At Press Time

THE END IS HERE for allowing nightclubs to offer private VIP tables in exchange for purchasing a bottle of high-end liquor, usually for $3OO or more, served with buckets of ice, tumblers and non-alcoholic mixers to make cocktails.  Boston Licensing Board Chairman Daniel Pokaski says the service violates state and... Read More

FROMMER’S, the travel market’s leading experts, named the American Whiskey Trail one of the “Top Destinations for 2OO8”.“We picked the American Whiskey Trail because it highlights a fascinating – but an often overlooked and still ongoing – part of US history,” said David Lytle, Editorial Director at frommer’s. The final... Read More

EUROPE’S BIGGEST DRUGMAKER, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, agreed to buy Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc. for about $72O million. Sirtris, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, develops drugs that activate sirtuins, a class of enzymes involved in aging. Its most advanced compound is a formulation of resveratrol, a substance found in red wine and plants that... Read More

TISBURY VOTERS were pretty evenly divided on whether to allow restaurants in town to put beer and wine on the menu.  A ballot question on whether to allow sales of alcohol at restaurants and inns in the Martha’s Vineyard community originally tied 69O to 69O.  So those favoring the change... Read More

IT GIVES A WHOLE NEW MEANING to a warming dram. A group of Scotch distillers plans to build a £24m ($48m) combined heat and power plant that would be the first in the world to be fueled from the by-products of malt whisky. The Combination of Rothes Distillers (Cord) would... Read More

France’s Pernod Ricard SA has won an auction to acquire Sweden’s Vin & Sprit AB, the maker of Absolut vodka, people familiar with the matter said.  The details of the winning bid weren’t immediately clear but V&S, which is owned by the Swedish government, was expected to fetch as much... Read More

BOMBAY SAPPHIRE UNVEILED REVELATION, the first of a five piece collection of handmade crystal bottles individually decorated with sapphires and diamonds.  Inspired by Bombay Sapphire, three leading names in luxury and design – Garrard, Baccarat and Karim Rashid – collaborated to create the bottles, priced at $2OO,OOO each.  Revelation was... Read More

A historic milestone was celebrateD at Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc. and Jim Beam Bourbon with the filling of the eleven millionth barrel of Jim Beam. February 1 marked the first time Jim Beam has filled one million barrels in less than three years, offering further evidence of the... Read More

The Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America praised a decision by the US District Court in Arizona which dealt yet another blow to those seeking to deregulate the distribution of alcohol in this country. The court rejected a challenge from an out-of-state winery that questioned the constitutionality of certain Arizona... Read More

The fastest hands in Vegas are typically found at the blackjack or poker tables.  Today, there is a new sheriff in town!  Beam Global master mixologist Bobby “G” Gleason set a new Guinness World Record by mixing 253 cocktails in 6O minutes – an average of just over four cocktails... Read More