A collection formerly owned by a late US whisky enthusiast, purported to be the largest and most varied collection of spirits yet to appear at auction, will be presented for bidding later this year by Bonhams Fine Art Auctioneers & Valuers. The extremely rare collection is said to contain close to 3,000 bottles of whisky.

Well-respected auctioneers of art, pictures, collectables and motor cars, Bonhams also employs a whisky specialist named Martin Green. In a statement released yesterday, Green told BBC News that in his more than 20 years of conducting whisky auctions, “this is the most exciting collection I have ever handled.”

The collection had formerly belonged to a California man named Willard Folsom, who spent 18 years gathering Scotch malts after reading a newspaper article about them in the popular American paper USA Today. According to the BBC report, Whisky from places ranging from Orkney to Speyside to the Lowlands is represented in the collection, including many commemorative bottles never to be released again by distillers. “The sale of the collection provides the opportunity to buy many collectables of the future,” Green says.

Folsom was a former United Airlines worker who toured Scotland with his family, building his collection as they traveled. He died last year at age 64. Although the whisky is to be auctioned by Bonhams in Edinburgh on November 18th of this year, there is a strong possibility that any remaining stock will be returned to the states and sold in New York, as well as in Hong Kong sometime in early 2010.

A recent study performed by researchers at several universities including UCLA and Johns Hopkins has found a frightening new correlation between alcohol advertising and target demographics which could only be assumed to be young viewers… and thus potential underage drinkers.

By using advertising industry data from Nielsen Media Research, researchers examined more than 608,000 national cable alcohol ads aired between the years 2001 and 2006. These ads, fortunately, were aired primarily before audiences with fewer than 30 percent between the ages of 12 and 20. However, there were few of the funny coincidences, as noted by a story featured at the Fox News website:

• For every one-percentage-point increase in adolescent viewership, there was a corresponding 7% increase in beer ads, a 15% increase in spirits ads, and a 22% increase in “alcopop” ads

• In the instance of alcopops, ad incidence “was strongly associated with adolescent girl viewership”. Also, each one-point increase in the percentage of female adolescent audience was associated with increases in alcopop ads by as much as 5%.

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As much as I praise the joy and wonders of responsible alcohol consumption at this website, there are actually a few instances where I would rather not be caught holding a beverage of the alcoholic variety. For instance, the mornings that follow the occasional over-indulgence are some of the best times I can think of not to even look at liquor. Similarly, I wouldn’t want to be caught speeding down the highway with a Mint Julep in-hand, either (this, of course, wouldn’t be very responsible at all)! However, perhaps the very worst time to have an alcoholic drink in your paws would be while handing it off to an underage drinker.

Indeed, the greatest obligations of the mature, sophisticated, and responsible drinker include protecting themselves (i.e. not drinking and driving or engaging in other activities that may endanger those around us), and most certainly, protecting young people around us who may begin to show interest in alcohol consumption before they are able to do so legally. Therefore, with recent information which suggests many alcohol advertisements actually do target teens, it seems noteworthy here to delve into the reality of teen alcohol consumption, and ways it can be prevented.

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CLAY COUNTY, NC: With hopes for finding ways to make money in tight times, former music professor and Presbyterian minister Bert Wiley sides with a majority of voters in a referendum this week that would allow the sale of beer, wine, and spirits in the formerly dry NC county. Wiley says this is necessary, in spite of the fact that he’s never had a drink in his life.

“The county needed the revenue,” Wiley told the Asheville Citizen Times. “I know the disagreement on this. But this situation is not a moral issue. It is a financial issue.

Wiley also says “the people who wanted to have alcohol in the county were not trying to convince people to drink. They wanted it available in the county.” As a Western North Carolina resident, I must say that I make an effort to discuss this with several ABC store owners and other spirit vendors. Michael Dyer, manager of the Black Mountain liquor store in Black Mountain, NC, says that overall sales have been good this year, with sales at the beginning of the year overtaking previous records that coincided with New Year celebrations. Similarly, employees at the Tunnel Road ABC store in Asheville, NC, recently told Culture of Spirits that “sales are good. Of course, the liquor business is hardly ever bad.”
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Although it is the most popular distilled spirit in Brazil, the majority of people here in the states know little about the strong South American beverage called Cachaça. In its native land, close to four million gallons of the stuff are consumed annually, with a minuscule one percent of its product shipped elsewhere in the world (mainly to Germany, of all places). Caipirinha, the most popular beverage containing Cachaça, also happens to be Brazil’s national cocktail, although Cachaça can be included in a variety of other excellent tropical cocktails. Therefore, as we ride out on the coattails of summer, I thought Culture of Spirits readers may enjoy learning about the most popular beverage that can be made using this most unique rum-like (and very potent) spirit.

