Reading material

- A nice summary of micro-distilling in Oregon. They have 17 micro-distilleries already! The article also alerted me to a surely fine Oregon product called Bu-Tay vodka, which comes in regular and blue. It's hard to beat their tagline: "Make Bu-Tay Your Call." - Eric Felten rediscovers the Twentieth Century cocktail, and an annual celebration of the drink by train (and Sherlock Holmes) enthusiasts. - The "Richard Branson of India," Vijay Mallya, announced a patent on diet vodka and diet whisky. Approximately .0002 seconds later, the Scotch Whisky Association announced "that ain't no whisky." - This article from Plenty Magazine lists some eco-cocktails. I learned from it that there is an organic Pisco, an organic line of liqueurs including brandy, orange (could this be the orgo triple-sec we've been waiting for?), chocolate, and coffee, as well as two more organic rums called Matraga and Papagayo. - Madison approves banning cheap liquor in the downtown area to discourage panhandlers. That's ridiculous. If they can do this, can't neighborhoods ban cheap anything to keep out the poor and middle classes? You suck, Madison. - Mmm, tacky fashion wine box.

Powered by whisky

From the Financial Times, by-products of the scotch whisky production will be used to generate heat and electricity.

The Combination of Rothes Distillers (Cord) would replace its dependence on fossil fuels by taking as fuel the used malted barley known as "draff" and the "pot ale" residue left by the distilleries on Speyside.

The plant would be able to generate 7.2 megawatts of electricity, mostly for export to the national grid - enough to power 9,000 homes. It would also save about 46,642 tonnes of CO 2 being emitted annually, compared with an equivalent level of coal-fired generating capacity.

The plant would also convert the pot ale left after the first distillation of whisky into a concentrated organic fertiliser for use by farmers on crops such as the barley used in the malting process.

My obsession with distillery waste products is no secret, so this is very exciting news to me. I think what they refer to as the "pot ale" is the heads and tails. Some other distilleries, such as 4 Copas tequila, also turn this into (organic) fertilizer when mixed with the discarded leaves of the agave plant. Others sell the heads and tails to industrial alcohol companies. In the US and Canada anyway, much of the solid waste from the spent corn and other grains is used as animal feed.

Time story on small-batch spirits

If you haven't been paying attention, micro-distilleries are hot. Here's the Time story.