Club Where Ben Hogan Learned to Play May Become a Distillery
Glen Garden Country Club, Fort Worth, where golf legends Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson learned to play, is under contract to Firestone & Robertson Distilling Co.. Firestone’s owners say they need to expand but plan to keep much of the open 106 acres, making it similar to what is seen along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail or in California wine country. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has the story, which you can read here.
William Grant Family Tops List of Scotland’s Most Rich
The Grant-Gordon family, proprietors of William Grant & Sons, owners of Glenfiddich, top the Sunday Times list of Scotland’s richest families, The Scotsman report. You can read the Scotsman’s report here.
The Times itself reports that six years after Lehman Brothers collapsed, the wealth of the 1,000 richest people in Britain today is equivalent to one-third the UK’s GDP.
You might think this would bring universal condemnation in Britain, but you’d be wrong. Here‘s Martin Vandr Weyer, writing in The Telegraph:
“The super-rich pump cash into our economy we wouldn’t otherwise have, and remind us that Britain is regarded by the rest of the world as safe, open and civilized. Indeed, if further proof were needed, today a PwC index attests that London has, for the first time, stolen New York’s crown as the world’s leading city for business, finance and culture. Of course, the super-rich also drive up property prices, leave their houses empty and annoy their neighbors by excavating basements — but we’d rather they were here than in Monaco or Dubai.
“The key point is that every generation makes its own its future and gains nothing by blaming its predecessors. There are hundreds of different ways to make a success of your life, and this list happens to measure success in millions. In a broader sense, what it tells us is that there are many thousands of examples of people who have done extraordinary things from the most unpromising of starts.”
English Distillers Recovering Whisky Tradition
English Whisky Co., Roudham, England, is in the forefront of a renaissance of local distillers that are recovering — and reinventing — a tradition that England lost more than a century ago.
To be sure, England’s whisky industry is tiny compared to Scotland’s. Still, last year English Whisky Co. sold 60,000 bottles of whisky at a higher price than similar products from Glenmorangie or Glenlivet.
Marks & Spencer, which sells the English Whisky Co.’s product for 35 pounds, or about $60, for a 700-milliliter bottle, says it is “currently outselling our premium Irish whisky and selling as much as our well-established Scottish malt whisky that we sell at the equivalent price.” The New York Times has the story here.
Md. Wineries Take Advice from France, Not Calif., Make Great Wine
Maryland’s been known for crabs and beer. But it turns out, W. Blake Gray writes in Palate Press, it can also make great wines. In an informal tasting, Black Ankle Winery‘s wine was ranked as the best.
It must be pretty good: Black Ankle’s proprietors turn down calls from tony Washinton and Baltimore restaurants looking for wine, Grey notes, even closing their tasting room for three months because they ran out of wine. Their secret, says Gray: “They got their advice from France, not California, where the only thing in common is the language.” You can read the story here.
Woman Turns Used Wine Bottles into Hummingbird Feeders
Turns out you don’t have to send wine bottles to the recycling center. The Columbia Missourian tells all here.
Former A-B VP Shares Key Principles with Grads
Measure your success by your own values, not by how others view you, Jeff Steinhart, retired vice president of engineering and environmental affairs for Anheuser-Busch Inc., told graduates of Missouri University of Science & Technology during commencement ceremonies at Missouri S&T on Friday, May 16, and Saturday, May 17. You can read the story here.
Also in Today’s Daily, For Paid Subscribers Only —
- Jury Finds A-B Didn’t Discriminate Against Former Top Female Exec
- Napa Winery Owner to Install Sprinklers
- Cedar Ridge Winery Sets $1 Million Expansion
- Alabama’s Back Forty Beer Expanding
- Idaho Brewery’s Label Takes Aim at Governor