Refined Vices

SMC January Whisky Comparison

Tatu Kaarlas — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:53:00 +0000

Monday last week at the SMC, Sean Baxter from Behind Bars walked us through a very tasty line-up of some beautiful Single Malt whiskies produced in different regions of Scotland to give us an idea of the different styles.

In the line up we had a total of 6 whiskies - Glenkinchie 10 and 12 year old from the Lowlands, Talisker Distillers Edition and Talisker 18 Year Old from the Islands and Lagavulin 12 and 16 Year Old from the Islay.

Angostura Global Cocktail Challenge

Tatu Kaarlas — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 07:57:00 +0000

The Angostura Global Cocktail Challenge will come to an end after a select few bartenders, out of the hundreds of participants around the world, will be given the chance to compete in the final battle for the ultimate title in Trinidad next month.

The Champion of the Angostura Global Cocktail Challenge will win a grand prize of 10,000 US dollars and a contract as Angostura's Global Brand Ambassador for the next 12 months.

Bacardi Celebrates 150th Anniversary

Tatu Kaarlas — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 06:53:00 +0000

In 2010 Bacardi celebrated the 100th Anniversary of the Bacardi Daiquiri, which also marked the launch of the Superior Heritage Limited Edition Rum produced to commemorate the event.

Now the spirits company has declared 2012 to be its most innovative year since the creation of BACARDI rum in 1862.

Throughout the year Bacardi will host one-of-a-kind birthday parties, launch special promotions around the world and introduce a $2,000 limited-edition bottling of Bacardi rum to celebrate the journey that has lasted for 150 years.

SMC Timboon Single Malt Whisky

Tatu Kaarlas — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:25:00 +0000

Last month at Chez Regine we had the chance to try some pretty special locally produced small batch whiskey from Timboon Railway Shed Distillery.

The Timboon Railway Shed Distillery is located in a renovated railway goods shed dating from 1910 and is a short drive from the scenic Great Ocean Road and the famous 12 Apostles rock formation.

Not much was revealed about the whiskey when we began the tasting, in fact we did not even know where it came from or how it was produced. Instead we were given a Blind Tasting Questionnaire that were to be filled out as we were tasting the mystery whiskey.

Master of Malt Releases (Double Bill)

Tatu Kaarlas — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 07:33:00 +0000

Master of Malt recently participated in the increasingly popular Movember charity event by not only growing a handsome moustache, but by launching special edition bottlings including the Glenfarclas Movember 2011 bottling with £10 from the sale of each bottle donated to Movember.

The bottle is adorned with a still image of the Master of Malt team, recreated with the help of an old photograph from the Glenfarclas distillery (see Master of Malt for the photos).

This 9 year old Glenfarclas was distilled in 2002, aged in Oloroso sherry casks and bottled in 2011 for Master of Malt in partnership with Mo-Bro's.

November saw another release from a Professor Cornelius Ampleforth - A spiced rum called Rumbullion, which is an addition to a range of products such as the Bathtub Gin and Besmoked Vodka.

RumXPs sweep Golden Barrel Awards in UK

Robert Burr — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 23:54:00 +0000

Members of the International Rum Experts Panel (RumXPs) dominated the nominations and the social media awards given out recently at the annual dinner ceremony that is part of the RumFest UK experience in London.

All the outstanding social media sites nominated for Golden Rum Barrel Awards -- and their respective writers, journalists and bloggers -- are members of a unique consortium of international judges of rum tasting competitions around the globe.

The awards, nominated by outstanding members of the spirits and beverage trade, recognize excellence in reporting and writing about developments in the category of rum throughout the world.

Nominations for Rum Blogger of the Year (Europe) 2011 included A Mountain of Crushed Ice (Helena Tiare Olsen, Sweden), The Floating Rum Shack (Peter and Pauline Holland, London), Rum Pages (Rene Van Hoven, Amsterdam) and Refined Vices (Tatu Kaarlas, Finland, now Australia).

Glenfiddich Single Malt at Chez Regine

Tatu Kaarlas — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 01:56:00 +0000

In addition to rum, whisk(e)y has always been one of my favourite spirits and though I write about rum more often, I have not forgotten to enjoy a good dram of Scotch every now and then.

Fortunately, my current hometown has plenty of people who appreciate all kinds of whiskey and even has dedicated bars for the appreciation for this fine spirit.

In addition to having an extensive selection of whiskey on their shelves, one in particular organises monthly whiskey tastings and calls this The Single Malt Collective.

The Singleton of Glen Ord

Tatu Kaarlas — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 19:36:00 +0000

One of the many good things in writing about spirits is that you often get invited to launch parties and private tastings for products before their official release to the market. Refined Vices was happy to join the tasting of the Singleton of Glen Ord lineup in the Galley Room at Melbourne's Waterside Hotel.

At the door I was welcomed in by Sean Baxter from Diageo, who guided me to the bar where I was introduced to a few other guests and Sven Almenning from Eau de Vie who would be taking us through the tasting of 12, 15 and 18 year old Singleton whiskies.

Bacardi Rum Club

Tatu Kaarlas — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 19:09:00 +0000

Selling over 200 million bottles a year, Bacardi’s widely spread presence can be seen almost anywhere you go in the world, from the northern to the southern hemisphere.

Since the founding in 1862, Bacardi has grown to be one of the biggest rum producing companies in the world and continues to be successful in their campaigns.

On 4th of July Bacardi’s representative, Martin Newell took us through a tasting of a rum that needs no introduction - the Ron Bacardi Superior.

Perryn Collier impresses while taking the QLD Championship

Steven Cipriani — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 07:03:00 +0000

Tiki was the theme at the home state of rum, Queensland. To the cheerful crowd in attendance, Queensland’s finest put on quite a show, however it was The Laneway’s Perryn Collier who shone.

Right behind in the standings was an inspiring Krystal Hart, who stands in contention to receive a wild card entry to the National Final.

Brisbane’s premier waterfront venue, Byblos Bar & Restaurant played host to an unforgettable night to complete the nationwide search for Australia’s finest bartender.

A vocal and supportive crowd were kept methodically bewildered by the steps each finalist took to render their creative and enhancing cocktails.

The adjudicators of the finals were Brendan Osmar from The Bowery, Cal Moore from Canvas and Ryan Lane from The Bowery.