Tales of the Cocktail® New Orleans 2016

Not all things bitter leave a bad taste in your mouth and this exactly the case with the history of Italian Amari. Somehow lost in translation, Amaro 'means' Bitter and for to long it has been out of focus for professionals but finally the category is facing a new golden age amongst bartenders and cocktail connoisseur. Share a unique tasting with italian spirits experts, Giuseppe Gallo and Francesco Lafranconi, and discovery how these elixirs went from apothecary medicinal to the best bar in the world and how did influence the cocktail culture globally. The tasting will cover the entire italian peninsula from Sicily to Milan with a variety of Amaro, herbs and spices to please your palate with a dash of bitter love..SALUTE!

Always wanted to learn more about Shochu? Thought so. Shochu is an incredibly diverse spirit with many unique processes, more than 500 years of history and produced mostly by family run distilleries. It has a huge range of styles and flavor profiles, which makes it hard to categorize by Western standards. Come and learn more about what makes Shochu unique in the spirits world and why and how you should be drinking it. Brian Matthys, a bartender in New York and passionate Shochu advocate will lead a seminar featuring Mas Takeda, an importer with Wine of Japan who can talk to Shochu's history and popularity in Japan and its slightly less lengthy history and popularity here in the U.S. Jesse Falowitz is an American brand owner of Mizu Shochu, produced in Arita Japan who has seen Shochu begin to work its way into leading cocktail bars. Toshio Ueno works for Mutual Trading Company and is a leading educator on Shochu and Sake with the Sake School of America will talk about the unique processes which go into making Shochu and how they create such diverse spirits. You will taste examples from every major Shochu category and cocktails featuring Shochu in a unique way.

A comparative tasting of three Scotch blends at benchmark periods over the last century, 1960s-70s, 1980s-90s, today Johnnie Walker Black Label, Buchanans 12, Haig Pinch At a time when there is growing interest in vintage spirits, a unique opportunity to deconstruct the flavour of three of the world’s most famous blended Scotches. We will look at the fascinating, complex history of each of these blends and understand how and why their unique signatures flavours and house styles developed the theory of 'regionality' and 'blend character' and take a unique opportunity to learn how major changes in distilling and maturation post 1945 might have impacted taste and flavour. Discover how the DNA of these blends persists through time Tasting history – we will use archive materials to reveal detailed blend specifications, many featuring long forgotten and never tasted distilleries. Moderated by Dave Broom, with Gregor Cattanach (Johnnie Walker), Ewan Morgan (Buchanans) and Dr Nick Morgan (Pinch)

You remember that one time you bought a jug of whiskey, only to learn half of it was tobacco juice? In the 1800s, that scenario happened to millions of thirsty whiskey drinkers. Unsavory rectifiers and wholesalers purchased barrels of whiskey from the distiller and cut it with other liquids to make the whiskey appear darker and the barrel’s volume last longer. The issue was so vast and troublesome that Congress convened to pass the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897, a law that still gave consumers absolute assurance that the spirit was not cut with junk. Unfortunately, Bottled-in-Bond lost appeal in the 1960s and fell to the bottom shelf, where it became damn near extinct. But the regulation stood strong and the once forgotten category has grown from just a handful to more than 20 on liquor shelves. It’s Bond: Bottled-in-Bond is the seminar for history buffs, value seekers and those looking to find the next big trend in American spirit. In aged spirits, consumers face constant uncertainty. Where does it come from? How old is it? Just like in 1897, Bottled-in-Bond tells you all you need to know.

"But, how old is it?" you ask when you see a bottle of whisk(e)y without an age statement. This question is coming up more and more often as new whiskies are released without a number on the bottle. For years consumers have become entranced with the "years old" indicator on a bottle of whisk(e)y, and have come to rely on this number as the key indicator of quality. A recent growth in the release of "Non Age Statement" (NAS) whiskies that have lead consumers and hospitality employees to many questions about the contents of the bottle. This seminar will address the growing trend with a panel of whisk(e)y experts from a cross section of the industry. We will discuss the reasons for the changes along with the potential impact on the industry. We will discuss a movement for a third category of classification for Scotch whiskies that would include full disclosure of the contents, rather than just the youngest whisky in the bottle. We will also delve into how wood affects a whisk(e)y's flavor (angel's share, oxidization, etc.) and the barrel selection process by tasting multiple rare selections of different whiskies from around the globe. By the end you will have a better understanding of why whiskies taste the way they do, how to tell the difference between good whisk(e)y and better whisk(e)y, and you'll see why the answer to, "how old is it?" is most often, "old enough!"

Discover what makes Australian spirits so unique, everything from production methods to the native ingredients used, the sustainable practices and the charming characters behind the brands. Kathleen Davies the owner of Nip of Courage who represents only Australian made and owned brands from artisan distilleries all over Australia with the help of her Aussie distiller mates will take you on a journey through some of Australia’s rarest small batch spirit releases. Taste an exclusive spirit flight of twenty products that includes a world first release of a 100% Rye Whisky that has been peated in the world’s greenest distillery, a delicious unreleased Single Malt Whisky project release, a native Australian black spiced Rum, beautiful rare aged Rums, a swag of small batch Australian inspired Gins with native botanicals and a cheeky Vodka inspired by Australian humor. You will be captivated by the unique flavors and amazing stories behind these products. These guys are traveling a long way to share this wonderful experience with you, seats are limited and so is this fantastic booze line up so don’t miss out!

