John Moore

greetings yvonne, Of course we remain forever jolly. Now I feel like Al Gore trying to tell the masses just how interesting, funny, and full of life we really are underneath the stony exterior. Do I have to kiss Tipper to convince you? As for the current quest for quips regarding seriously, it hasn't received a single "serious" response yet, so I figured we would nip this forum in the bud. Otherwise, life is good despite my recent attempts to take up snowboarding :). Hope all is well "back at the ranch" in the ole USA, and wish all the best.

forget it... seriously... Never had any intention of causing such stir. Seriously sorry to those of you that for whatever reason found the concept offensive; also, to those that might have had interesting, creative, or otherwise useful contributions. For those of you out there that might wish to send along something please contact me directly via email. Thanks to all.

Greetings Katherine, That is extraordinarily interesting feedback, especially since women were behind most of those slogans. Which particular lines did you find to be especially male-focused? j

my dear mr. wolf, When were you last in München, thirty years ago? I know that it may seem outrageous to consider, but the bavarians are getting hip! Although the Oktoberfest tents are still filled with the beer-swilling masses, an undercurrent of savvy cocktail drinkers are beginning to take the market by storm, and represent the second largest market segment behind only world wines in growth here in the the alchoholic beverage industry. I know that might sound funny, ludicrous, even distinctly "non-Bavarian", but it is true. München is not just Weißwürscht and Lederhosen these days, and is actually catching up culturally with the cocktail sophistication found elsewhere. To give you an idea, there are currently a few places in München where you can get over one hundred different rums! Schumann just recently threw a guy out of his bar for ordering a Zacapa Cola! Times they are a changing. Although you can still get a #### good Schweinshaxe in this neck of the woods, don't be surprised if you can order a Caipi, Mai Tai, or Martini to go with it! As for the English issue, you will find that most slogans, ad campaigns, and assorted titles are in English here these days. I don't know if it is the influence of MTV, hip hop, or Michael Jordan, but for whatever reason people probably speak better English here than they do in many parts of the U.S. Cheers, John p.s. - sorry for the delay in my response, but it is Christmas time here, and some things haven't changed! Don't expect anyone to get much work done for the next week or so. Bis bald...

Greetings to all our wonderfully brilliant, funny, and creative friends, colleagues, & epicureans, Okay, now that you know I am going to ask you all for a favor, here it is… We recently got exclusive rights for a new vodka that we will be introducing to the market here in Germany. The name is “Seriously”… seriously… no, I am not kidding, seriously… The vodka is excellent- triple distillation, wheat based, smooth and citrus like, light essence of juniper, etc. The basic marketing concept behind the vodka is very interesting. They are making numerous different ad campaigns around the word “seriously”, and many of them are pretty fun. I would like to see what we can come up with minus the corporate guys in Sweden… hence the brown-nosing intro. We are hoping to do a grass-roots style marketing campaign involving printed postcards with witty statements involving the name of the vodka... Seriously. I have been extremely impressed with the deathless prose gracing the web site here and hope that with a little appeal to your pockets, purses, and gullets I might coerce a few literary gems from this bunch. Each month we will select one of the slogans for use in this postcard concept in the local market around Munich. Whomever produced the slogan that we elect will get a free bottle of vodka in the post. So people, tap into your right brain, put on your funny, witty, creative, interesting facades for a few minutes and see what you can come up with. Vodka will be sent for all contributions that make it to actual print, so if nothing else humor me and you will get some goodies in the mail. Here are a few of the tidbits that we are using at the moment courtesy of the lads in Sweden: 1. There are matters in life that should be taken seriously. We shall never cease to search for them. 2. All our lives we’ve been told that a picture says more than a thousand words. Three words are proof that we have been seriously misled : I love you. 3. Most men seriously believe that women wear make-up to attract them. Most men also believe in flying saucers and little green beings. 4. A woman of great beauty and vast intellect is to be taken very seriously. Or she’ll fire you. 5. When a pound in the bank is worth more than the pound of a heart, it’s time to seriously reconsider. 6. We can clone sheep. Great. Now, seriously, let’s quickly move on to supermodels. 7. When you are seeing a man who on the second date reveals he’s seriously considering divorcing his wife, you should seriously consider hailing a cab. 8. You spent half the day on the internet and the other half on your mobile, and all the time you were seriously disconnected. cheers to all and many thanks in advance, john

