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Morrison Bowmore Distillers Scoops Distillers of the Year

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MORRISON BOWMORE DISTILLERS SCOOPS DISTILLER OF THE YEAR

Distillery manager and brand ambassador hailed as industry icons in awards hat-trick

Morrison Bowmore Distillers has cemented its position as the single malt specialist by being voted Whisky Distiller of the year at the 2013 Icons of Whisky Awards Scotland.

Glasgow-based MBD, the producer of four single malt brands – Auchentoshan, Bowmore, Glen Garioch and McClelland’s – was applauded by the judges for transforming a bulk blend business into a single malt specialist and reinvigorating all its brands with some “stellar releases”.

The awards celebrate the people and places behind the greatest whiskies in the world and two long serving MBD employees also won individual awards.

Eddie MacAffer, Bowmore Distillery Manager won the inaugural Distillery Manager of the Year category for 46 years of committed service, and Iain McCallum landing Brand Ambassador award, being hailed as “a new breed of ambassador who manages to mix a mastery of hard-core technical knowledge with a rare passion for the fun aspect of whisky.”

Mike Keiller, CEO, Morrison Bowmore Distillers said: “To see off such stiff competition and land a hat-trick of awards is a massive boost for us. Compared to any of our peers, we’re a small company so it’s immensely flattering to see both our business growth and individual expertise recognised. Being a single malt specialist requires considerable care and patience, but we’re certainly reaping the rewards of our investment.”
The 2013 Icons of Whisky Scotland were announced at an awards ceremony at Edinburgh’s Prestonfield House on Friday 7th Sept 2012. The judging process included regional heats in the U.S, Scotland and other international markets.

Distiller of the Year: Morrison Bowmore Distillers Brand Ambassador of the Year: Iain McCallum Distillery Manager of the Year: Eddie MacAffer

For further information on Morrison Bowmore Distillers please visitwww.morrisonbowmore.co.uk and www.suntory.com

Notes

ABOUT MORRISON BOWMORE DISTILLERS (www.morrisonbowmore.com) Founded in 1951, Morrison Bowmore Distillers Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Suntory Limited and is one of the major names in Scotch whisky. With three Malt Whisky Distilleries situated in the major production areas of Islay (Bowmore), the Highlands (Glen Garioch) and the Lowlands (Auchentoshan), as well as significant blending, bottling and warehousing facilities, the company has established a leading role in the export of Single Malts.  The success of Morrison Bowmore Distillers Limited is based upon maintenance of traditional values and innovation in the marketplace.

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Press Release: 14TH Co-sponsor Signs on to S. 1461

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Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) signed on as a cosponsor of S. 1461, the companion bill of H.R. 1639 yesterday.

The bills, also known as the Traditional Cigar Manufacturing and Small Business Jobs Preservation Act of 2011, seek to exempt premium cigars from FDA regulation.

Senator Heller previously served as Nevada’s Representative to the Second Congressional District, as Nevada’s Secretary of State for three terms, and in the Nevada State Assembly for two terms.

 

He currently serves on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee; the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee; and the Special Committee on Aging. Jobs and the economy continue to be Senator Heller’s top priorities.

If the FDA is allowed to regulate the premium cigar industry, it could include changes such as banning walk-in humidors, altering advertisement and store signage, and regulating the blends of tobacco in cigars. The House bill currently has 219 cosponsors, and is above majority.

The Senate bill has 14 cosponsors.

For more information, visit www.ipcpr.org

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Great King Street to Release Scotch Whiskey Made for New York

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A Scotch Whisky Blend Made Just for New York

Great King Street to Release the First of its Limited Release Regional Blends

GREAT KING STREET, the Blended Scotch whisky specialist brand launched by the Compass Box Whisky Company last year, has announced they will launch next month their NEW YORK BLEND, the first of the brand’s Limited Release regional blends.

Compass Box founder and Great King Street whiskymaker John Glaser explains: “We were approached by the New York Whisky Fest last year asking us to debut a new whisky at this year’s festival, and I thought this would be a great opportunity to start a series of regional blends, something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. What better place to begin than New York?”

