The purpose of this post is to distillate key facts about spirits. I personally use this information to challenge the current assumptions about Shopper Decision Tree of this category. Which is the right order to merchandise these subgroups? Which attributes are relevant for the Romanian shopper?
Whisk(e)y
Irish Whiskey is made in the following distilleries:
- Midleton (Jameson brand)
- Bushmills (Bushmills brand)
- Cooley
Types of Scotch Whisky:
- Single malt whisky - one whisky from one distillery, distilled from 100 percent malted barley.
- Single grain whisky - one whisky from one distillery, distilled from one grain or a mixture of grains
- Vatted or blended malt whisky - the traditional Scottish blended whisky, consisting only of single malt whiskies, which may come from more than one distillery
- Blended grain whisky - made of a mixture of grain whiskies
- Blended Scotch whisky - a blend of whiskies, commonly made of 20 to 40 percent single malt whisky plus 60 to 80 percent grain whisky
Well-known Scotch Whisky brands: Johnnie Walker, Ballantine's, Famous Grouse, Dewar's, Glenfiddich.
American Whisky:
- Bourbon Whiskey (Jim Beam brand)
- Tennessee Whiskey (Jack Daniel's brand)
Gin
Types of Gin:
- London dry gin - Bombay, Bombay Sapphire, Beefeater
- Holland gin (jenevre)
- German gin (steinhager)
Vodka (Wodka)
- Ultra-premium brands - Belvedere, Grey Goose
- Premium brands - Absolut, Wyborowa
- Medium brands - Finlandia, Stolichnaya
- Value brands - Smirnoff
Tequila - spirit from agave (aka maguey).
Types of North America beverages:
- pulque - made before the arrival of Europeans
- mezcal - strong wine made by invading Spanish
- Tequila - distilled spirit
Aging the Tequila:
- Blaco (silver) - un-aged Tequila
- Joven (gold) aka suave, abocado - un-aged Tequila with flavours
- Reposado (aged) - stored in barrels from 2 to 12 months
- Anejo (vintage aged) - aged in barrels for three years
- Extra Anejo (ultra aged) - aged in barrels for minimum 4 years
Rum - spirit made from sugar cane.
Aged rum:
- silver rum (white rum)
- light rum (golden rum) - aged minimum one year
- dark rum (reposado) - agen minimum three years.
Arak is a beverage made from sugar cane popular in Middle East, Central & Southern Asia.
Caipirinha - Brazilian cocktail made up from sugar, lime juice and cachaca (medium-bodied cane-juice).
Brandy
Types of brandy:
- wine brandy
- fruit brandy
- pomace brandy
- grappa, bagaceira - in Italy
- aguardiente, ourip - in Spain
- marc, eau-de-vie - in France
- dop - in Netherlands
- Testerschapps - in Germany
French brandy:
- Cognac
- Armagnac
- Calvados
Regional types of brandy:
- grappa in Italy
- slivovitz in Poland
- metaxa in Greece
- pisco in Peru
- vinars in Romania
Another popular Greek spirit is Ouzo, which is similar to Absinthe. It’s a brandy-based wine flavored with anise that turns milky white when water is added.
Liqueurs
Absinthe - made from wormwood
Amarula - made from tree fruit
Cointreau - primary flavour being orange
Irish Mist - made from whiskey
Jagermeister - made from licorice
Kahlua - made from coffee
Limoncello - made from lemon
Curacao - made from orange
Triple Sec - primary flavour being orange
Sambucca - elder bush
Amaretto - from pits and kernels
Campari - best known bitter
Zwack - Hungarian bitter
