Category Archives: News

CELEBRITY BRAND PRODUCT LAUNCH OF THE WEEK: The latest celebrity-turned-aspiring spirits expert to jump into the arena is retired NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal. Sports Illustrated reports that his gluten-free vodka, Luv Shaq, is slated for release in early 2013.  It is slated to compete with Diddy’s Ciroc brand, and it will be produced by Devotion Vodka, which previously counted reality show personality The Situation (pre-rehab) as its spokesman. [Sports Illustrated]

Drinks Business runs a feature on its most-read stories from 2012, and while there are a few that are quite amusing, the top selection still remains a heartbreaker even after reading it months ago. [Drinks Business]

Continue reading “Drinkhacker Reads – 12.19.2012 – Shaq Vodqa Attaq” »

Bloomberg reports that sales of wine at major auction houses have fallen 12% in 2012, down roughly $75 million from last year’s record-setting gross of $397 million. Analysts attribute this decrease to sluggish purchasing from China due to slow economic growth. Bloomberg also took a moment to profile Richard Yuengling Jr. of Yuengling Beer fame to find out the secret behind the brand’s success. [Bloomberg]

End of Times List: In a mildly refreshing (and somewhat bleak) alternative to the onslaught of “end of year” lists, our fair and balanced friends over at Fox News have decided to feature wine selections appropriate for celebrating the apocalypse. [Fox News]

Continue reading “Drinkhacker Reads 12.18.2012 – Wine Sales Decline at Auction Houses” »

The New York Times is reporting the arrival of a new line of beers based on the hit HBO series Game Of Thrones. The first offering, Iron Throne Blonde Ale, will arrive in time for the Season 3 premiere this March, with more editions to follow. [New York Times]

The Daily Beast offers a review of William Knoedelseder’s expansive history of the 150 year history of the Anheuser-Busch family empire, its ultimate downfall, and eventual purchase by InBev. [Daily Beast]

Continue reading “Drinkhacker Reads – 12.17.2012 – Game of Thrones Gets a Beer” »

From the high-end stores to the corner stores, people around the world were waiting in lines yesterday for the release of Westvleteren XII, regarded by many as the world’s best beer. The decision to do a mass release was simple: the monks who craft the fine brew needed a new roof for their abbey. [ABC News]

The Wall Street Journal is elaborating on (and correcting) the story regarding Robert Parker and Wine Advocate magazine. To sum it all up: the headquarters will be staying in Maryland, with the Singapore office opening as a secondary office where some editorial and business administration affairs will happen. Also, the print edition will not be phased out any time in the foreseeable future. [Wall Street Journal]

Continue reading “Drinkhacker Reads 12.13.2012 – Westvleteren XII Madness” »

Happy 12/12/12 Day! Just a few more days until we figure out whether or not the Mayans were spot on in the apocalyptic assessment.  But before the end of the world hits, you might want to spend a few minutes checking out our 2012 Holiday Gift Guide.

Johnnie Walker has opened up yet another super exclusive VIP whisky club, this time in Beijing. There, people will be able to meet with master blenders to create their own personal expression of Walker, starting at about £80,000. Guests are also encouraged to make their own whisky-inspired art, which will then hang on the walls as part of the house’s art collection. No photos yet, but if it is anything like the Walker House in Shanghai, it has to be incredible. [Real Times]

Absolut has hired Canadian advertising wizards/marketing gurus Sid Lee to spearhead its marketing initiatives for 2013, giving the brand a shot in the arm in terms of creativity and experimentation. Stay tuned to see the work throughout the year and if the gamble pays off. [Sid Lee]

Continue reading “Drinkhacker 12.12.2012 – House of Johnnie Walker Launches in Beijing” »

Technomic has released its predictions for top adult beverage trends in the coming year. Among them: wines will get sweeter, beers will be more carefully curated in restaurants, and more flavored spirits expressions will keep popping up, and not just in the vodka category. [Technomic]

In semi-related coverage, Slate offers an explanation as to how so many new brands of whiskey are appearing so quickly. The answer? Follow the distillate… [Slate]

Continue reading “Drinkhacker Reads – 12.11.2012 – Top Trends For 2013” »

Normally we try to land softly into news on Mondays, but this one is too insane not to lead off with: Reuters is reporting drink giant Diageo is in talks with Suntory to make a joint purchase of Beam Global. Though no formal talks have begun and the deal is allegedly in the early stages, the implications of such a purchase could potentially be huge to the whiskey world. Story still developing, but we’ll be watching the events with great interest. [Reuters]

