

But it has sparked an angry backlash from Scots around the world.

Hugh Statham, of Geoffrey Tailor Kiltmaker, fumed: "It's misleading - a kilt is not a skirt. And people who refer to kilts as skirts are just being idiots.

"It's a cheap jibe and disrespectful to Scotland."

One angry expat in the Caribbean said: "They're saying something against a people and a nation and that's crossing a boundary."

Another added: "People come from all over the world and they're going to see this."

Yesterday, Angostura spokesman Brian Woods defended the ads. He said: "They're light-hearted and there was certainly no desire to cause offence."

Campbell Evans, of the Scotch Whisky Association, shrugged off the row.

He said: "Scotsmen and Scotch whisky are both self-assured and that quality is recognised, sought after and appreciated around the world."

... feed back at YouTube/user/ralfystuff

"the only drink i like is not alcohol drink,   cause its insane that they made that just to have control over you,war to all alchol brewery, they are the cancer of the world"






..... I love feed-back from my delighted malt-audience around the world ! 

Whisky Galore ! ... there's more !

Real Whisky Galore story is still being written

By James CookScotland Correspondent, BBC News

The people of Eriskay, in the Outer Hebrides, awoke on 5 February 1941 to find a cargo ship, the SS Politician, aground off their island.Seventy years on it remains one of the most romantic island tales.

A wreck was not unusual but for islanders struggling to get by on wartime rations, the cargo was astonishing: 250,000 bottles of whisky.  What happened next was immortalised in the film Whisky Galore!    Under cover of darkness locals rowed out to the wreck and scrambled over the side using rope ladders.    In the following days and weeks they took hundreds of cases of whisky from the hold.

Eriskay's priest, Father Calum MacLellan, 84, was a boy at the time.   He said: "It depended on your own ability or agility to get as much ashore as you could."   But was it salvage or plunder?

"I suppose the bigger thing was hiding it, especially from the Customs officers, and that produced a lot of hilarity," said Fr MacLellan.No duty had been paid on the spirits, so Customs and Excise came after the islanders.    But locals weren't just helping themselves to the water of life.   According to the priest, "the whole island was swathed in linen" from the Politician's hold - and further treasures remained on board.

Long-term alcoholics

He said: "There were bicycles on it but we couldn't use them because there was no road on island.

"There was a grand piano as well but none of our homes was big enough to accommodate a grand piano."   The ship eventually disappeared beneath the waves but Don MacPhee, who has dived down to see her, said there was a dark side to her legacy.   "There were a lot of social problems which resulted and quite a few families regarded it with quite a bit of opprobrium," he said.

"A lot of the crofting work was abandoned. People ended up as long-term alcoholics.       "The whisky was available for years and years afterwards ... in extremely large amounts.    "It was a case of get as much as you can down your neck in as short a space as possible   But not all the salvaged whisky was drunk. Years later, bottles are still turning up.

Donald John Rodgers, who captains the Eriskay to Barra ferry, is one of many islanders who have discovered a secret stash.    "I was digging a path from the house down to the shore," he said.    "I felt the glass and I thought 'there's something funny here' and I cleared it away and six bottles were lying in a row."

Mr Rodgers reckons there is plenty more whisky still to be found.

Seventy years later, on the little island of Eriskay, the real story of Whisky Galore is still being written.

... the year of the metal rabbit, good for whisky quality !

According to the Chinese Zodiac, the Year of 2011 is the Year of the Golden Rabbit, which begins on February 3, 2011 and ends on January 22, 2012.  The Rabbit is the fourth sign of the Chinese Zodiac, which consists of 12 animals signs.  The Rabbit is a lucky sign.  Rabbits are private individuals and a bit introverted.  People born in the Year of the Rabbit are reasonably friendly individuals who enjoy the company of a group of good friends.  They are good teachers, counselors and communicators, but also need their own space.

... baking with Whisky, ... The Brioche Blend !

Baker rises to challenge with whisky brioche

8:44am Wednesday 2nd February 2011

WHEN bakery manager Stuart Hartlebury made a new whisky-flavoured brioche, he had plenty of raisins to be cheerful.   For his tasty take on the French classic has won the top prize in a national competition organised by supplier California Raisins.

The winning whisky and raisin brioche — made during a bake-off in Preston — led to Mr Hartlebury being whisked off to Las Vegas and California — and has also gone down a treat with Greenhalgh’s customers.Greenhalgh’s Craft Bakery paid for Mr Hartlebury’s bakery apprentice Aaron Nugent, who also worked on the final bread product, to accompany him on a trip of a lifetime.

Mr Hartlebury, aged 42, who has worked at the bakery for 25 years, said: “I thought this was a great idea for a warm treat at lunchtime to help keep you going.”       But the bread might never have been baked had Greenhalgh’s bakery boss David Smart not kept in touch with an Australian friend who worked for a supplier.

