Tequila debuts at Spirits of Mexico test

Several tequila brands will be unveiled at the Spirits of Mexico Festival this week in San Diego.

T-1 (Tequila Uno), El Grado Tequila, which translates as "highest grade," and Suavemente Tequila, the first brand to win gold medals for all four entries (blanco, reposado, añejo and extra añejo) in the Polished Palate's agave-only spirits competition last year.

More than 100 entries will be sampled in blind judging this week. Dori Bryant's Polished Palate events always support charity. This year's silent auction will benefit the Sky Ranch Foundation, which next year will mark 50 years of helping troubled youths.

Seminars at the Spirits of Mexico Festival this week include video presentations, cocktail-making demonstrations, and various dinners.

Bryant today announced the scheduling of a variety of events for the remainder of the year managed by her Polished Palate organization. They are:

• 8th annual NY RumFest, Astor Center, New York, October 8.

• Polished Palate Spirits Festival as part of the Latin Food & Wine Festival in Orlando, FL, November 14-15.

• The Tampa Bay Spirits Festival at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Golf Club, St. Petersburg, FL, November 28.

• The Fort Lauderdale RumFest, Bahia Mar Beach Resort & Yachting Center, Fort Lauderdale, FL, December 3.

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New gin gets a grand putdown

Back in September I wrote about Brockmans Gin, the newest spirit about to be loosed upon the bar and club scene in the UK.

I have yet to try it, since it's generally available only in the UK, but I found that a commentary from the editors of CLASS magazine, dedicated to bar culture, caught my attention more than any bottle would.

They wrote:

“In the last issue of CLASS magazine we made a decision based entirely on good will -- someone obviously caught Simon [editor Simon Difford] soon after his 4 p.m. refreshing beer. As a favour to a then-unheard-of gin company we ran a page of advertising for free as they had already paid the previous publisher. We had just got our baby back and we were feeling charitable.

"Since running the advertisement, we have had the misfortune to taste their ‘gin’ and our notes are as follows:

"The producers of Brockmans take a traditional distillate made by distilling neutral spirits with fairly classic botanicals and then (in our opinion) ruin it by cold compounding a berry essence. The result is a spirit that smells more reminiscent of boiled sweets than gin. As for the palate, if you were tasting Brockmans we very much doubt you would mistake it for a gin. Why did they add that fruit essence but not a simple apostrophe? We consider it shameful to the wider gin category to label this a gin, let alone a 'premium gin.'

"We won’t be accepting this brand’s advertisements at any price. Brockmans is barred from CLASS.”

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