In other surprising Monday news, Decanter is reporting Robert Parker will be stepping down as Editor-In-Chief of Wine Advocate magazine, and will be opening up new offices in Singapore to enhance coverage of Asian-produced wines. Parker will stay on as CEO of Wine Advocate and remain chairman of its board. [Decanter]
Continue reading “Drinkhacker Reads – 12.10.2012 – Diageo and Suntory Bid Big on Beam and Robert Parker Steps Down” »

Scaling to new heights of absurdity, professional buffoonist, game show host, and hair magnate Donald Trump is at it again, according to the Huffington Post. Fresh off of his wildly successful expedition to discover the truth behind the President’s birth certificate, Trump is now calling for a boycott and ban on Glenfiddich at all of his resorts and hair salons. Why, you ask? Because William Grant and Sons, owner of Glenfiddich, awarded Michael Forbes the “Top Scot” award for refusing to sell his farm to the former Macy’s and Pizza Hut ad spokesman. [Huffington Post]

Yesterday we brought you the news of Wine.Com’s top 100, and today we find Wine Enthusiast bringing us its Top 100 Best Buys, Top 100 Cellar Selections, and The Enthusiast’s Top 100. There’s plenty to sift through here and it comes complete with a fancy infographic breaking it all down, if you’re interested in that sort of thing. [Wine Enthusiast]

Continue reading “Drinkhacker Reads – 12.06.2012 – Trump in Huff over Glenfiddich Stuff” »

Happy December 5^th! What’s so great about today? Well here in the States we get to celebrate the end of Prohibition with the passage of the 21^st Amendment to our Constitution. Also, happy Discovery Day to our friends in the Dominican Republic, happy Faunalia to our dear friends in Ancient Rome, a very happy birthday to his excellency the King of Thailand and his even more excellency Little Richard. Not to be forgotten, Happy International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development to our friends at the United Nations.

Our friends over at Wine.com have released its list of top sellers in 2012. A quick glance reveals many of their customers appear to fancy Cabernet Sauvignons; with six of them placing in the top ten. Did you favorite make the cut? Click on through to find out, or check out the handy PDF  reference guide they’ve published. [Wine.com]

Continue reading “Drinkhacker Reads – 12.05.2012 – Varvatos Tequila Bottle Redesign + Top Wines of 2012” »

Woodford Reserve is getting into the bitters business. The first offering, a collaboration with Bourbon Barrel Foods, is the Woodford Reserve Spiced Cherry Bitters. It will be available for $15 per 100ml bottle, and is available at the Woodford Reserve Shop. Review on the way soon.  [PR Newswire]

The Wall Street Journal reports that while Scotch sales have soared this year, Champagne sales have fallen a bit flat in comparison to previous years. [Wall Street Journal]

Continue reading “Drinkhacker Reads – 12.04.2012 – Woodford Reserve Launches Bitters Line” »

Kudos and congrats to Glenmorangie, recently awarded 2012 Distiller of the Year at the prestigious International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC). The Tain distillery emerged not only with the overall prize but also took home honors as UK Spirits Producer of the Year and won the Best Single Malt over 15 Years Old with Glenmorangie Quarter Century 25 Years Old. [PR Newswire]

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society of America has released their holiday outturn for 2012, including a mysterious and rare 35-year-old grain whiskey limited to just 60 bottles. Look for Chris to provide complete reviews of each offering later this week. [Scotch Malt Whisky Society of America]

The popularity of gin consumption in the UK is rising, with sales up almost 12% over last year.  Capitalizing on the trend is William Chase, owner of Chase Distillery, which is launching Williams Great British Extra Dry Gin. We hope to review it in the forthcoming weeks. [Harper’s UK]

Continue reading “Drinkhacker Reads – 12.03.2012” »

Made for and inspired by the travellers of the world, Johnnie Walker has announced a new series: The Johnnie Walker Explorer’s Club Collection. The first limited bottling, cryptically entitled “The Spice Road,” will be available with a suggested retail price of $43 USD and is slated for release in duty-free stores in Europe, the Middle East, and Australia in December. The rest of the world’s duty free shops will have to wait until January 2013. [PR Newswire]

The Astor Center in NYC will be hosting a whisky auction for Hurricane Sandy relief on Sunday, December 2^nd from 4 to 6PM. For $25 you can enjoy pre-auction tastings and bid on other items in a silent format. 100% of all auction proceeds will go to the Tunnel To Towers Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund. Click the link for a complete list of auctioned items and to purchase tickets. [Astor Center]

Continue reading “Drinkhacker Reads – 11.28.2012 – Johnnie Walker Announces New Traveller’s Line” »

Yesterday we reported on an auction currently underway to help offset the medical costs Ciara Allan, a young lady currently battling brain tumors and cysts with great courage. We’re quite pleased to report that as of this morning, the bid stands at a little over $17,600. Should you be interested in placing a bid for this exceptional collection of Islay (and one Jura) malts, click here.

