Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/898117
14 / the tasting panel / november 2017 INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT P acific Highway Wines & Spirits recently announced a strategic partnership with international vintner Alejandro P. Bulgheroni. A collection of seven brands, previously managed in the U.S. market by Blends, will migrate to Pacific Highway Wines & Spirits for importation, sales, and marketing representation effective immedi- ately. The Blends sales team will step into expanded roles under the leadership of Pacific Highway President Mark Giordano. Bulgheroni, a native Argentinian who participates in more than 15 wine estates across four conti- nents, is using Blends to facilitate the importation and representation of his wines in the U.S. After consecutive years of portfolio growth, it was decided to merge the sales and marketing business to allow for additional growth for the following brands: Garzón from Uruguay, Vistalba, Tomero, and Argento from Argentina, Château Suau from Bordeaux, and Renwood and The Cleaver from Amador County, California. Importing and selling Argento in the Australian market with the Oatley family wine business established a positive relation- ship that set the stage for the announcement of the new partnership. "I'm thankful to the Blends team for their great work and am confident that this strategic partnership will result in driving future growth in the U.S. market," says Bulgheroni. "We look forward to working closely with the Giesens and to continuing our work with the Oatleys." Oatley, Giesen, and Bulgheroni Families Join Forces in the U.S. Market A uthor and The Tasting Panel Contributing Editor Ian Buxton has distilled nearly 30 years of expe- rience in the whisky industry into his new book Whiskies Galore: A Tour of Scotland's Island Distilleries ($23.99 hardback). Released in the U.K. in September, Whiskies Galore leads readers on a personal journey through Scotland's islands in a clockwise sweep from Arran to Orkney and details Buxton's own experiences through anecdotes like learning to fish with high explo- sives, trying very hard not to buy a distillery, and coming face to face with a basking shark. Island whiskies hold a fascination and a powerful emotional draw for whisky drinkers the world over, yet there have been few books published about island whisky and none written in recent years. On that basis alone, Whiskies Galore is not your aver- age whisky book, but it also avoids falling into the familiar trap of merely cataloguing distilleries or assembling a series of tasting notes. Instead, Buxton balances meticulous detail, encyclopedic knowledge, and plentiful humor to highlight these distinctive whiskies that are often imitated but seldom bettered. "There is something special about Scotland's islands—and something special, too, about this fascinating book about their distilleries and the whiskies they produce," says award-winning author Alexander McCall Smith. "Ian Buxton leads us on a remark- able journey around the islands, musing on the history and character of their whisky-making. Enthusiasts for whisky will delight in this engagingly written book, but so will others who love the islands. All in all, this is the real thing—a single malt of a book." Whiskies Galore will be available for sale in the U.S. January 1, 2018. It joins a number of books penned by Buxton, including the bestselling 101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die and 101 Gins to Try Before You Die. For more information on Whiskies Galore, visit www.birlinn.co.uk. Ian Buxton Takes Readers on a Scotland Distillery Tour with Whiskies Galore PHOTO COURTESY OF IAN BUXTON