Thanks to our friends over at Small Screen Network, we discovered that the month of September is also National Bourbon Heritage Month.

National Bourbon Heritage Month is an observance in the United States that calls for celebration of bourbon as America’s “Native Spirit”. On August 2, 2007, the US Senate declared September as “National Bourbon Heritage Month.” The bill, sponsored by Republican Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky, passed by unanimous consent. (Source: Wikipedia)

In observance of National Bourbon Heritage Month, Mutineer is celebrating the history and art of distilling bourbon whisky by featuring a list of pretty rad blog posts about this amazing spirit. Continue Reading »

Gruppo Campari’s North American operations arm, Skyy Spirits is looking ahead and adding up to six staff members to its team of 92 at its San Francisco office, including senior brand managers for Wild Turkey and Cordials brands.

“We are in the unique position of being able to hire during this challenging economic environment.” — Andrea Conzonato, Skyy Spirits Chief Operating/Chief Marketing Officer. “We are actively looking to fill rewarding positions that support not only our growing portfolio, but also our increased on-premise and off-premise activities for our established brands.” Continue Reading »

Typically, when a product fermented from grapes goes “white” (i.e.: white zinfandel), it isn’t a good thing. This is not the case with Rémy Martin V (pronounced “vee”) — the first clear spirit from the House of Rémy Martin.

“The new spirit masterfully blends the savoir faire and the aromatic richness of the Rémy Martin House with the smoothness and mixability of a clear spirit. The finest grapes found in the heart of Rémy Martin’s vineyard are hand-selected and harvested only once a year, at the beginning of each fall. Small batches are slowly distilled in traditional copper pot stills throughout the winter, then ice-cold filtered. The eaux-de-vie is left to rest all spring in order to bring out full aromas and flavors. The finished product, the exclusively crafted Rémy Martin V, is not a cognac. Rather than aged in oak barrels – the final step in the cognac making process – the liquid goes through a proprietary 14F (-10C) ice cold filtration process, giving it is brilliant transparent color, unique aroma and subtle taste with hints of pear and fresh mint.” Continue Reading »

Left to Right: Willie Ramos (judge), Joe Fairchild (planning committee), and Juan Coronado (judge).

Ah, Kona, Hawaii. You may think its a sleepy little Kailua town on the big island of Hawaii. But, think again. Once a year the quiet town of Kona on the island of Hawaii gets transformed into a Mai Tai mecca at the Don the Beachcomber Mai Tai Festival, sponsored by Bacardi. With top mixologist talent showing up from all across the state, and international participants and judges, this island village goes all out. For this year’s second annual crowning of the “Master of Mai Tai”, the event held at the Royal Kona Resort‘s Mai Tai Bar stepped it up a notch with an oceanside concert headlining with Third Eye Blind, food booths and a barbecue tasting contest, live music by local entertainers Henry Kapono of Cecilio and Kapono, and Eric Gilliom of Barefoot Natives, and a nice ten thousand dollar cash prize for the winner. Continue Reading »

What the world really needs is a fine beverage institute (Mutineer Academy, anyone?) where people can go and research ways to revolutionize the fine beverage industry. Case and point: Kirk Spahn + Trenton Ulicny, two American entrepreneurs that transformed a grad school project into a revolutionary fine beverage brand worth millions. But, it didn’t happen overnight.

“It took TY KU years of dedicated exploration to source the purest waters, exotic superfruits and finest teas. These exceptional ingredients are masterfully combined to create a refreshing citrus taste that proved to be well worth the efforts.” — TY KU website.

The first product they launched was TY KU Premium, a unique blend of premium Asian sake and soju with soft citrus, fresh melon, teas, and botanicals — packaged in the world’s only illuminating bottle. Yep, that’s right. The bottle actually glows. FTW! Continue Reading »

Source: OpenSecrets.Org

There is currently a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would give states more authority to regulate alcohol, which in turn would block interstate sales of beer and wine.

“The Comprehensive Alcohol Regulatory Effectiveness Act of 2010 would declare it congressional policy that states have primary authority to regulate alcohol. The legislation, filed in April, has 125 co-sponsors in the House, though no companion bill has been filed in the Senate.” — Carrie Levine, The National Law Journal.

Naturally, putting such a squeeze on the open market would limit competition, raise prices, and economically impair small vintners and brewers. Continue Reading »

Professor Martin Tangney, Director of the Biofuel Research Centre — Photo: REUTERS

Captain Whiskey, he’s our hero… gonna take pollution down to zero…

As if whiskey wasn’t already awesome enough, scientists at Edinburgh Napier University have discovered a way to turn by-products of whiskey production into butanol biofuel. Like ethanol, butonal can be used as an alternative automobile fuel source. The scientists claim that butanol is superior to ethanol, with a 30 percent greater efficiency and power output. It can also be introduced to unmodified engines, unlike ethanol which requires engine modification. Continue Reading »

The mission of Mutineer Monday is to advocate and promote the fine beverage industry by challenging the masses to “Join The Mutiny” and raise a glass (whether it be alcohol or non) to igniting and inspiring a fine beverage revolution!

Each week, we reach out to our readers, our Twitter followers, our Facebook fans, our contributors, our favorite bloggers and writers, and even our own team — asking everyone to share how they will be partaking in Mutineer Monday. To participate, all one needs to do is indulge in a delicious fine beverage (or two or three) and leave a comment on our blog, on our Facebook wall, or give a shout-out on Twitter using the hashtag #MutineerMonday (and #JoinTheMutiny if you have enough characters). And if are feeling particularly ambitious, feel free to do all three!

Each Monday, Mutineer salutes some of our fellow fine beverage revolutionaries who have joined the mutiny. Raise a glass (and a fist) in the air and toast them with us! Viva La Fine Beverage! Continue Reading »