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Inventory for May 8th, 2016

Welcome back to this week’s inventory! We hope you had a lovely short week, though we recognize that not everybody was so lucky as to have friday off to celebrate the men. Moving on. This week WhistlePig released its first Vermont-grown oak expression, Salvatore Calabrese opened a new bar in Hong Kong, Drake (!!!) launched his own American whiskey, and Mexican researchers have found that Tequila (well, the blue agave plant) can help fight osteoporosis. Cheers!

If you find yourself in Graz during May 9th and 10th, head on over to the Chefdays – Austria’s largest food symposium. More than 20 international speakers will be there to present the newest cooking techniques and trends. You’ll also find countless producers introducing their newest wares. More information here and get your tickets here. 

WhistlePig Releases first home-grown Oak Expression

Vermont baser distillery WhistlePig Farm just announced the release of its first expression that’s developed using home-grown Vermont white oak – WhistlePig 15 Year. Produced from a mash that contains 100% rye the 15 Year is first matured in charred new American oak and used Bourbon barrels, and then finished in charred Vermont white oak for another six months. The Spirits Business notes that “Vermont white oak trees are denser than their Kentucky counterparts, which is said to impart a ‘nuanced and distinct’ flavour into the rye”. WhistlePig’s founder and Ceo Raj Peter Bhakta said “Since day one, our vision was to create a fully farm-to-bottle operation, and with the release of the 15 Year, the public can now enjoy a top-notch whiskey aged in barrels made from wood right here on our farm”.

Salvatore Calabrese’s new Hong Kong Bar

Calabrese himself recently stated ““You’ll appreciate that after four decades of late nights in London, and after running bars in casinos and fancy hotels I’m ready for something different”. And different he did.

The Maison 8 is located in Hong Kong and offers a dining room, a bar, as well as private rooms and is said to be “like a luxury hotel without rooms”. Besides the cocktail list, created by Marcault (a protégé of Calabrese), the focus clearly lies on Bollinger, as Maison 8 will include the world’s first ‘Bollinger Champagne Room – Le Club 1829’,”a private dining area named after Bollinger’s year of foundation and housing over 2,300 bottles of the Grandes Marques’ brut, rose, La Grande Annee 2004 and La Grande Annee rose 2004, Bollinger’s R.D extra brut 2002 and its ‘most mythical’ cuvee, the Vieilles Vignes Françaises (VVF) 2004”.

Drake launches Virginia Black Whiskey

After weeks of teaser photos posted to social media, Drake finally launched his Virginia Black whiskey brand in collaboration with DeLéon Tequila creator Brent Hocking. Described as “decadent and smooth”, or so the press release that the drinks business is quoting probably says, the American whisky will be distributed by Proximo Spirits and is expected to retail from May onwards. Drake says “the whisky is a first in a line of decadent expressions”. Hocking notes that Virginia Black is “uniquely positioned to redefine American whiskey, [and] will engage enthusiasts irrespective of spirit preference or experience”. Interesting to see if the legions of Drake fans will step up and buy the product.

Drink Tequila: avoid Osteoporosis

Now that’s a sentiment we can agree with (more so than last week’s “anti aging gin” … ). Liquor.com took to quote Science Daily in saying that Mexican researachers have found that blue agave has substances which are capable of “improving the absorption of calcium and magnesium, minerals essential to maintaining bone health”. During the study the mice who ingested fructans from the blue agave produced 50% more osteocalcin (a protein that indicates the production of new bone) than mice who didn’t ingest agave. Leader of the project Dr. Mercedes Lopez says “The consumption of fructans contained in the agave, in collaboration with adequate intestinal microbiota, promotes the formation of new bone, even with the presence of osteoporosis”, she hopes to develop a new osteoporosis treatment with this newfound knowledge while Liquor.com (and, honstely, us too) will just continue to sip on delicious Margaritas and Palomas in hope of staving off osteoporosis.

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Foto: Photo via Shutterstock.

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