At Press Time

Diageo has abandoned its interest in buying Sweden’s Vin & Sprit, instead shifting gears by purchasing a 5O% interest in Ketel One for $9OO million. Diageo will have the right of first refusal over the sale of the remaining 5O% stake should the family decide to sell in the fourth... Read More

After more than 3O years of deliberation, federal regulators have proposed requiring the alcoholic-beverage industry to put nutrition and alcohol-content labels on their containers, setting off the equivalent of a barroom brawl among makers of beer, wine and liquor. Pushed by consumer groups, the US Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco... Read More

WOMEN WILL BE ALLOWED to work as bartenders in New Delhi, India’s Supreme Court ruled, upholding a lower court’s decision that an earlier ban was unconstitutional. The city authorities had wanted the ban reinstated, arguing that women needed to be protected from the bad behavior of drunken New Delhi men.... Read More

Brewers and beer importers are encouraged by data showing once again that the number of teens who drink continued a decade-long decline in all measured categories. The survey shows that 8th and 1Oth grade past-month drinking has declined 37 percent and 22 percent, respectively, since first surveyed in 1991. Additionally,... Read More

THE WESTMINSTER GOVERNMENT will publish detailed legislative proposals to give Scotch whisky Champagne-style geographical definitions to protect the industry from counterfeiting. The move – put out for consultation with a view to introducing new laws in the spring – will be a major boost in the fight against second-rate and... Read More

LOVE THEM OR HATE THEM, it appears that ignition interlocks – the breathalyzer devices that get linked to a car’s ignition and won’t start if the driver is intoxicated – are here to stay. Jumping on the interlock bandwagon, several car manufacturers are working on their own versions of the... Read More

WITH ITS LARGE ultra-discount state liquor stores, New Hampshire draws shoppers in from near and far. But if you’re underage, buying in the Live Free or Die state is anything but a breeze. A national law enforcement group says the Bureau of Enforcement in the New Hampshire Liquor Commission is... Read More

ATTENTION SENIOR CITIZENS if you’re buying beer in Tennessee don’t forget your ID – you can’t buy without it. Tennessee recently became the first state in the nation to require universal carding, without exception, of anyone who buys beer for off-premises consumption. The Tennessee Responsible Vendor Act, designed to curb... Read More

DAVIDE CAMPARI SPA ANNOUNCED in July that it bought the X-Rated stable of US high-end spirits brands for 29 million euros (approximately $4O million US), expanding its presence in the lucrative premium segment of the alcohol market. In a statement, Milan-based Campari said the X-Rated brands have grown rapidly since... Read More

FROM CRAFT SPIRITS to gourmet infusions to organic fruit garnishes, today’s cocktails have gone upscale, to say the least. So why spoil that lovely drink with ice made from tap water? Ice Rocks, produced by the Water Bank of America, are pre-packaged spring water ice cubes that could provide the... Read More