Mr Smart, managing director of Greenhalgh’s Craft Bakery in Crescent Road, Lostock, became friends with Steve Orchard, who used to work at Bowman’s Flour in Hitchin, Herts.But just as he was about to offer him a job, Australian Mr Orchard and his family decided to return Down Under.

Over the years, they have kept in touch and he even offered work experience to Mr Grenhalgh’s son, Stephen.

Mr Greenhalgh said: “He sent me a popular Australian recipe, which we used to make crumpet bread. He also said had we thought about doing a sweet brioche-style bread and we started playing about with the recipe.

“Stuart and his apprentice, Aaron, decided he would put some whisky and raisins in it and then we entered it into the raisin competition.

“It was unprecedented — the judges loved it so much that after tasting it for the competition they took all the samples home with them afterwards.”   The whisky brioche proved popular over Christmas and the company plans to reintroduce it at the end of the month — without the whisky

... original whisky glass, ... wash carefully !

Subject: style of whisky glass, with a hole in the bottom. Date: Feb 03, 2011 Message: on a tech news site i found this new style of whisky glass, with a hole in the bottom. http://gizmodo.com/5750962/theres-a-hole-in-this-whiskey-glass two links on the bottom of that story did not work, so i searched the name and found a good view of the set, linked below. http://www.kacperhamilton.com/Kacper_Hamilton/L%E2%80%99Art_de_la_D%C3%A9gustation.html      ...... thanks  orizzonte ! There's a Hole in This Whiskey Glass I butcher my whiskey with rocks. I know, I'm sorry. But! If I had this whiskey glass I probably wouldn't. Why? Because there's a freaking hole inside the glass. Apparently, the hole will make you appreciate whiskey more. Called L'Art de la Dégustation, the glasses were designed by Kacper Hamilton (the guy behind the "deadly" wine glasses) and come with a metal base that fits perfectly inside the hole (in case you need to chill the whiskey a bit). The idea behind the hole in the glass is to "create a more engaging experience when drinking whiskey". You're encouraged to circulate the whiskey around the hole and appreciate the color, smell and taste. I'm all for enjoying whiskey but I don't want to drink slow! More faster, more whiskey, more enjoyment. [Kacper Hamiltonvia The Awesomer]

Millford NZ ... a pheonix/ashes thing !

Whisky bid to harness rugby spirit

ROB STOCK

From the ashes of receivership an international consortium has revived a failed Kiwi malt whisky project which was funded by South Canterbury Finance, and plans to open a distillery later this year turning out North Otago malt whisky.

The group would then roll out a number of boutique distilleries that would double as tourist destinations and produce their own brand, using locally sourced water to give distinctive character.

The plan is very different from the one – which included a huge distillery near Queenstown – that South Canterbury Finance backed to the tune of $2.9 million, and on which it will see a substantial loss, according to the reciever's estimate. But the collapse of that venture did make available around 450 barrels of New Zealand malt whisky, which the consortium has bought for more than $600,000. It also got the Milford brand under which that whisky, which was distilled by the long-defunct Willowbank Distillery, was being bottled and marketed.

Dunedin businessman John Evans said there were more than 120,000 bottles in the barrels, which would give the company around five years' head start.

Evans said demand from distributors and the hospitality industry was immense but bureaucratic speedbumps were threatening to derail the project because there are no New Zealand standards for the production and storage of whisky. It is actually illegal to store whisky in wooden barrels.

In addition, plans to open a combined boutique distillery and visitor centre in an Oamuru were threatened by government red tape. "We had hoped to be distilling for the Rugby World Cup, but we just don't see we will have all the issues resolved by then. We would want the same laws that prevail in Scotland and Australia that allow them to distil the whisky, store the whisky and benefit from people viewing the process by which it is made."

Some of the royalty of a Tasmanian whisky boom are part of a consortium, which includes entrepeneur Greg Ramsay, behind the Kiwi venture.

Ramsay owns Australia's oldest golf course, Ratho, which was founded by Scots settlers, helped establish the Nant Distillery in Tasmania, and is opening Kingsbarns Distillery in Scotland near St Andrews golf course. Also part of the project is distiller Bill Nant, who was involved in both the Nant and the Kingsbarns distilleries.

The oldest barrel the firm owns was laid down in 1987, the year in which the All Blacks won the Rugby World Cup, which would seem to provide a slam-dunk marketing opportunity for this year's tournament.

But Evans said the Major Events Management Act prevents unauthorised companies from using phrases like "Rugby World Cup" in promoting products. "It is one of the few products that was made in New Zealand in 1987 that people would still want to buy," Evans said, but added wryly: "I don't think they can stop us calling the whisky 1987."

- Sunday Star Times