Ah yes, the troublesome H2O question. I would guess that when dealing with Irish tradition it is not so much how one drinks whiskey, but in what volume. I leave you with a typically Irish anecdote: An Irishman who had a little to much to drink is driving home from the city one night and, of course, his car is weaving violently all over the road. A cop pulls him over. "So," says the cop to the driver, "where have you been?" "Why, I've been to the pub of course" slurs the drunk. "Well," says the cop, "it looks like you've had quite a few to drink this evening". "I did all right," the drunk says with a smile. "Did you know," says the cop, standing straight and folding his arms across his chest, "that a few intersections back, your wife fell out of your car?" "Oh, thank heavens," sighs the drunk. "For a minute there, I thought I'd gone deaf." Cheers, John

Blue Heron, If you really want to impress pops and do a little research on the Knappogue I can send you some more information. There were a couple of good articles done in the past that I have in written form but cannot find on-line. Let me know. In any case, if your father is a fan of Irish whiskey then he will love Knappogue and Santa might just be good to you this year. Again, happy holidays, and let me know if you would like some more information. Cheers. John

* WARNING* AVOID OPEN FLAME WHEN YOU DRINK... I have found a rum to disprove all theories that high proof spirits are only meant for starting your camp fire and other assorted, or sordid, college pyrotechnic tricks. Cadenhead's has recently completed a bottling of 36 year old single cask, cask strength rum from Demerara. For all of you rum advocates out there it is a MUST HAVE. Granted, at cask strength of 70% it has a bit of a kick. Still, 36 years in the cask have given this rum unbelievable complexity, depth, and warmth. I have to stop now or I may not be able to convince myself to put down this bottle... hic. Cheers.

No problemo, check out this link: http://www.greatspirits.com/availability/washington.html. I hope that it proves useful. If not let me know and I will contact the producers for you. Best of luck in your quest. John

To those in search of a better bubbly… I have an import company here in Germany that in the past specialized in rum. We just broadened our scope and incorporated a single champagne into the product mix, the Henri Giraud 100% Grand Cru Cuvée Fût de Chêne from Aÿ. Obviously I doubt that any of you will be ordering from here, so please don’t take my involvement with the product as bias. It is absolutely phenomenal. Why? - Henri Giraud 100% Grand Cru Cuvée Fût de Chêne from Aÿ I. Family History and Heritage of Henri Giraud Champagne ·1625 Francios Hémart settles in Aÿ and establishes vineyards. ·At the beginning of the 20th century, Léon Giraud, a soldier from the battle of Marne, marries a young Hémart lady and reconstructed the family vineyards following the war. ·Today, Claude Giraud, the 12th generation of the Giraud-Hémart family, personally oversees the production of Henri Giraud wines. ·Henri Giraud Champagne is most likely the oldest champagne house still owned and operated by the same family. II. The History and unique nature of Aÿ ·Throughout history noted as the finest region for the production of champagne. ·”Echelle des Crus”: grants each village in champagne a percentage. ·Out of 257 villages in the region only 17 are classified as true Grand Crus, 100% growth area. Aÿ is the historical and geographical heart and quality benchmark of the Grand Crus. Only pinot noir and chardonnay can be considered grand cru. ·Other super-luxury ”prestige” brands have the highest average echelle rating in their constituant wines, often not even reaching the level of Premier Cru (90 – 99% Cru rating). Familiar names such as Dom Perignon, Cristal, Krug, Roger, and others typically average about 88%! III.Exposure / Soil of Aÿ ·Aÿ is at the intesection of the three largest terroirs of the Champagne region: the marne valley, the montagne de Reims, and the côte des blancs ·Aÿ is at 49° lattitude, extreme northern limit for the cultivation of vines. ·Receives only 1700 hours of sunlight per year. ·This terrior has only about 50 cm of topsoil and over 200 meters of chalk. ·The slopes of the Giraud vineyards are the only southern facing slopes where grand cru is created. ·These harsh conditions make the vines struggle and fight for life, of course yielding much less in terms of quantity but of extraordinary quality. IV.Harvest and Production ·Aÿ is planted only with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes. There is no pinot meunier planted in Aÿ. ·All Cuvée Fût de Chêne is a blend of 70% pinot noir and 30% chardonnay. ·All grapes are hand picked. When necessary, the same vines are visited numerous times to ensure that the grapes are at the perfect level of ripeness. ·An extremely gentle press is used, applying only 900g of pressure. ·An air bladder is inserted into the center of the press to ensure that the press is soft, and that only the choice juices from the grapes are captured. ·Whereas the industry normally uses 1,2 kg of grapes per 1 liter of juice, the Giraud system requires 1,6 kg per liter. ·The first fermentation takes place in 225 liter oak barrels during the first 12 months: Henri Giraud is one of the only Grand Cru champagnes aged in oak in the world; it is THE ONLY champagne currently aging in the Vicard oak barrels of the Argonne Forest ·Even the bottles used by Henri Giraud are unique, shaped in the form of the ancient “pomponne” glass. Information is actually etched into the glass, ·Henri Giraud is only disgorged in the very last minute before being shipped. They still use the ancient method of á la volée, or “flying disgorgment”. · Extremely limited production. V.Taste ·In selling this product we normally do blind tastings with Moët & Chandon Dom Perignon and Louis Roederer Cristal. The Giraud then sells itself, without exception to date. I wish you all the best of luck finding this product in your various markets. It has just been introduced outside of France in the past few months, so it may take some time to find. Happy hunting! John (Edited by John Moore at 9:37 am on Dec. 19, 2001)

