Pink Pigeon Tasting Notes

Theres some spirits in the world that take their name from various sources. Bacardi has the Catalan wine merchant Facundo Bacardí Massó, Tanqueray has Charles Tanqueray, Amarula is named after its primary ingredient and Pink Pigeon after a rare Mauritian bird. Theres a Pink Pigeon in the world I hear you cry? Yup, these endangered birds fly freely on the Isle of Mauritius and have inspired the name of this spiced rum where some of the worlds finest sugar cane is produced.
To carry on the trend of rarity, Pink Pigeon is also one of the very few rums in the world that is distilled 5 times compared to the usual 3, and is also produced in the oldest distillery in Mauritius, first founded in 1926. Pink Pigeon also uses the second most expensive spice in the world, natural Bourbon Vanilla from Madagascar and Reunion Islands, that is blended for six months by Master Blender Alain Chatel. Launched in Mauritius in December 2010 and the rest of the world in February 2011 by the Indian Ocean Rum Company and Berry Bros. & Rudd Spirits, it has become a staple of the premium rum category as well as giving a vanilla twist to many a classic rum cocktail.

So with it standing out from other premium rums in both is production and name sake, how does it fare? Well below, I give to you my tasting notes -

Pink Pigeon – 40%

Instant soft vanilla hits the nose with smooth hints of exotic spice following. Both evolve slowly as it hits the palate with slight kicks of the spice around the edges as it gives an extremely long finish. Very balanced between the sweetness of the vanilla and hints of nutmeg.

Pink Pigeon is recommended to be served in the classics of Daiquiri’s or Mojito’s, or even slightly chilled, however to become more adventurous, ask your bartender to serve up one of these recipes -

Pink Pigeon Punch – serves 4

Glass -

Jug

Ingredients –

200ml Ping Pigeon
2 Lemons
20ml Agave Nectar
200ml Watermelon juice
Ginger Beer top

Method -

Pour all ingredients into a jug and top with ginger beer.

Pink Pigeon Punch

Passionate Pigeon

Glass –

Highball

Ingredients -

50ml Pink Pigeon
50ml Lychee Juice
1/2 Pressed Lime
1 Passion Fruit
Ginger Beer

Method -

Shake all the ingredients together and top with ginger beer

Some great recipe ideas from this already award-winning rum, winning a gold medal for ‘Best Packaging’ at Harpers’ Wine and Spirit Design Awards 2011 and a bronze medal at this year’s ‘International Cocktail Challenge’. So if your after something a little different, rather unique (As part of the conservation effort, Pink Pigeon Rum
is a contributor to the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation) and to be fair doesn’t break the bank either, it’s the perfect addition to not only your own collection, but to a drink in your favourite bar.

Special thanks to The Circle Bar 360 for the back drop of the bottle photos.

Check out Steven James’ take on the rum world here.

© David Marsland and Drinks Enthusiast 2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog/sites author and owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to David Marsland and Drinks Enthusiast with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Zubrowka Unveils Second Full Moon Cocktail

Celebrate the full moon on 2^nd August with the deliciously captivating Zubrowka Bianco Full Moon cocktail, conjured up by Zubrowka brand ambassador and cocktail connoisseur, Pawel Rolka.

 

Legend has it that under a full moon, in the remote Bialowieza Forest in north-east Poland, the bison grass grows strikingly well and becomes remarkably fragrant, releasing a unique almond-like vanilla aroma during this lunar phase.

 

The reasons for this are shrouded in mystery but the added essence of the bison grass transformsZubrowka into exceptional vodka.

 

The full moon is expected to occur when the moon reaches the opposite side of the Earth from the sun at around 3.30am (GMT) on 2^nd August. To celebrate the unusual influence the full moon has on the bison grass, Pawel Rolka has created a Full Moon Cocktail – the Zubrowka Bianco.

 

Commenting on his Zubrowka Bianco Full Moon Cocktail, Pawel Rolka said: “A full moon in August is particularly spectacular as the weather is warm and it seems the moon is brighter than usual. When I was thinking about the Full Moon cocktail, I thought about how gleaming and white the moon is – and what better way is there to toast thismonth’s full moon than with the Zubrowka Bianco.”

 

The Zubrowka Bianco Full Moon Cocktail will be shown on Zubrowka’s new Facebook page at www.facebook.com/zubrowkauk. Bartenders and budding cocktail creators everywhere will be invited to submit their own Full Moon Cocktail creations on the Facebook page.

 

This Zubrowka Full Moon Cocktail is the second in a series – a delightful new cocktail combination will be created each month on the date of the full moon.

