When you think of Vodka, you may think principle ingredients would be grain or potatoes. You would, mostly, be right.
However, you may be lucky enough to come across Ciroc vodka, a luxury vodka made from grapes. The use of grapes is instantly obvious. The result is a fresh, crisp, aromatic vodka with a hint of citrus and a smooth after taste.
In Fact, If you are a vodka fan, You really need to get hold of this very special spirit, this grape vodka. 5 times distilled to give that extra smoothness.
The French grapes used benefit from long warm autumn days with cool nights providing an extended ripening season, enabling the development of complex aromatic flavours and the necessary level of acidity.
The grapes are left on the vine until they are overly ripe. After harvesting the grapes are sent to temperature-controlled cellars where they undergo a cold maceration, cold fermentation, and cold storage processes, until recently only practised by fine wine producers, which preserves the distinctive freshness and extracts a more flavourful fruit character.
You can track down this fantastic premium vodka at thewhiskyexchange.com. It retails for £39.95 for 1 litre.
To really go to town with Ciroc, you should consider a night out at Bond nightclub in Soho. Bond (formerly known as 24) is an uber chic club and private hire event space set in a stylish pocket of Soho.
The most technologically advanced and cutting edge club in Europe, 24 events at Bond in association with Cîroc vodka has installed new technology to give you an utterly unique clubbing and events experience.
2 interactive booths with touch screen messaging facilitys allow users the ultimate night out. Order a cocktail containing Ciroc, or a bottle of Ciroc and the whole club will know about it due to the animation show across the club’s wall to wall projection screens and 1,000 lighting colour combinations. This is, after all, a drink to be proud of!
The booths also feature a messaging application on the digital screen to send a virtual drink to another person in the club. You can also use the touch-screen drinks menu from which you can browse a selection of delicious Cîroc based cocktails to treat yourself and your friends.
For the chance to celebrate in ultimate in VIP style, book the exclusive Cîroc-booth to enjoy your night out in the comfort of seclusion and exclusivity. You’ll also have your own personal photographer who will take photos of your night out, which will appear on the screensavers of the clubs iBar units, giving you real celebrity status!
Puerh is a compressed, post-fermented green tea that is grown and processed only in the Mekong river area of Yunnan Province in China. Puerh leaves are processed into Raw or Green (Sheng) and Cooked or Black (Shou) puerh.
Puerh is worthy of the attention of the true Lussorian as aged examples are the most coveted of all tea types. This is one of the few teas that improves with age, and 40 or 50 year old examples can fetch enormous prices. Puerh collectors buy the tea as an investment and trade in it as a commodity. 2003-4 a ‘Puerh bubble’ pushed prices up to stratospheric levels and sparked widespread counterfeiting. Teas from this period are still regarded with suspicion. Despite the controversy, the market for fine puerh remains robust: in 2009 two kilos of aged puerh were sold at auction for $160,000.
The best quality aged Puerhs can be infused up to 60 times to produce an astonishing range of subtle and complex flavours, ranging from earthy and musty to sweet and fruity. For this reason, Puerh inspires widespread devotion among aficionados and has suffered from almost equally devoted counterfeiting by unscrupulous producers. However, today it is possible to enjoy authentic and reasonably-priced Puerh. The golden rule is to buy from a reliable source. One such is cantonteaco.com.
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Posted by Paul Handley on Mon 19th July 2010 at 08:08 AM, Filed in Luxury Drinks
Maybe you wouldn’t think that there is a place for beer in Lussorian’s pages, but I have to make an exception for a most remarkable brew. Kirin Ichiban is made by the unique “Ichiban Shibori Process”, which is the simple reason it stands out from the crowd in the beer world.
Ichiban Shibori, or ‘First Press’, is the unique, uncompromising process by which this legendary Japanese beer is made from a single first pressing of the finest ingredients giving you the purest beer every time.
Other beers, brewed by less exacting methods, are pressed and repressed. Kirin Ichiban is crisper, richer and purer - because it is pressed once using only the sweet liquid from a single pressing of the finest ingredients, which contains less bitter-tasting tannins.
If you consider the similarities with this process and that of Extra Virgin Olive Oil - compared to a standard Olive Oil, you may come close to understanding why this is such a superior lager.
With its mild, pure and well balanced taste, Kirin will always go down well with Japanese food like sushi, sashimi and tempura. It is also the perfect combination with all kinds of Oriental and European food, truly a cosmopolitan taste.
The secret is serving it cold, my preference would be in a ½ pint glass. I said serve cold, I meant it – really cold. What you get is the cleanest, freshest lager you have tasted. Because of it’s purity, it also seems to cleanse the palate. This is like a fabulous lager sorbet!
It is ridiculously (dangerously?!) easy to drink. The light, mild flavours make this a perfectly refreshing summer lager. It caused a sensational boom when launched in Japan in 1990 and is still one of the best selling Japanese beer brands.
Kirin Ichiban can be ordered from www.beersofeurope.co.uk with a welcome rrp of £1.39 per bottle or £32.36 for case of 24 bottles (330ml). Or Kirin Ichiban can be bought in your local Slug & Lettuce or Wagamama restaurants, plus lots of other high end bars nationwide.
Please always enjoy alcohol responsibly.
Posted by Paul Handley on Fri 9th July 2010 at 08:33 AM, Filed in Luxury Drinks
Chivas Brothers created the rather special Royal Salute Whisky in 1953 to mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The partnership between Royalty and this luxury whisky has continued right up to present day.
The Royal Salute Whisky has had four guardians, four master blenders, since the Coronation. These four men, trained in the art of tasting, studying and immersed in the craft of whisky making have ensured The Royal Salute is as special today as it was back then.
Royal Salute is the only permanent whisky range aged 21 years and older, making it the world’s leading luxury whisky range. Uniquely 62 Gun Salute is the only permanent blend to include whiskies aged 40 years and above.
The Royal Salute 62 Gun Salute is a tribute to these four master blenders, embracing years of expertise, passion and pride for creating the ultimate in luxury Scotch.
Due to the handcrafted nature of the decanter and the time it takes to produce each individual bottle, Royal Salute 62 Gun Salute will go on sale throughout the world from January 2011
62 Gun Salute Whisky is also a tribute to the Queen’s Birthday celebrations. Continuing the tradition of honouring the monarch by adopting the name ’62 Gun Salute’ is a lovely touch, completely in keeping with this luxury brand.
The new blend will be released in limited supply due to its extraordinary rarity and presented in an exquisite hand crafted crystal decanter, decorated in 24 carat gold and crowned with a cut crystal stopper. The finest looking whisky bottle is filled with what could be the finest whisky!
Naturally such a prestigious whisky will be very rare and limited in supply. However, it will be made available for exclusive outlets world-wide on a permanent basis, as the permanent pinnacle of the ultimate in Scotch whisky.
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After a recent visit to a friends wedding in Dinard I was suffering post Brittany blues, so a friend recommended I check out a little corner of France in Farringdon: the East side Inn.
Bjorn and Justine van der Horst launched the restaurant just over a year ago. The husband wife team promised to serve top- notch food in a warm and friendly environment and the plan must have worked, they’ve since been a roaring success. Devoid of pretension the open plan interior has chefs and guests breathing the same air, the passion and dedication of Bjorn’s team can be watched first hand which has an oddly calming effect - or perhaps that’s the wine working it’s magic…
The Eastside has a fantastic in house Sommelier, Thierry Sauvanot, who chooses all the vintages from small producers. The wine list is one created with time and much care.
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