Blue Heron, Look no further. Check out the Knappogue Castle vintage selection Irish single-malt. The 1992 vintage should still be available in stores and was awarded the Spirit of the Year award by Food & Wine magazine in 1999. Will send along more details later. Bottoms up and best of luck! John

Greetings, It just so happens that we will be importing this product into the German market next month. You may be able to find it cheaper closer to home, but let us know if you get desperate. We will only have the English Harbour versions. Hope that is helpful. Adios amigos. John

Cuban rums are obviously no problem here in Germany. They are everywhere. The problem is, of course, getting them to you there in the U.S. If you have a solution to that one then let me know what you want. Cheers. John

To clear up the product line regarding rums from Guatemala: Ron Botran Etiquetta Blanca: 3 YO molasses based white rum Ron Botran Oro: 6 YO molasses based blond rum Ron Botran Anejo: 12 YO "sugar cane honey" based gold rum Ron Zacapa Centenario: 23 YO "sugar cane honey" based nectar of the gods. Ron Zacapa Centenario X.O.: 25 YO "sugar cane honey" based nectar of the gods. In the past the folks from La Nacional produced a Ron Zacapa Centenario Edición Especial. This was essentially the standard Ron Zacapa released in extra special packaging (crystal decanter style). Then they released an extra-special X.O. millenium edition 25 year old for the year 2000. This product was so well-received that they continued the production of the X.O. product and added it to their product mix. Bottles of Especial are extremely hard to find since stocks are essentially sold out. The millenium edition 25 year old is also extraordinarily rare, and was at one time offered in a special marble case with two crystal cognac glasses. The new X.O. special edition is available here in Europe. It is a wonderful rum, as one might expect. Bottoms up! (Edited by John Moore at 5:02 am on Dec. 18, 2001)

Greetings lads. Here in Germany the Caipi has taken the market by storm. These drinks are everywhere, and unfortunately the populace of this entire nation seems duped into believing that Cachaca is a high quality spirit. The reality is that it is a poor excuse for rum. If you do want to make an excellent version of the Caipirinha, take a lime and muddle it with a few teaspoons of natural sugar. Add fresh crushed ice and a blend of your favorite white or blond rums... ta die for! I normally make mine with either Ron Botran Anejo. Yes, that is extraordinarily hedonistic, but we only live once. Ciao for now. (Edited by John Moore at 4:23 am on Dec. 18, 2001)

Hello again, A quick note about production methods in Guatemala. There is no way that technological problems caused the lack of product in the U.S. market. The facilities in Guatemala are state of the art, and La Nacional is one of the few players in the premium market that can boast total vertical and horizontal integration. They own the whole show, from production of sugar cane, distillation, right through to the printing of labels. They also have one of the largest reserves of "high aged" rum in the world. I am quite sure that the current situation in the U.S. is only a temporary one. For anyone that is REALLY desperate for the rum (which I can understand... it is fantastic stuff!), I will send special orders from Germany to get you all through until Zacapa is available from your local retailers. Hope that helps. Ciao for now.

Greetings to all, I am the German importer of Ron Zacapa and Ron Botran. I had the unique pleasure of seeing Ron Zaya go into the bottle in Guatemala. It is an outstanding rum that pulls a great deal of its character from its Ron Zacapa roots. If someone there manages to get a bottle please send it my way.