/ whisky 'can beat cancer': research

single malt whisky can beat the threat of cancer, thanks to high levels of a powerful antioxidant that kills cancer cells, a medical conference in scotland has been told. jim swan, an independent consultant to the global drinks industry, said that, according to research, single malt whisky contains "more ellagic acid than red wine"...

via australian daily telegraph

/ chef blends curries with malt whisky

a teetotal city restaurateur is winning fans after combining two of scotland's greatest loves ... whisky and curries.
depak bali's eaterie in the west end of glasgow is offering spicy indian dishes made with quality scotch malt whiskies.
mr bali, 31, a shop owner, lawyer and restaurateur, was determined to find a way to blend the two favourites...

via evening times

/ diageo set to join battle for allied domecq

drinks giant diageo is set to join the battle for rival allied domecq and could buy over 2 billion pounds ($3.8 billion) of brands in an allied break-up without regulatory problems, sources familiar with the matter said on friday...

via chicago business

/ constellation weighs own bid for allied domecq

constellation brands, the wine producer whose labels include manischewitz and mondavi, said monday that it was considering making a counterbid for allied domecq that would rival pernod ricard's £7.4 billion ($14.1 billion) offer. constellation, the world's largest wine producer, is in an "early stage" of weighing a bid with a number of partners, and said there was no guarantee that any offer would be made, the company said in a statement to the london stock exchange...

via new york times

/ pernod-allied merger jobs threat

the £7.4 billion agreed merger between pernod and allied domecq risks creating over- capacity in bottling and packaging and is likely to lead to job losses within scotland’s whisky industry, according to observers. the merger, which creates the world’s second-largest drinks group after diageo, puts allied’s giant ballantine’s brand together with pernod’s chivas regal and extensive malts range. the deal makes whisky the single biggest contributor to the pernod empire, according to alan gray, a drinks analyst at the edinburgh-based charles stanley sutherland...

via sunday times

/ who gets what in pernod-allied domecq deal

a breakdown of where some of the famous brands will end up following pernod ricard sa's planned takeover of allied domecq plc. pernod ricard will sell some of the brands it acquires in the deal to u.s.-based fortune brands inc. to avoid competition issues...

via businessweek

/ raising spirits: on the rocks?

adam withrington examines a spirit that is often quite daunting for licensees and also struggling somewhat as a sector – whisky. the second spirit to feature in the raising spirits series is that most traditional of drinks, whisky...

via the publican

/ whisky jobs at risk from pernod bid for allied

pernod ricard’s planned £7.75 billion takeover of allied domecq could lead to hundreds of job losses in the scotch whisky sector, mainly in scotland and bristol, according to analysts and industry insiders. given the over-capacity in the sector, a merged group would almost certainly end up with more distilleries, bottling plants and warehouses than it needs. but, in terms of employee numbers, the bigger cull would come among marketing and administrative staff...

via sunday herald

/ a new frenzy for fine scotch

independent bottlings are all the rage among lovers of single malts, and there are hundreds of distinctive labels. you may think you know single-malt scotch — it's glenlivet and macallan and laphroaig and all that. maybe you're even into some obscure ones: dalwhinnie, edradour, allt-a-bhainne, bruichladdich.

what makes them single malts is that they're unblended whiskies, products of single distilleries. but if all you know are the versions bottled by the distilleries themselves, you know only part of the story. there's an alternate universe of scotch: the independent bottlers. they sell whisky from the same distillers, but in limited editions that have distinctive flavors of their own.

via los angeles times

/ wm grant prepares for fight over tax changes

william grant & sons, the glenfiddich whisky maker, is preparing for a court battle with the inland revenue over tax changes which distillers say could cost them £30m. the revenue ruled in 2002 that companies should pay tax on depreciated stock every year, rather than when the stock is eventually sold...

via scotsman