27 November 2017

Rum Insiders Interview - Miguel Riascos



Company:
La Hechicera

Job:
Managing Director

Website:
lahechicera.co




How long have you been working in the rum industry?
Since I can remember! Although I officially joined the family business full time in 2009 when I graduated from university. I grew up running between the barrels in our bodega, learning the trade from my father.
 
The first rum I was involved in producing was CaƱa, one of our local brands in Colombia. At the time, I did not fully understand the complexity of rum, and yet I was swept away by the richness of the story.
 
What has been your biggest career highlight to date?
Without a doubt, it has to be launching La Hechicera in London, 2012. I feel everything was practice leading up to that point. Sure, I had been involved in many interesting projects before then, but La Hechicera was my baby! London is perhaps the most challenging, competed, and saturated spirits market in the world, and launching there with no budget whatsoever to such acclaim was a moment of great proud for the team and me.
 
Can you remember your first rum, and indeed what it was?
The first rum I ever tried, was also when I learned what rum was. I was 8 years old and my father was in the process of creating Casa Santana with the help of the Cuban government. I had no idea what rum was and my dad chose to answer that question by wetting my lips with a single drop. I hated it! Who knew I would grow to love it?

What does rum mean to you?
Rum is pure heritage and history. The sum of a myriad cultural contributions from all over the world, century over centuries to create one fine spirit.

Where would you like to see yourself in five years’ time?
I will continue to work to take this category to its full potential. I would like to use this platform to share more of Colombia with the world and convince more Colombians of the quality our country can produce.

What was your last rum?
That was a couple of days ago in Barranquilla. I was giving Dre Masso - a very talented bartender behind some of the best bars in the world - a personal tour of our bodega. We came across a barrel of very old rum that absolutely blew our minds! Needless to say, I couldnt avoid sneaking a bit into a bottle there and then. As Dres said with a grin as we were filling our bottles with a hose, this isnt angels share. Its devils share.”

Do you have a favourite rum and food pairing combination?
Nothing beats aged rum and dark chocolate.

What’s your favourite rum based cocktail?
That depends. For a young rum, a Mojito. For an aged rum, an Old Fashioned.

What do you think is going to be the next big thing on the rum horizon?
The next big thing on the rum horizon will be rum itself. I think rum as a category will soon take centre stage in the spirits market worldwide, in a way similar to what has happened with gin in recent years.

What’s the one rum you couldn’t live without?
La Hechicera, of course!

Many thanks to Miguel Riascos. Who will be our next Rum Insider? Click back soon to find out!

 

23 November 2017

The Whisky Wire's 12 Drams of Christmas 2017

 
‘It’s beginning to look a lot like…’ For the last seven years, we’ve brought you our ’12 Drams of Christmas’ as chosen by you! So, we thought it would only be rude not to do the same again this year, and use it as the perfect excuse to start quite literally getting into the festive spirit.

Between now and Friday December 8th, we’d love to hear your nominations for your favourite festive drops of dramspankage. Then on Tuesday the 12th of December, we’ll publish the list of the Top 12 drams as chosen by you in ranking order. We’ll also include retail details, so they can be enjoyed by all over the festive period and beyond.

To take part click here and email us your top three favourite festive whiskies, that we’ll then use to help compile this year’s list. Please remember to mark the subject line of your email '12 Drams of Christmas’.

Everyone who enters will automatically have their name added into our virtual Santa hat, for a chance of winning a bottle of the fantastically festive Tamdhu 12 Year Old - M&S Exclusive. The winner will then be selected and notified on December 12th. Hootendrammy!

Which 12 drams will make this years list?
You decide!

t&c’s You must be over 18 years of age enter in the UK and over the legal drinking age of your respective country if entering from outside the UK. Competition closes on December 8th 2017.