Glaser has long been inspired by the old Scotch whisky blending houses of 120 years ago who commonly made different blends for regional tastes. He has also been inspired by the ways in which blends were made in this period, delivering far more flavour than those of today. These things have formed the basis of his whiskymaking approach for the Great King Street brand.

For the New York Blend, Glaser made two key discoveries that inspired this one-off, limited edition bottling. One was an ancient New York Times article describing an 1890s bartender named Patrick Duffy who was responsible for instigating the importation of branded Scotch whisky in glass bottles for the first time into New York. Second, was an old Scotch blend recipe from a Glasgow blending house from the same era. Glaser fashioned a blend based on the old recipe and dedicated the bottling to Duffy, and the New York Blend was born.

What sets this Great King Street blend apart from Scotch whisky blends of today is flavour. The New York Blend uses lots of peaty single malts, plenty of sherry cask-aged single malts, and a much higher proportion of malt to grain whisky (80%/20%) than is typically used today (generally 30%/70%).

The Great King Street “New York Blend” will be launched on Saturday, October 27th, 2012 at the New York Whisky Fest at the Marriot Marquis hotel in Manhattan. Only 1,840 bottles are being released and it will be available primarily in the New York metropolitan area and via the Compass Box Whisky Company web site. The suggested US retail price will be $75.00. Glaser plans more Great King Street regional blends in the future, but for now he is mum about the details of where or when!

ABOUT GREAT KING STREET www.greatkingstreet.com
“This is more than a brand; it’s a mission. A mission to get people – all people – to take a fresh look at Blended Scotch; to join in the Rebirth of the Blend: in how Blends are made, how they are viewed, how they are consumed.” – John Glaser, Whiskymaker

Great King Street is a new range of whiskies solely dedicated to Blended Scotch Whisky. The first in the range, the Artist’s Blend, launched in 2011. The name and label are inspired by Compass Box’s registered office address in Scotland – 24 Great King Street, in Edinburgh. By applying the same skill, techniques and philosophy used for the Compass Box Signature Range of whiskies, Great King Street will offer a style and approach to Blended Scotch that has not existed before. The keys are using individually chosen casks from some of Scotland’s best distilleries, a high proportion of malt whisky, truly excellent quality grain whiskies, and the careful use of new French Oak aging for added complexity. All bottled at a natural colour and without chill-filtering. They call whiskies made with this approach ‘craft blends’.

Glaser explains, “In a world where malt whisky gets all the attention, people often overlook the pleasures of good Blended Scotch. We believe that Great King Street will change this. There are good reasons why the blending of grain whisky and malt whisky has been the mainstay of the Scotch industry for over 100 years. Well-made Blended Scotches have an elegance and approachability that make them a joy to drink. Great King Street will offer a new and compelling alternative for both whisky enthusiasts who ordinarily drink only malt whiskies, and for whisky novices.”

ABOUT COMPASS BOX (www.compassboxwhisky.com)
The Compass Box Whisky Company is a boutique Scotch whiskymaker and craft blender, started in 2000 by John Glaser. Compass Box produces and bottles a range of Scotch whiskies, available in over 25 countries around the world. A four-time winner of the Whisky Magazine Innovator of the Year award, Compass Box is known throughout the whisky world for quality, innovation and passion for great whisky. The Compass Box signature range of whiskies includes Asyla, Oak Cross, The Peat Monster, The Spice Tree and Hedonism. They also produce limited release whiskies annually, and Orangerie, a Scotch whisky infusion. Their latest creation is a ground-breaking range of Blended Scotch whiskies called Great King Street. The first in the range is Artist’s Blend.

ABOUT JOHN GLASER
American ex-pat John Glaser started Compass Box Whisky Company from the kitchen of his west London home in 2000. Having started his career on a path to become a winemaker, then re-routing himself through the corporate world and ending up as marketing director for Johnnie Walker in London, Glaser has a unique perspective on both the creation and the marketing of Scotch whisky.
Glaser established Compass Box based on his commitment to evolving practices in the industry to make great Scotch whisky more approachable and relevant to more people. From the beginning, his vision has been to create one of Scotland’s finest and most exciting whisky companies, re-establishing the standards for quality and style in the industry.