Continue reading “Drinkhacker Reads – 11.27.2012 – Ciara Allan Auction Update + Champagne Science” »

Happy Monday and welcome to the holiday season. Did you know that studies show getting the right gift for your boss could mean the difference between a promotion/raise, or another year of doing the same old thing in your current position? Speaking of which, did you get a chance to check out our 2012 Holiday Gift Guide?

The good folks over at Whisky Intelligence are reporting The Arran Malt is releasing a blend featuring Bere barley, Scotland’s oldest cultivated barley. Teaming up with the Agronomy Institute at Orkney College to develop this challenging blend, The Arran Malt Orkney Bere is limited to 5,800 bottles and will be available in select countries later this month. This certainly has been Arran Malt’s year, riding high off its Devil’s Punch Bowl being selected as a must-buy in the Drinkhacker 2012 Gift Guide. [Whisky Intelligence]

Continue reading “Drinkhacker Reads – 11.26.2012 – Arran Malt Whiskifies Ancient Barley” »

Have you remembered to enter our contest? If not, what are you waiting for? Hop on over and read about how you can win a free SKIL iXO Vivo Wine Bottle Opener!

Now on to today’s reads:

Legendary Chicago dining establishment Charlie Trotter’s auctioned off a portion of its wine cellar yesterday in New York City, and netted close to $2 million on the first day. Amongst the highlights were 3 magnums of 1990 La Tâche, which sold for $36,300. [Inside Scoop SF]

Elsewhere in auction news, a bottle of Balvenie 50 Years Old was sold for CAN$33,500 at an auction yesterday afternoon in Vancouver. The lucky recipient now owns the sole bottle in the country and reportedly plans to share it with friends over a box of Tim Horton’s crullers and bear claws. [24 Hrs Vancouver]

Continue reading “Drinkhacker Reads – 11.20.2012” »

Despite seeing a drop off in the number of bottles offered, yesterday’s Hospices de Beaune wine auction saw a record turnout of 5.9 million euros raised for charity. [Telegraph UK]

In other charity auction news, The final bottle of Glenfiddich’s 55 Year Janet Sheed Roberts Reserve will go on sale in Los Angeles on December 5^th, benefiting the World Resources Institute. An edition of 11, it has seen prices as high as $94,000, which currently holds the record for the most expensive bottle of whisky sold at an auction. [PR Newswire]

Continue reading “Drinkhacker Reads – 11.19.2012” »

A very engaging study issued by Wine Industry Insight reports that fewer folks are enjoying fancy wines or putting stock into wine reviews the way they used to. Still relevant? You decide. [Wine Industry Insight]

John Hansell and Whisky Advocate have posted their top releases of 2012. While we won’t spoil all the fun for your click-through, we are duty-bound to report there isn’t a Thomas Handy anywhere in sight. [Whisky Advocate]

Georges Duboeuf officially celebrated the official release of the 2012 Beaujolais Nouveau last night in New York City. Experiential event designer Adam Aleksander set the atmosphere for a performance featuring techno-illusionist Marco Tempest. It’ll be available soon. Very soon. Just as soon as the east coast can recover from the hurricane which ravaged the delivery network. [PR Newswire]
Continue reading “Drinkhacker Reads – 11.15.2012” »

Rémy Cointreau has announced a new edition designed for release exclusively for travel retail outlets. The St-Rémy à la Crème will launch this month with a trial run in North America, with worldwide travel distribution to follow shortly.  [Just Drinks]

San Francisco entrepreneur Carin Castillo is going for it with a new scotch blended in Scotland but distributed here in the U.S. SIA scotch is a blend of Speyside and Highland malts with a touch of Islay for good measure. It looks quite promising. Want to get in on the action? Help out via Kickstarter! [Kickstarter/SIA] Continue reading “Drinkhacker Reads – 11.14.2012” »

In an effort to polish up its dignified “Give Em The Bird” ad campaign, the folks at Wild Turkey are introducing the world to the very first football picking turkey. Christened after legendary master distiller Jimmy Russell, Jimmy Junior will be picking football games live in Times Square against professional football legend Vinny Testaverde. In the press release, the former quarterback praises the valiant and astute poultry:

“Jimmy Junior is the best, not to mention the only, football picking turkey I’ve ever worked with,” said former All Pro Vinny Testaverde during a recent training session. “After all my years in the sport, I have never seen anyone who demonstrates such an uncanny ability to see through the hype and focus on what team will really come out on top.  I fully expect him to go three for three this Thanksgiving, giving turkeys everywhere something to gobble about.”

No doubt Jimmy Junior will be giving Paul the Octopus a run for his money. [PR Newswire]
Continue reading “Drinkhacker Reads 11.13.2012” »