 

Zubrowka Bianco

Zubrowka Bianco Full Moon Cocktail

 

Ingredients

 

40ml Zubrowka

10ml dry vermouth

10ml traditional pressed apple juice

Ice

 

Mixing instructions

 

Combine Zubrowka, vermouth and apple juice in a cocktail shaker and stir. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with some diced apple.

Indulge your senses with the sumptuous taste of Stoli Chocolat Razberi

Indulge your senses with the sumptuous taste of Stoli^® Chocolat Razberi™

 

Brand new for the UK, Stoli^® Chocolat Razberi™ premium vodka is the latest masterpiece from the flavoured collection of the world’s most original vodka. The delicate fusion of tangy raspberries and rich silken chocolate creates a unique and sumptuous experience.  Created by Stolichnaya® Premium vodka, the pioneer in flavoured vodkas, Stoli Chocolat Razberi is the newest addition to the Stolichnaya portfolio.  

 

A delight to the senses, the delicious flavour of Stoli Chocolat Razberi is perfect for chocolate and vodka lovers alike. Velvet chocolate notes are accented by warm vanilla-cocoa, followed by a delicate hint of fresh raspberry flavour.

 

Perfectly indulgent with a sensual, luscious texture, Stoli Chocolat Razberi has a clean finish and can be enjoyed on the rocks or as part of a delicious cocktail. Available exclusively in Harvey Nichols nationwide, priced £27.50 for 70cl.

 

Stoli Chocolat Razberi White Russian

 

Ingredients

25ml Stoli® Chocolat Razberi™ Premium vodka

25ml coffee liqueur

50ml light cream or milk

Raspberries to garnish

 

Method

Place a few ice cubes in a tumbler, pour over Stoli® Chocolat Razberi™ and the coffee liqueur and top up with the cream or milk

Stir and serve garnished with a few raspberries
Stolichnaya Premium Vodka is an exceptionally smooth, superior vodka.  Stolichnaya uses a 500-year-old premium quadruple-distillation method and intricate four stage filtration process to yield the highest quality vodkas with complex layers of aroma and flavour. Stoli Chocolat Razberi Premium vodka is one of six delicious flavoured-vodkas available in the UK: Stoli Gala Applik, Stoli Ohranj, Stoli Citros, Stoli Razberi and Stoli Vanil.

 

To get the latest news from Stolichnaya visit on Facebook (www.facebook.com/stoliuk) and follow on Twitter (@StoliUK).

Corks Out Champagne and Canapé Tasting

The annual Corks Out Champagne and Canapé night made its way to the prestige 3 rosette Alderley Edge Hotel & Restaurant last week accompanied by a host of well-known and famous Champagne houses to tantalize the taste buds of a bustling, and aptly named, Lauren Perrier suite.

I’m going to dive straight into the tasting notes of each Champagne I tried, with hopefully some interesting side notes on each.

Canard Duchene Cuvee Leonie NV - 12%

More than ten million bottles are ageing in the chalk cellars of Canard-Duchêne, which were dug by hand in the 19th century.
A good mix of tropical fruits and dried flowers on the nose that opens up beautifully once it hits the palate. Very fresh.

Thienot Rose – 12.5%

A favourite of Raymond Blancs restaurant – lively cherry and blackcurrant aromas swirl on the nose that develops into some fantastic flavours of red berries on the palate.

Cattier White Label Brut NV - 12.5%

Served best with white meat – fresh white fruit of apples and pears subtly surround the nose, with a lively, fresh dose of tropical and floral flavours on the palate.

Cattier Premier Cru Antique Rose NV

Perfect with fruit desserts – fresh and well-rounded with crisp red berries dominating both the nose and palate.

Armand de Brignac Ace of Spades

Armand de Brignac Ace of Spades NV – 12.5%

Found in many a Champagne bar, including The Circle 360 - very light floral notes on the nose with hints of fruit nearing the end. Creamy on the palate with a distinctive brioche flavour coming through with a long finish.

Taittinger Vintage Millésimé 2005

Floral on the nose to begin, but moves onto ripe fruit and raisin. A fresh palate dominated with caramalised fruits produces a long finish.

Ruinart Rose NV – 12.5%

Ripe cherry and red berries on the nose with a little spice at the end. Silky as it hits the palate, with fresh mint and grapefruit flavours.

Moet & Chandon Grande Vintage 2002

Toasted notes of almonds on the nose with ripe fruits following and maturing onto the palate. A complimenting mix of rhubarb, citrus and pink grapefruit go well together for a long finish.

