New: Haig Club Single Grain Scotch Whisky

Hi. I'm David Beckham. See how handsome I am. Drink my whisky And you might become handsome just like me.

So David Beckham graced us with his regal presence to launch a brand new whisky. Perhaps officially putting us down in the whisky map.. or not... but does it matter? Yes. Yes it does.

Most of the stuff you'll read about the local launch was unfortunately, mostly about David Beckham this and David Beckham that... hardly anything about the whisky, but I WANTED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE WHISKY!

Truth be told, I'm not sure how Beckham or even Fuller is associated with whisky. But maybe I'm just silly like that. 

Anyhoo, I digress. To cut through the clutter, here is some info about the Haig Club whisky which I've compiled from international press releases & websites. You're welcome! 

The IBA Project: Sazerac

The Sazerac cocktail with Cognac.

The Grandfather Story:

• Originated around the 1830s. 
• Could've been America's first known cocktail.
• Antoine Peychauds was an apothecary from New Orleans who created the now famous Peychaud's bitters, was said to have created the original Sazerac for a cure, not as a cocktail.
• The drink is named after its original base spirit, a cognac named Sazerac de Forge et Fils.
• It was originally a cognac based cocktail, but it seems like rye whisky is the popular base now. 
• The reason for the shift to rye whisky was either 1) cognac suddenly became scarce due to a bug problem or 2) American whiskey was readily available and very popular (and also very preferred by its local drinkers) so it was used in everything then.

Fun fact: In 2008, New Orleans proclaimed it to be its official cocktail.

The IBA Project: Cosmopolitan

The Cosmopolitan  here IS pink. Really. I've got bad lighting. 

The Grandfather Story:
There are too many versions of its origins - so you gotta take your pick as to which one you'd prefer to believe:

1) The Cosmopolitan Daisy, found in a bartending  book from the 1930s, could've been its ancestor. While a lot of the basic ingredients were not quite the same, the end product was characteristically what today's cosmo looked like. Jigger Gordons Gin, 2 Dashes Cointreau, Juice of one Lemon, Teaspoon Raspberry (syrup)

2) Ocean Spray printed its version of Cosmopolitan in the 1960s called the "Harpoon" to sell more of its juice: 2 oz. cranberry, 1 oz. vodka or light rum or gin, over the rocks or tall with soda, with an optional splash of lime or lemon.

3) Apparently it was created by the gay community in the 1970s, by adding cranberry juice into a kamikaze.

New: Kilchoman Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky

3 Kilchoman beauties in a row: Machir Bay, 100% Islay & Loch Gorm

The guys at Single & Available organised a couple of tastings to introduce this really new label into the Malaysian market.

First, we learned that Kilchoman is actually pronounced as Kil-HO-man. Must be a Gaelic thing?

Secondly, Peter Willis, who came all the way from Scotland to take us through the tasting, is actually the SON of one of the co-founders.

Isn't it awesome when these companies take some time off their busy worldly schedules to spare a few moments for this tiny insignificant market? This drinker appreciates it very much! :)

So Kilchoman is practically still a baby. The distillery began production in 2005 - it's just about 9 years old this year!

The IBA Project: Caipirinha

A wild Caipirinha!

The Grandfather Story:

• Caipirinha is derived from the Portuguese word - caipira (hick, hayseed, country bumpkin, rube...) and "inha" suffix (a word meaning little or small).
• Its beginnings can be traced back to around 1918.
• It is Brazil's national cocktail and it is drank anytime, anywhere.
• The ancestor of this drink was  a mix of lemon, garlic, honey - supposedly used as cure for the Spanish flu (still used for colds today). 

The IBA Project: Bacardi

The Bacardi Cocktail

The Grandfather Story:

The cocktail has been around since 1917 and made popular in the USA. The Daiquiri was actually the original Bacardi cocktail which became popular after Prohibition. But when bars ran out of Bacardi, bartenders made the cocktail with whatever rum they had in store. 

This displeases Bacardi a whole lot. So Bacardi said, enough is enough, and took matters to court. In 1936, the Bacardi cocktail was copyrighted. The ruling states that an authentic Bacardi cocktail must be made with using only Bacardi rum. Bacardi then decided to modify the original daiquiri recipe and added some Grenadine to make it THE Bacardi cocktail just to differentiate it from the daiquiri.

Fun fact: Bacardi is Cuban by birth, but it is not longer considered "Cuban" rum as it's not found in Cuba anymore as it moved its operation out in 1960 (this in itself, is a history lesson). Did you know that the Bacardi brand has been around since 1862? Well, now you do!

Launch: Affligem is Here!

Selamat datang, Affligem.

Kudos to GAB for bringing in a new beer, yeay! It's so nice to see them venture out of their Guinness and Tiger comfort zone. :p

Affligem is brought in by Heineken, which is part of GAB in Malaysia. Heineken actually has a slew of international and regional brands under its umbrella. Don't believe me? Check it out on wikipedia. Don't believe wikipedia? How about verifying it on the official Heineken international website.

Kirin Glamping Post-Event Report

(Warning, this is a picture heavy post. With loads of horribly taken pictures.)

Kirin ran a promotion through the month of September whereby with any purchase of their beer, you get a chance to participate in something called "Glamping" on 3 October.

Drink more Kirin.

If you're not too familiar with what Glamping means, it's actually a marriage of 2 words - glamorous and camping. So it's a form of camping where you spend some time away from the comforts of your own home in a sort of a retreat (mostly in the forest or nature reserve, like camping lah), but you don't forgo any luxuries like electricity, plumbing, the internet. etc (hence, glamorous).

The IBA Project: Gin Fizz

A  happy glass of  Gin Fizz

The Grandfather Story:
One of the oldest classic drinks originating from the late 1800s. A Fizz is pretty much a cocktail (the base spirit could be a gin, whiskey, brandy or vodka) which contains carbonated water and citrus. The Gin Fizz is actually a variation of the John Collins (also an IBA cocktail) - the only difference between these two cocktails is that John Collins is served in a highball glass with ice, and the Ginz Fizz is served in a chilled tumbler ( a smaller glass than a highball), without ice.

Strength:
Not strong. Sour and carbonated, it actually tastes like lemonade ... with alcohol.

The 2014 Oktoberfest Is Upon Us!

Yums!

More Yums!

What is Oktoberfest? It's technically a 16-day festival running from end September to early October. Historically, it originated as a celebration of the wedding between King Ludwig 1 and Princess Therese of Saxony back in 1810 in Munich, Bavaria.

Fastforward to today and what does that mean to us?  We're in Malaysia and that's thousands of miles away from Germany! Well, really, it's just an awesome nearly-month-long excuse to drink and party with awesome German beer and food. :)