#12DramsOfChristmas

8 November 2017

Whisky Insiders Interview No.85 - Stephen Beam



Company:
Limestone Branch Distillery

Job:
President and Distiller

Website:
limestonebranch.com



 
How long have you been working in the whisky industry?
My family has been in the distilling business for generations. Personally, I began my career in distilling as a 7th generation distiller in 2010, when I started working on the Limestone Branch Distillery.
 
What has been your biggest career highlight to date?
No question about it, the day Limestone Branch became part of the Kentucky Bourbon Trial Craft Tour. It was a special day that my brother and I were able to share along with my father, who was able to see the reestablishment of our family in the distilling business. He was very proud!
 
Can you remember your first dram, and indeed what it was?
I remember my first taste of bourbon, I was about four years old and had been coughing all night. My mother sat me up on the kitchen counter and mixed a little sugar in Jim Beam white label. It kept me from drinking for years to come. The first actual dram was Yellowstone which was always in the house.
 
What does whisky mean to you?
To me whisk(e)y is the spirit of the people and their environment. Having grown up in Kentucky bourbon country, I have always felt it was a spirit that grew out of the culture, our history and our environment.
 
This was driven home to me after I spent a week on Islay. I had never been a fan of heavily peated whisky, but when I was there, it felt and tasted so right. It was the perfect expression of the island, which sprang from the soul of the area, the salt spray, the chill in the air and the oysters. It all came together in the whisky, which was true to the area and reflected its terroir.
 
Where would you like to see yourself in five years’ time?
We have no plans to keep expanding our product line or our production. My family has been whisky makers since at least 1795, that’s what we do. In five years, God willing and the creeks don’t rise, I will be doing the same thing I am now, which is trying to make an exceptional whisky, with a little more aged product to work with.
 
What was your last dram?
Yellowstone Limited Edition 2018, it has become my nightly sipper, it is fantastic!
 
Do you have a favourite whisky and food pairing combination?
I have a sweet tooth, so I occasionally enjoy some bitter sweet chocolate after a dram of bourbon.

What’s your favourite time and place to enjoy a dram?
At the end of the day, when I am winding down or anytime with friends and family.

What do you think is going to be the next big thing on the whisky horizon?
I think one of the next big things we’ll see in the industry, will be the growth of interest in the wider category of whisky by its new generation of consumers.

As they become more comfortable with their own taste they will begin to explore all whisky; American, Scotch, Irish and Japanese. Hopefully with this will come less of a pack mentality, people chasing the latest mob endorsed unicorn. Instead enjoying what they understand and prefer.

What’s the one dram you couldn’t live without?
A great 7 to 12 year old bourbon, of course I prefer Yellowstone.

Many thanks to Stephen Beam. Who will be our next Whisky Insider? Click back soon to find out!

6 November 2017

anCnoc Peatheart Competition


To help celebrate the launch of the new Peatheart bottling from anCnoc, we’ve teamed up with the multi-award winning Highland single malt whisky brand, to give one of our followers the chance of winning a bottle.

anCnoc Peatheart, which has been matured in bourbon barrels for over a decade, and has a phenol content of 40 PPM, joins the family of single malts produced at the Knockdhu distillery in Aberdeenshire.

This latest release from anCnoc, which is their smokiest bottling to date, is said to celebrate the traditions of the whisky making process, as peat was historically an essential fuel in the drying of barley for the distillation of the liquid.

To be in with a chance of winning a bottle of anCnoc Peatheart Click Here and email us your contact details along with the phrase that dramming pays:

“I’d be anCnoc, noc, knocking on
heavens dramming door, if I could
pour and explore this phenol-menal
new drop of dramspankage.”

*Remember to mark the subject line of your email with: anCnoc Peatheart

If you’re on Twitter you can also follow us via @TheWhiskyWire and RT one of our related competition tweets for another chance to win!

anCnoc Peatheart (46% ABV) will be available later this month, from specialist retailers, for a RRP of £52.00.

#LightOnDark
 
For more information on anCnoc, visit: ancnoc.com
 
Competition closes at 23:59 on November 30th 2017. You have to be aged 18 years or over to enter!