ecoSPIRITS, Overeem Whisky, Australian International Spirits Competition, Shady Pines Saloon, ‘Looking Back’ Series and more in this week’s bar/spirited news & recommended reads.
L-R: Mark Sawford, Casey Overeem, Jane Sawford – Photo Supplied
Australian International Spirits Competition 2020
Australia has a brand new spirits competition. The Australian International Spirits Competition (AUISC) sets an international standard in Australia for judging spirit quality, rewarding the top spirits using Australian judges, under the tuition and watchful eye of renowned international head judge, Steve Beal. The judging of the inaugural AUISC was held on Monday 17 February with all spirits entered in the competition blind tasted by a panel of judges. I had the honour of being one of the judges. You can read all about the AUISC, its objectives, judging criteria and how to enter here. The competition results will soon be published on Cocktails & Bars.
Overeem Single Malt Whisky Trademark Returns to its Founding Family
Australian Whisky Holdings has announced that it has executed a binding Heads of Agreement with Sawford Distillery Pty Limited for the sale of the Overeem Single Malt Whisky trademark and limited whisky inventory for the sum of $962,000. Jane Sawford (nee Overeem) was co-founder of Overeem Distillery with her father Casey Overeem. She has since co-founded Sawford Distillery with husband Mark Sawford in Kingston, Tasmania, on the same site the Overeem story began many years earlier. Settlement will take place on 29th June 2020.
Proof & Co Launches ecoSPIRITS
Proof & Company has launched ecoSPIRITS, the world’s first low waste, low carbon spirits distribution technology and a modern closed-looped system for spirits which aims to reduce the carbon footprint of the entire spirits life cycle, from field to glass to landfill, by up to 80 per cent. Using ecoTOTES, reusable vessels with a capacity of 4.5L of spirit, bartenders can fill their own bottles. When the ecoTOTES are emptied, they are sent back to the ecoPLANT to be cleaned, sanitised, refilled and re-fitted with tamper proof sealing, then distributed again in the local market. ecoSPIRITS is currently available in Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Maldives, Australia and New Zealand, with mainland China launching next month. (source)
Shady Pines Saloon Turns 10
Sydney institution Shady Pines Saloon is turning 10 years old. To celebrate, they’re throwing a party on the 1st of March from 4pm. Expect “a night of Peanuts, Whiskey, and good old-fashioned Honky Tonk music”.
‘Looking Back’ Series
Cocktails & Bars has launched a new series last week. The ‘Looking Back’ series casts a historical lens on key industry personalities with articles is based those originally published on our sister website Gourmantic. Leading the series is Jim McEwan on Bruichladdich, with more industry figures to follow such as Dave Broom, Dr Jim Swan, John Campbell, Bill Samuels Jr, Sam Ross and Colin Scott.
Recommended Reads
- Mastering the Café Brûlot With Dale DeGroff (source)
- Arbikie distillery releases groundbreaking ‘carbon positive’ gin using a grain neutral spirit made from peas (source)
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