Dom Perignon Vintage 2003 – 12.5%

Incredibly soft, sweet floral notes on the nose with a hint of spice near the end. Delicate on the palate to begin with, but develops well with a creamy texture and a slight tang finish.

Krug Grande Cuvee NV – 12%

A blend of around 120 wines from 10 or more different vintages – a mix of floral, ginger bread and citrus blend well on the nose, whilst flavours of hazelnuts, almonds and honey dominate the palate.

Bollinger Special Cuvee NV - 12.5%

A good marriage of cream and fruit on the nose, with rich peach and a subtle butter flavour on the palate that produces a long finish.

Bollinger Rose NV – 12%

A soft aroma of red fruit on the nose becomes more dominant as it reaches the palate as strawberries and raspberries stand out. Long, creamy finish.

Bollinger Grande Annee Vintage 2002 – 12%

Pears, toffee and spice are present on the nose, with a rich balance of citrus and apple on the palate.

Louis Roederer Brut Premier - 12%

Toasted almonds dominate the nose, moving to become lively yet creamy on the palate.

Louis Roederer Carte Blanche – 12%

Intense honey and ripe, sweet notes on the nose, with rich, creamy texture on the palate with apricots coming through. Long finish.

Louis Roederer Rose Vintage – 12.5%

Pairing well with a variety of food – lots of fruits on the nose, with blackberries and blueberries coming through noticeably. Rich fruit and cream blend well on the palate.

Louis Roederer Cristal Vintage 2004 – 12%

Intense white fruit and citrus hits the nose well, with a hint of sweetness nearing the end. Peach and apricot burst on the palate into a soft, silky and creamy end.

Laurent Perrier Brut – 12%

Delicate aroma of citrus on the nose, fruity and crisp on the palate with a long finish.

Laurent Perrier Vintage 2002 – 12%

Dried fruits and citrus bounce off each other on the nose, with a lively palate of lemon and dark fruit combining for a long finish.

Laurent Perrier Brut Rose - 12%

Crisp aroma of red fruits on the nose that follows onto the palate and intensifies. Lots of strawberries and blackcurrant mixing well for a rounded finish.

After having a tipple or two of the Champagne, Bob of Corks Out in Stockton Heath was on hand with some Champagne cocktails including a Bellini using Briottet Creme de Peche, a Rhubarb Royale involving Briottet Rhubarb, a French 75 with -ish Gin and the surprisingly good mixture of Martin Millers gin, Kwai Feh lychee liqueur and Champagne to create a Shanghai Fizz.

With discounts on all the Champagnes available, and even the chance to own a bottle of Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque Jeroboam 1995 presented in a stunning gift box, that had a price tag of £2200 for the night (a saving of £1000), there were orders flying left right and centre as I left Alderley Edge with a fair few favourites stuck in my mind (personal highlights include Dom Perignon, Cattier Glamour Rose, Laurent Perrier Vintage 2002 and Bollinger Special Cuvee).

All the above are available via the Corks Out website, with stores also across the North West.

Check out the rest of the photos via my Facebook page.

© David Marsland and Drinks Enthusiast 2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog/sites author and owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to David Marsland and Drinks Enthusiast with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Leblon Tasting Notes

Cachaça is a spirit that most have heard of, many have maybe even drank its most famous concoction – the caipirinha, but does it have the same knowledge and understanding as say to gin, vodka or whisky? Did you know that cachaça comes from the South American country of Brazil? And that back in 2007, approximately 1.5 billion litres was being consumed annually? So for something that hits the billion mark, how do we know so little about it, despite it being the third most consumed spirit in the world?

Cachaça was conceived and first consumed approximately 1530-1550 in Brazil, with early reports citing the state Bahia (then a Portuguese captaincy) as its origin. Cachaça is made from  natural sugar cane juice, where in the 15th century, Brazil was the biggest sugar producer in the world. The first use of distilled cachaça was to the natives and to feed the slaves so they could work without feeling so much pain. Despite the rest of the Brazilian population regarding cachaça as a poor man’s drink and instead opting for imported whiskeys and cognacs, the versatile taste of cachaça meant it began to be consumed by the Brazilian elite and became very popular in Brazil around the 16th century. Its popularity was so big that it dwarfed competitive Portuguese products, resulting with the Portuguese court banning cachaça consumption in many Brazilian states from 1635 to 1639. Over the years new and better methods for producing cachaça were developed and the spirit started to appear on the finest tables in the colonial Brazil. Around 1808 when Brazil was close to become a free country from the Portuguese colony, cachaça was one of the most important products of the Brazilian economy.

