4 minute read
Eye
A QUICK LOOK INTO THE WEIRD AND WONDERFUL, AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN, ON LOCAL SHORES AND ACROSS THE GLOBE.
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MAN COMPLETES THREEYEAR PUB CRAWL
A man in London has completed a mammoth, three-year pub crawl. The 28 year old set himself the task of visiting a pub at each of the stations on the London Underground and has been making his way through 270 pubs since March 2013. Sam Cullen documented his experience on his blog the Innside Track and now hopes to make a book about the journey. Cullen told a local newspaper, “It’s strange to have finished, because if you’ve been doing something for the best part of three years, it’s hard to think ‘it’s done now’. I’ve moved around a lot and changed jobs in that time, but this has been a constant. “I’d like to give myself at least a month off. but I don’t know what’s next."
THE DONALD TRUMP WINE BRAND
Believe it or not, among a conglomerate of brands including water and steaks owned by Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, there also exists a Trump wine brand. In fact, the political candidate recently took time out of his campaign to show off the wines at a press conference. The Trump Winery, located on a 1,300 acre estate in Charlottesville, Virginia is the largest in the state and produces sparkling, white, red and rosé wines.
GLENMORANGIE CREATES SUNGLASSES RANGE
Glenmorangie has created a range of sunglasses, made from the staves of its whisky casks. The single malt whisky brand partnered with sunglass company Finlay & Co. to produce 1,843 pairs of the sunglasses, which Glenmorangie is claiming to be the first of their kind. The frames display the unique grain and natural finish of the staves and come numbered. Purchasers also have the option of getting their pair personally engraved. The glasses can be purchased online at finlayandco.com for 300 GBP.
FRANCE’S OLDEST WINE ESTATE FOR SALE
France’s oldest wine estate in the Loire Valley has gone on sale. Château de Goulaine is said to occupy land that dates back to the 10th century AD. The castle’s vineyards and cellars are also said to date back to this period and have almost only ever been owned by the Goulaine family. The ‘Marquis de Goulaine’ wine label is made on site commercially and mostly produces muscadet from the Sevre-et-Maine and Vouvray appellations. The sale is expected to land somewhere between seven and ten million Euros.
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SPIRI TS & LIQU E UR S
Feature Feature
IRELAND
The great whiskey nation of the 18th century has certainly not been without its problems. Yet today Irish whiskey is back in significant growth across the globe, so we pose the question – has the spirit of Ireland returned? And is it here to stay in Australia? By Hannah Sparks
Uisce beatha or “water of life” is a term first coined by Irish monks some time around 700 A.D, defining distilled alcohol ‘ as Gaeilige’ .
A revelation of their learnings from the East, where the technique of distilling perfumes was an age-old practice; back in Ireland, these monks had discovered how to create alcohol using the same methods with grain cereals.
Although at this stage what these monks were creating was not yet technically whiskey, given that it was being taken straight off the still, what they had discovered was how to create a palatable drink that would, in time (with oak), become the national drink of Ireland.
This knowledge eventually spread outside the walls of the church, and by the end of the 18th century there were approximately 1,200 distilleries in the country.
Irish whiskey had gained a favourable following both locally and internationally, with Ireland responsible for 90 per cent of global exports at one point.
Growth continued for the industry in this period and the future of the industry looked prosperous, but the tides were changing, and it wouldn’t be long until the fortunes of Ireland would too.
The problem was, of the 1,200 distilleries operating in Ireland, the majority had always worked
60 drinks trade
without a license, and in 1820 the British Government took action.
The Government raised taxes and ordered officials to confiscate equipment and materials being used by unlicensed distillers, and by the mid-1800s their tactics had worked; only 88 licensed distilleries remained, while some prevailed, but this time in secrecy.
To add more salt to the wound, many distilleries had also begun to export much of their production to the West Indies
