Demand rises for premium spirits in Latin America
Young, vibrant and volatile - Latin America is a land of opportunity for premium spirits, be they international or home-grown, discovers Tom Bruce-Gardyne. Many a Caipirinha was mixed in bars around the world as people gathered infront of TVs to watch Brazil vs...
Is Japanese Whisky Better Than Scotch?
It was a bright, clear morning as we took off from Tokyo's Haneda Airport. A few minutes into our flight, the captain announced that for those on the right side of the plane, Mt. Fuji would soon be coming into view. I was on the left, but a few of us got up anyway to...
Limp DISCUS – How Alcohol Lacks A Watchdog
How alcohol is handled in the United States is nothing short of chaotic, piecemeal, and absurd. Although the prohibition of the sale and consumption of alcohol was repealed in 1933 by the Federal Government, the dismantling of Prohibition was handled by each...
Florida: Fla. Retailers Sue Over Craft Brewery Permits
A new front has opened in the battle surrounding Florida's burgeoning craft brewery scene, as retailer and distributor groups in the state filed a pair of lawsuits challenging the way the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation has been licensing...
Legislators Float Bill To Cut Small Brewer Taxes
U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen, R-Minn., introduced legislation Thursday to slash excise taxes on beer sold by small brewers, marking the latest legislative effort to cut taxes in the new Congress. The Small Brewer Reinvestment and Expanding Workforce Act, which Paulsen...
The Best Wine Apps
Whether you're looking for a specific bottle or wanting to find the best price, there's an app for you WHEN I FIRST STARTED working in wine retail in the late 1990s, if someone asked for a producer we didn't stock, we had to go through the long and sometimes laborious...
Bordeaux and Rest of the World stay afloat in December
The Bordeaux and Rest of the World sub-indices of the Liv-ex 1000 were the only two to see increases in December. FineWineCellarAs reported by Liv-ex, the overall index closed on 242.74 in December, 0.25% down on November, dragged under by the other composite parts:...
Craft Brewers Are Running Out Of Names, And Into Legal Spats
With so many craft breweries now in operation, just about every beer name you can imagine is taken. That's making it harder for newcomers to name that brew without risking a legal fight. Columbia? Taken. Mississippi? Taken. Sacramento? El Niño? Marlin? Grizzly? Sorry,...
Minnesota: A tougher landscape for municipal liquor stores
Hours before midnight on New Year's Eve, the sales floor at Edina's 50th Street municipal liquor store was still humming. As customers roamed the aisles and lined up at the checkout counter, a promotional message played over the public address system, ending with the...