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Press Release: Cuban Cigars Holds Supremacy in Global Market

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Havana, Sep 18: Supported by excellent quality, Cuban tobacco holds supremacy today among handmade premium cigars, with an eight percent increase in global sales, according to an official announcement.

Jorge Luis Fernandez Maique, co-president of Habanos S.A., noted that despite restrictive laws on consumption, the company is enjoying increasing market share in the category of luxury products.

Cuban tobacco production is going well and the industry is meeting its delivery plans agreed to earlier this year.

By late August, the company had exceeded its 2011 figures both in units and value.

Regarding units, the rise is eight percent compared with the previous year, with the same level in terms of values, indicating that by the end of 2012 it is possible that figures will exceed those of the previous year.

Fernandez Maique insisted that the trend is positive, especially in Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Russia markets, where sales of premium Cuban cigars have improved.

Other important markets for cigars, and maturity in terms of distribution are the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Switzerland, the Cuban manager said, without releasing detailed marketing figures.

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Cigar Wars: Grant’s Pipe Shop in San Francisco Under Fire

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UPDATE: As of Saturday, September 29th, 2012, Grant’s Pipe Shop is closed and looking for a new location.

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If you have been a member of the U.S. cigar community for any real length of time, you aren’t surprised at this point when another cigar shop comes under pressure to close down by some city or state bureaucrats. In this case, San Francisco’s oldest operating tobacco shop is under pressure to close down. The official press release below:

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September 18, 2012 (San Francisco, CA) – Grant’s Pipe Shop is San Francisco’s oldest operating traditional tobacco shop, and its historic walk-in humidor was the first in the State of California. Premium Tobacco enthusiasts from around the world have been stopping by Grant’s Pipe Shop’s current Market Street location since 1963, but the shop’s history begins with the Gold Rush of 1849. Originally supplying miners and merchant seamen with premium tobaccos and fine pipes.

One of Grant’s most famous customers in the 1800s was local eccentric,“Emperor Norton.” Grant’s Pipe Shop is one of San Francisco’s oldest small businesses. Store managers of the previous shop owner, Edward L. Grant, had an opportunity to continue this San Francisco legacy when they successfully took ownership in 2004 after Mr. Grant’s passing in 2003. In 2006, the lease expired, and the shop has been on a month-to-month lease ever since, despite numerous attempts to negotiate for a longer-term lease.

The Chancery Building, in which Grant’s Pipe Shop is located, changed ownership in 2009, but the building’s management, Kevin Colombo of Terra Verde Commercial and new landlords Chelsea Pacific Holdings, LP, and manager Zack Faidi of Chelsea Pacific Group, LLC, have rejected reasonable negotiations.

Recently, the owners of the Chancery Building applied for a permit through the San Francisco Building Department to construct build outs that will affect Grant’s current space, including its historic walk-in humidor. When one of the General Partners of Grant’s, Joe A. Barron, inquired about details, such as the length and timing of multiple planned construction phases and other normal concerns of tenants when negotiating these matters, the owners of the Chancery Building in return served Grant’s with a 30-Day Notice to Terminate Tenancy, bringing about what could be the end of this San Francisco institution.

Grant’s Pipe Shop is the latest in a series of San Francisco landmarks to come under fire by local landlords eager to raise rents. Prior to serving the conviction notice, the Chancery Building initially suggested doubling the rent in 2009, which would have effectively put Grant’s out of business. Additionally, the Chancery Building’s management has seemed more interested in probing Grant’s current owners into selling the business or misleading Grant’s proprietors over the last three years, leading to speculation that the building’s management or landlords have never intended to offer the current owners of Grant’s Pipe Shop a long-term lease to stabilize this historic shop.

Grant’s owners remain dedicated to maintaining the legacy and tradition of quality expected of San Francisco’s oldest and most well known tobacconist. Quality inventory of tobacco products will be on clearance starting September 18, 2012.

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