Custom-made gins created exclusively for certain bars are becoming more frequent. There are also more inter-distillery collaborations than ever before and the dawn of the guest distiller is bringing ‘Gypsy Brewing’ culture into the world of spirits. In this specialist 12 sample gin tasting, you will find out what’s driving this trend, who is doing it and what has been made so far. You will learn about how cross-proliferation of distilling knowledge is crucial for brand owners and distillers alike along with how it helps them to remain innovative. Lastly, you will also gain valuable insight into the impact it can have on customer retention for the end retailers, bar owners and distilleries who have embarked on these projects so far. Hosted by Gin Foundry, the session is a unique chance to get a 360% view on how “custom-made” works for all parties involved, how best to start a juniper-laced collaboration and what the future holds for this exciting recent development in craft distilling.

Few may realize that Spain today has the highest per capita vermouth consumption in the world, a trend still growing well ahead of a nascent cocktail scene. Here vermouth is typically consumed on the rocks with olives and chips. And there’s probably no country with a more varied offerings: Spanish vermouths are often made with regional varietals and Mediterranean botanicals, and with some vastly differentiated production methods. To boot the finished product is quite often served on tap. Neither an imitation of French or Italian styles, it’s very much a marvel of its own. With almost a dozen Spanish vermouths now available in the United States, we’ll review their unique characters and potential for use in cocktails. Let vermouth experts Giuseppe Gallo, Eric Seed, and François Monti, author of a groundbreaking book on vermouth, tell you all about the history, the production methods and the culture behind the vermouths of Spain.

Pierre Ferrand Cognac – a portfolio of Cognacs from Maison Ferrand and Alexandre Gabriel from the Grande Champagne region of Cognac – is a rare jewel in the crown of Maison Ferrand, the house owned by Alexandre Gabriel for more than 25 years. What he has done with these jewels will mesmerize your taste buds. Join Alexandre and Cognac expert Doug Frost and taste your way through vintages like 1972 and 1975 to curated blends. And then we come to the ‘piece de resistance’ – the unveiling and first U.S. tasting of The Last Cask – 1914. In the winter of 1914, when their husbands had gone off to defend their country in World War I, the women of a little village in Grande Champagne got together to distill the wine made from the grapes harvested a few months earlier. This became the legendary Pierre Ferrand Vintage 1914. Yes, the Last Cask means just that. This is the last cask that will be bottled for the 1914 vintage. Some of the Cognacs you will taste have never before been seen in the U.S. as they are from a collector’s private stock. If you join us, we assure you this will be a Cognac savoring event you won’t soon forget.

Caviar and vodka have had an on-going love affair for centuries. A venerable russian tradition, the pairing of vodka and caviar is customary throughout the world of gastronomy. When served ice cold, vodka has a subtle flavor that allows the distinctive taste of caviar to prevail. Meet panelist, Mark Zaslavsky of world renowned Marky's Cviar and elit by Stolichnaya’s Global Ambassador, Brent Lamberti as they unveil an unrivaled series of vodka and caviar pairings, featuring the limited edition pristine water series by elit. Join us in demystifying your preconceived notions on caviar and reinvigorate your passion for vodka, the perfect food spirit!

It’s a hard historical truth that where human beings go, drinks follow. Explorers loaded their ships with ale and beer before they’d even consider setting sail. Jacque Cousteau enjoyed wine in his underwater lab. And now cocktails are going cosmic, as space becomes the newest place alcohol is being mixed and prepared—and will one day be enjoyed. The marriage between outer space and alcohol has been going on for billions of years. Astronomers already knew that there is free-floating ethanol swirling through the interstellar medium. Just this year, investigators discovered that Comet Lovejoy, which sweeps through our solar system every few thousand years, is made up in significant measure of alcohol and ice—a great starter for the most naturally occurring cocktail if ever there was one. More important to the hospitality industry is the new push toward space tourism, with mixologists and distilleries looking for ways to develop and consume cocktails in space—not just for the benefit of eventual cosmic vacationers, but for manufactuers back home who want to learn more about the chemistry of their drinks so that they can offer ever more variety of flavors and experiences. In 2012, the Ardbeg Distillery flew small amounts of its whiskey distillate mixed with charred oak aboard the International Space Station to simulate the barrel aging process in zero-g. An identical control study was run on the ground. The result was two different mature whiskeys with two very different flavor profiles—both delicious. A California-based company has developed a 3D-printed martini glass that uses ribbing and surface tension to prevent a zero-g cocktail from simply floating out of the glass. More recently still, the Savoy Hotel’s Beaufort Bar flew one thousand copies of its menu to the edge of space aboard a high-altitude balloon and then recovered them, a way of bringing a small brush with space to the bar’s very demanding customers. Studies aboard the space station—even ones not directly connected to cocktail development—are revealing secrets about the physics of carbonation and convection, of how the simple act of shaking or stirring changes liquids in zero-g, and how flavor sensitivity is affected as well. All of that basic science has applications both both on and off the Earth. Join Claire Smith-Warner (amateur space geek), Jeffrey Kluger (co-author of Apollo 13 and science editor for Time magazine) and Tristan Stephenson (author of The Curious Bartender) to explore the history of alcohol in space and the ways those experiences can help us develop better, more interesting cocktails on Earth. The presentation will include some extraordinary footage from the space station showing just how otherworldly the behaviour of water and carbonation can be in zero-g. You’ll never look at liquids the same way again.

The coincide with the 200th Anniversary of one of the World's most renowned distilleries we bring the Ultimate Lagavulin Seminar. A true one off experience that will not only feature some of the rarest Lagavulin's ever sampled; coupled with a walk through the timeline of the distillery looking at the History and a technical deep delve into the distilling practices and how they have changed over the centuries. Moderated by Ewan Morgan and featuring two of the World's most renowned Whisky experts Dr Nick Morgan & Dave Broom expect a lot of information and lot of humor. If you're a Lagavulin fan this is not to be missed as there will be some real surprises