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Whisky. Is there anything it can’t do? Here’s what the Scots are going to do with the byproducts of whisky-making process:
It is the spirit that powers the Scottish economy, and now whisky is to be used to create electricity for homes in a new bioenergy venture involving some of Scotland’s best-known distilleries.
Contracts have recently been awarded for the construction of a biomass combined heat and power plant at Rothes in Speyside that by 2013 will use the by-products of the whisky-making process for energy production.
Vast amounts of "draff", the spent grains used in the distilling process, and pot ale, a residue from the copper stills, are produced by the whisky industry each year and are usually transported off-site. The Rothes project, a joint venture between Helius Energy and the Combination of Rothes Distillers (CoRD) will burn the draff with woodchips to generate enough electricity to supply 9,000 homes. It will be supplied by Aalborg Energie Technick, a danish engineering company. The pot ale will be made into a concentrated organic fertiliser and an animal feed for use by local farmers.
Sure gives a new spin on "drunk with power," doesn’t it? Link via GOOD
People look at you funny if you raise a whole bottle of whisky to your lips. That’s why this canned whisky is a more discreet and thus superior option:
A Panama-based company believes outdoor drinkers would prefer to crack open a tin rather than lug round a bottle of their favourite tipple.
Now bosses at Scottish Spirits – which retains an office in Glasgow – is testing out the novelty on its Caribbean and South American markets.[...]
Scottish Spirits launched the tins last week, the first time straight whisky has been sold in a can.
Chief executive Manish Panshal said: ‘We are really thrilled with the idea – it’s going to be a part of every lifestyle and occasion.
Link via Geekosystem | Photo: Daily Mail
Distilling whisky results in waste products, namely pot ale left in the copper stills and spent grains. Scottish scientists have now developed a means to convert this waste matter into a useful biofuel:
It can be used in conventional cars without adapting their engines. The team also said it could be used to fuel planes and as the basis for chemicals such as acetone, an important solvent.
The new method developed by the team produces butanol, which gives 30% more power output than the traditional biofuel ethanol. It is based on a 100-year-old process that was originally developed to produce butanol and acetone by fermenting sugar. The team has adapted this to use whiskey by-products as a starting point and has filed for a patent to cover the new method. It plans to create a spin-out company to commercialise the invention.
Link via TigerHawk | Photo by Flickr user mnem used under Creative Commons license
This Lalique decanter holds 1.5 liters of Macallan whisky. This rare combination recently sold at auction for about $460,000:
The Macallan, founded in 1824, is produced at a distillery near Easter Elchies House in north east Scotland’s Speyside whisky region.
The Lalique decanter was created using the “cire perdue” or “lost wax” method.
Before the auction, the whisky was taken on a 12-city “tour du monde” to build up interest and raise funds for charity: water, an organisation that provides access to clean, safe drinking water for people in developing nations.
Link via Born Rich | Photo: BBC
Previously: The Most Expensive Whiskeys in the World
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The New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust is restoring the shack used by explorer Ernest Shackleton during his Anarctic expedition of 1907-1909. In 2006 they discovered two cases of whisky, but only recently have they been able to free those crates from the ice. Then they discovered another case of whisky and two crates of brandy! Although the crates and most of the contents must remain with the historical site, a sample of the whisky will be retrieved for the distiller.
Richard Paterson, master blender at Whyte & Mackay, whose company supplied the Mackinlay’s whisky for Shackleton, described the find as “a gift from the heavens for whisky lovers”.
He added: “If the contents can be confirmed, safely extracted and analysed, the original blend may be able to be replicated. Given the original recipe no longer exists, this may open a door into history.
Link -via Arbroath, where’ll you’ll find a video report.
A group of explorers from New Zealand are traveling to a campsite of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s 1909 Antarctic expedition in the hopes of finding whiskey left behind beneath the floorboards of a shelter:
Among the supplies British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton abandoned on his unsuccessful 1909 expedition to the pole were two crates of the now extinct rare old brand of McKinlay and Co whisky.
Now Whyte & Mackay, the drinks giant that owns McKinlay and Co, has asked for a sample of the drink for a series of experiments, the Telegraph newspaper reported in London.
The New Zealanders will use special drills to free the trapped crates and rescue a bottle from the crates, discarded near the Cape Royds hut used by the Nimrod expedition, or at least draw off a sample using a syringe.
The crates were discovered in January 2006, but the bottle couldn’t be removed as they were too deeply embedded.
Link via Discover | Image: NASA
The world’s largest bottle of whiskey was unveiled yesterday in Britain:
Dru McPherson and Mike Drury made the monster malt to put the village of Tomintoul, Banffshire, on the map.
The giant 1½metre bottle holds 105.3 litres of 14-year-old Tomintoul single malt.
A German glassmaker created the 7mm thick pyrex bottle, and a massive cork was specially made to fit.
Image via flickr user Kyle May used under creative commons license. Because of very strict copyright restrictions at The Sun, I can’t show the picture of the bottle itself. But it’s at the link, and it’s huge.
Link via J-Walk Blog