In hopes of boosting cachaça to the heights of acceptance, respectability and especially sales that Mexican tequila has enjoyed, the Brazilian government has imposed several new cachaça regulatory measures. In 2001, then Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso signed a decree that established cachaça as an official and exclusive name for Brazilian cane alcohol. Then in October 2003 the new Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, issued another decree specifying both the names cachaça and the Caipirinha as strictly Brazilian in origin. Brazil has also sent this issue to the World Trade Organization in the hope that the names cachaça and Caipirinha will eventually gain intellectual property rights protection under international law.
The US however is one of the few countries that defines any spirit derived from sugar cane as rum. Accordingly, cachaça sold in the United States must say “rum” somewhere on the front label. Many brands refer to their product as Brazilian Rum on the label, despite cachaça predating the invention of rum by over a century. One brand has taken this to new heights and had made changing the Brazilian Rum moniker a priority. Leblon’s ’Legalize Cachaça’ campaign targeted bartenders, the trade, consumers and the press with the purpose of educating the masses about the distinctions between cachaça and rum. The campaign also lobbied the United States Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to recognize cachaça as a class or type of distilled spirit under the authority of the Federal Alcohol Administration Act. As a result, the U.S. government agreed to begin proceedings to allow the recognition of Cachaça as both ‘Cachaça’ and as a distinctive product of Brazil. In return, the Brazilian government agreed to recognize both Tennessee Whiskey and Bourbon as distinctive products of the United States.

Leblon

So how did Leblon become such a force and influence the change in something on an international scale?

Leblon was created back in 2005 by Steve Luttmann, Roberto Stoll (although no longer directly linked to Leblon) and Gerard Schweizer after Steve thought that he could make not only a better cachaça, but the best. After two years of hard work, Steve brought in master distiller Gilles Merlet who perfected the production of Leblon to become ‘a great cachaça’. Produced in Minas Gerais (a state in Brazil) and named after a neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro that Steve used to live in, Leblon’s exclusive microdistillery creates small batches via Alambique pot stills, as opposed to mass-produced via continuous stills. The reason for this is to create a more refined product, as Gilles Merlet approched Leblon as if making a fine wine.

The cane is hand-harvested from a nearby field, and because of the land elevation, the canes grow taller, producing more liquid and flavour. It’s then delivered to the distillery in less than three hours for pressing. The juice is fermented for 15 hours before being transferred into the Alambique copper pot stills for single-batch distillation (these stills can hold 450,000 litres each). The distillate is then rested up to 6 months in vintage XO cognac casks from France. The cognac casks are used because they retain the nose of the cachaça, compared to local woods that were first tried and tested. The various batches are then blended, and the final batch is triple-filtered and bottled.

So how does this major force in the cachaça industry finish? Well below, I give to you my tasting notes -

Leblon – 40%

Soft aromas of grass and dry corn on the nose, with a subtle mix of herbs and vanilla near the end. On the palate, a smooth blend of subtle butterscotch and citrus flavours go hand-in-hand with a sweet, mouth-watering ending that goes on and on.

As you can imagine, Leblon goes very well with Brazil’s national drink – the caipirinha, but it also mixes nicely with other ingredients.

Leblon – Caipirinha

Leblon Caipirinha

Glass -

Rocks

Ingredients -

60 ml Leblon
30 ml sugar syrup / 2 tea spoons of sugar
1/2 lime

Method -

Slice half a lime and place into a rocks glass. Add sugar syrup and smash the limes to extract the juice. Pour in Leblon, fill with ice and stir.

Orange and Spice

Glass -

Rocks

Ingredients -

45 ml Leblon
30 ml Orange juice
15 ml Aperol
15 ml sugar syrup

Method -

Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Add ice, shake and strain over ice into a rocks glass. Garnish with an orange slice or cinnamon stick.

Two fantastic examples of how versatile cachaça can be. And whilst you’re serving these up at home or being created one at your local bar, you can be safe in the knowledge that you will be drinking an award-winning spirit too. Leblon was a Gold Medal winner at the 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, a 7-consecutive-year run, which is a first for any cachaça. (In 2007, 2010, 2011, and 2012 Leblon was awarded the Double Gold Medal for Best Cachaça.) It was also the Best in Class Winner at the 2007 International Tasting Competition in London and was awarded the 2010 Rising Star Growth Brand Award.

Not bad for something we hardly know anything about.

Check out the rest of the photos, taken at The Circle 360, via my Facebook page.

* Special thanks to Steve Luttmann who gave me the chance to speak to him personally regarding his thoughts and origins on his creation.*

© David Marsland and Drinks Enthusiast 2012. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog/sites author and owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to David Marsland and Drinks Enthusiast with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.