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President Obama has garnered a lot of attention lately with the so-called ‘Beer Summit’ at the White House, between himself, Harvard professor Henry Gates Jr., and sergeant James Crowley of the Cambridge, Mass. Police Department. The story between these three is well documented by every major news outlet in the country, so rehashing it here seems redundant to me. My interest in this stems from the President using beer as the medium to sort out their differences, and that has caused me to do some research into other spirits of the Oval Office. What have been the preferred beverages of some of our notable Commanders in Chief?

George Washington (1789-1797) was regarded as the most successful whiskey producer in the country after his tenure of President was over. His Mount Vernon distillery produced 11,000 gallons of Rye Whiskey per year, but within a decade of his death, it fell into disrepair. Washington was also known to have dined and drank whiskey at Charleston, South Carolina’s famous McCrady’s Tavern in 1791, during his Southern Tour.

Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809) is regarded today as one of the healthiest early American presidents, and also the foremost wine connoisseur to have ever held office. According to a letter to an inquiring doctor in 1819, he would drink 3 to 4 glasses of wine at dinner, but never a drop otherwise. He wrote that he did not drink ardent wines or spirits, and he would also water down his wine so as to weaken its effect on him.

Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865) was born into a bourbon family; His father was a distillery hand at the site that Knob Creek bourbon is named after today (in a distillery that was owned by one of Daniel Boone‘s relatives, no less!). Reaching adult hood, he applied for and received a license to sell alcohol in Illinois, and went on to operate numerous taverns. Despite the taverns and a grocery store that sold primarily whiskey, his personal stance on alcohol was one of educated, responsible drinking in moderation. As for his personal tastes, it’s hard to figure out because he spent a good portion of his political career appeasing the Temperance group, which eventually evolved into the Prohibition group.

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Recently, Culture of Spirits writer Chris McCollum mentioned his affinity for vodka tonics, and how they are, essentially, “impossible to mess up.” Indeed, one part vodka blended with one part tonic water over ice is a fairly simple concoction to create, and reading this prompted me to look at a variety of the beverages I order when I visit a bar… and the ones I avoid like the plague for the very reason Chris states: many fine beverages are messed up in public bars.

Take for instance the Old Fashioned. At a very fine restaurant in Asheville, NC (which Chris and I happened to visit together this past Saturday night), I ordered an Old Fashioned some time ago. The lovely bartender asked what kind of bourbon I would prefer. I requested Makers Mark, and the gal proceeded to take a nice, rounded old fashioned glass and muddle an entire orange slice in the bottom, crushing not one, but two cherries with it. I was shocked and amazed; not only was the pleasant “sting” of the spirits being removed with an over-abundance of fruit juice (since a proper Old Fashioned recipe calls for merely the peel of the fruit, not the actual pulp), insult was added to injury as I watched her blend water with the ice and bourbon she added. I remember mixologist Robert Hess referring to a poorly made Old Fashioned as “swamp water”, and hereby move that the beverage I was made actually be given this name officially, so as to remove the actual drink I had ordered from any negative stigmas that may result from poor tastes. When properly made, no Old Fashioned cocktail could be compared to “swamp water”!

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The vodka tonic is one of the simplest, yet demanded drinks at the social bar. Depending on the bartender, the typical vodka tonic will either be made with one part each of vodka and tonic, or one part vodka and three parts tonic. And then, the final deft touch to give it a special taste: A generous lime wedge. The drinker will then, depending on his or her preference, do the deed at the bar, or take it back to their table and have a seat before commencing with the sacred ritual of lime squeezing. This is something that I have done countless times since I started drinking vodka tonics, shortly after my 21st birthday some time back. I never gave it much of a thought, aside from the fact that I considered it an average drink, and by no means one of my top 5 favorite cocktails(coincidentally, subject for a possible feature article). The reason I would order them was that they were quick, easy, cheap, and impossible to mess up. There is also the fact that certain bars in this area have vodka specials once or twice a week, where they can be ordered at half price. That is certainly a good option for anyone who is either on a budget, or loves vodka.

Getting back to the matter at hand; The vodka tonic was an average drink at a cheap price that was quick to obtain from a busy bartender. My view on the beverage was changed this past May, however, when I went on a cruise through the Caribbean with several close friends. One morning(shameless, I know. But it’s a Caribbean cruise!), we were sitting at one of the bars closest to the swimming pool on the sun deck, and we were ordering drinks. I was last in line, and just before me, my dear friend Lauren ordered the vodka tonic. I decided right then and there that I probably would as well, even though the Mimosa was sounding delicious. But then my mind was blown when she added an instruction for the drink: “No lime. Lemon, please.”

This startled me yet sounded oddly thrilling, so I added the same instruction to my drink, while she informed me that she always orders them that way because she prefers the taste of lemon over lime. I commenced with the fruit squeezing and stirring ritual, then took a sip. I quickly concurred with her assessment, that the lemon did indeed add a better flavor to the otherwise bland drink. While I appreciate a good lime in my summer lagers, I have found that I definitely prefer the strong sour taste of a lemon in my vodka tonic, rather than the metallic sweetness of a lime. Break the mold and try it for yourself; Tell the bartender to hold the lime, please.