In a move that virtually no one saw coming, Hood River Distillery has acquired one of the world’s leading brands of absinthe for an undisclosed sum. Lucid Absinthe now joins such spirits as Pendleton, Monarch, Yazi, and Broker’s in the Hood River family of brands. A bold move, and one that signals Hood River has no intention of being acquired any time soon, but rather to continue acquiring and building to compete on the global stage. [Press release]

Carl’s Jr., the fast food establishment with a long and storied history of television advertisements made in excellent taste, is partnering with Jim Beam to bring a bourbon flavored burger to market. The ad kicking things off features supermodel Heidi Klum reprising the time-honored role of The Graduate‘s Mrs. Robinson. In direct response, Kentucky Gentleman has approached Wendy’s to develop its own bourbon burger, with commercials rumored to star a shirtless John Goodman reprising his role as Walter Sobchak. [Mediapost]

Absolut already has its hand in the game when it comes to flavored vodkas, but now it’s going for a different angle. Absolut Amber will be available later this summer at U.S. travel outlets, and will be an aged vodka finished in a variety of barrels including bourbon barrels, Swedish oak barrels, and various roasted oak chips. Drink Spirits has an early preview for your consideration.
[Press Release]

In event news, the first annual Kentucky Bourbon Classic will start this upcoming Friday evening with not one but two cocktail tasting competitions and a full day of panels, seminars and other delights on Saturday. The panel guests read like a veritable who’s who in the bourbon industry, and will no doubt feature a few surprises along the way. A few tickets are still available, but are going quickly. [Bourbon Classic]

And finally today, VH1 and Smirnoff have teamed up together to bring the television public another season of “The Master of the Mix,” a reality competition show where aspiring DJs compete for the coveted title of “Master of the Mix.” Hopefully they’re better than this guy in a recent Smirnoff ad, who is somehow miraculously DJing with absolutely no records (or any medium where music may be stored), record needles, slip mats, or a mixer, all essential functions of DJing properly. Perhaps he listening to an actual DJ in his headphones, fantasizing about his turn at actual DJing? Who knows. She seems to be into it, though. The girl, too. Smirnoff is just that good. [Master of The Mix]

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