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For many brandy “heroes” Cognac is the ultimate brandy.  It’s a drink that has been favored and loved over the centuries by kings, emperors (Napoleon, for one) and European aristocrats.  The image in some parts of the culture is the good life, including hip-hopping around the urban jungle at night,... Read More

I get packages shipped by FedExI get letters and documents carried by DHLI got the computer I’m writing this on delivered by UPS They have imaginative ads, great services, and snappy graphics on their trucks and cargo jets. High-end service, very profitable, a specialist market. But most of the stuff... Read More

That’s a pretty lofty assertion for the Master Distiller of the generously decorated Buffalo Trace distillery to make. These days, most of the bourbons and ryes they produce are so sought after by so many that they’re on allocation – if there’s even any mature enough for the market. Creating... Read More

“It’s the drying smell on Tuesday,” said Obie Kemper matter-of-factly. Obie, who several at the distillery refer to as “the warehouse guy”, is about as much of a fixture at Buffalo Trace as the mash tuns. He’s been working there for 4O years, beginning almost straight out of high school.... Read More

Austrians, however, have totally renovated and moved forward their wine industry, from the low-cost-driven sweet wine industry that prevailed in the 197Os and early 198Os to the dry, mid-priced wines that characterize today’s industry. The pivot point for this change was 1985 when unethical producers adulterated wine with di-ethylene glycol.... Read More

When I first became acquainted with the wines of Shafer Vineyards and met John Shafer – it must have been more than 25 years ago – two impressions engraved themselves on my mind: all the wines tasted so good right from the first; the charm and intelligence of John Shafer.... Read More

Craft brewing is a New England tradition that took hold and made major inroads into big brewing. After Sam Adams came – among others – Harpoon, Ipswich, Tremont, and Buzzards Bay in Massachusetts; Geary’s, Shipyard, Sea Dog, and Atlantic in Maine; Catamount, Long Trail, Magic Hat, and Otter Creek in... Read More

Based in the heart of the beautiful Columbia River Gorge, the Full Sail Brewing Company of Hood River, Oregon, is one of America’s oldest craft breweries.  The brewery is an interesting melange of personalities and attitudes, ranging from assertive American-style ale lovers to hard core Germanophiles.  Backed by its powerful... Read More

Despite the efforts of industry experts, market analysts and advertising executives, the formula for successfully establishing a trend remains a conundrum.  The market moves like a plastic bag in the wind and the taste of the masses is far from quantifiable.  In the liquor industry, when a seemingly good idea... Read More