Earlier this year my colleague Deirdre Woollard reported that Justin Timberlake was launching a new brand of tequila dubbed 901 Silver.

The spirit is not trying to trade on his name however which does not appear on the bottle. Rather it's designed to appeal to connoisseurs looking for a fresh, modern take on tequila.

The ultra premium spirit is hand crafted in small batches using only 100% Blue Weber Agave. It's triple distilled for an ultra-smooth finish.

Timberlake and partners selected Tequilera Newton in the heart of Jalisco, Mexico to produce 901 after visiting more than 10 distilleries. Newton brings over three generations of craftsmanship and more than 60 years of experience.

Packaged in a distinctive multi-faceted bottle, the name 901 refers to both the area code for Timberlake's hometown of Memphis as well as the magic moment when the night's activities begin.

901 is initially available for purchase in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and St. Louis.

Beer might be the iconic way to celebrate American Independence Day, but maybe this year, times call for something a bit stronger.

Like, how about rum? The rum category is second only to vodka in the United States, according to Tommy Bahama, makers of ultra-premium rum. So while it's not exactly fair to make a bad pun about rum being the spirit of America, you'd be far from unpatriotic if you incorporated it into your July 4th plans.

Four reasons to toast with rum this Independence Day:

1. As a spirit, rum was first distilled in the Caribbean -- most likely Barbados -- but it quickly became popular of the northern colonies in the New World. It turns out that the country's founding fathers -- among them Paul Revere, George Washington, Ben Franklin, were no different than most manly men of their time -- they knocked back a few pints of the beverage distilled from sugar cane .
2. Rum wasn't just for Revolutionary War types. From John F. Kennedy who reportedly sipped it over dinner while watching the 1960 election returns, to Ernest Hemingway, who was a big fan of the daiquiri. (Although not for Papa would be the gussied up drinkable-dessert-Slurpees of today -- in Havana, he favored the daiquiri at El Floridita, which he liked to be made with two shots of rum, lime juice, ice, no sugar, and sometimes a touch of grapefruit juice and a few drops of maraschino liqueur, writes Wayne Curtis.)
3. Like most facets of American history, rum's history is complicated. The sugar cane that was used to create the molasses which became rum was produced by Caribbean slaves who existed under brutal conditions, writes Jan Rogozinksi in a Brief History of the Caribbean. Raise a glass in tribute, and in remembrance of a time when independence was not as widespread as it is today.
   
4. Rum innovation continues strong today. The finalists for the annual drink of this year's upcoming Tale of the Cocktail festival in New Orleans were all variations on the julep - the original American cocktail. But while a julep is typically made with bourbon, the winning cocktail was the Creole Julep -- made with rum. It was created by Maksym Pazuniak, bartender at Rambla and Cure. Here's the recipe:
   
   2 1/4 oz. Cruzan Single Barrel Estate Rum
   
   1/2 oz. Clement Creole Shrubb
   
   1/4 oz. Captain Morgan 100 Rum
   
   2 dashes Fee Bros. Peach bitters
   
   2 dashes Angostura bitters
   
   8-10 mint leaves
   
   1 Demerara Sugar Cube

Modern Spirits, makers of the TRU Organic line of spirits we wrote about last fall, has introduced Fruit Lab, a collection of artisanal, 100% organic liqueurs designed to facilitate making all-organic cocktails at home and in bars. The collection - which includes Citry (orange), Crism (hibiscus) and Theia (jasmine) - complements the growing number of organic vodkas, rums, gins and tequilas on the market.

"With Fruit Lab, we set out to bring the garden to the glass with whole, organic ingredients and complete hand processing for uncompromising quality," says Melkon Khosrovian, co-founder of Modern Spirits. Named after the company's Los Angeles production facility, "The Fruit Lab," where all TRU organic spirits are crafted, Fruit Lab Liqueurs are now available for $29 per 750ml bottle.

Citry combines the familiar aromas and flavors of fresh Valencia and naval oranges with the scent of Bergamot and sour orange. Crism is a powerful balance of the sweet-sour nature of hibiscus flowers with floral aromas and tangy berry flavors. Theia is described as "like a night garden infused with flowering jasmine" and makes a great champagne cocktail.

Similar to how TRU Organic Spirits plants a tree for every bottle sold, Fruit Lab will donate a percentage of proceeds to The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation, a San Diego-based nonprofit dedicated to planting edible, fruitful trees and plants to benefit needy populations and improve the surrounding air, soil, and water.

Rap star Lucacris was in France this week debuting his new Cognac at the Vinexpo event. Ludacris arrived in style in a chauffeur-driven Bentley and posed with a bevy of beauties dressed in identical black dresses. Ludacris worked with Birkedal Hartmann, a Norwegian-owned Cognac producer to create Conjure, which will debut in Norway in July and then here in the U.S. in the fall. The Grammy-award-winning rapper says that he went to the Cognac region in France to help create the spirit. He worked with Birkedal Hartmann's master blender, Philippe Braastad Tiffon choosing more than 40 different brandies to create the blend. Decanter reports that while Cognac usually has a grade such as VO (very old) or VS (very special) on the bottle, Conjure is ungraded because it mixes several different grades. The bottle design includes a print which is composed of naked female silhouettes. The cognac will sell for $34.

The AFP reports that Ludacris added a bit of excitement to Vinexpo with some of the top names in the wine businesses lining up for autographs. Ludacris said that his favorite drink is Cognanc and Coke which makes me think this Cognac will skew to the sweet side. Birkedal Hartmann currently ships 400,000 bottles of cognac a year but with Ludacris on the team hopes to sell a million cases. Other musicians including Snoop Dogg, Swiss Beatz and Dr. Dre have also entered the Cognac business, adding interest to a drink category that has been seeing decreasing sales recently.

New York's chic and sophisticated Soho House is offering something special on their roof (right) through July 5th -- a taste of Wimbledon.

The "Wimbledon Pitcher" is sure to be a favorite among guests sunning themselves -- what a great way to pretend you care about tennis while boozing by the pool! The pitchers are also available on the 6th floor where matches will be playing, but only a hard-core fan would turn down the roof of Soho House to watch people hit things with racquets in England -- no offense, tennis-lovers.

If you're not in New York, fear not; you too can make this traditional British concoction. Here's how, courtesy of Soho House:

Wimbledon Pitcher

Drop into the pitcher:

• 5 leaves of Mint
• 4 slices Cucumber
• 2 Strawberries
• 3 wedges of Lemon
• 3 wedges of Orange Ice
• 8 oz of Pimm's

Top it off with Sprite or make it sing with gin (Hendrick's is recommended), stir, and serve. You can even watch tennis while you're drinking it, for good measure.

Bombay Sapphire, the distinctive London dry gin infused with 10 botanicals hand-selected from around the globe, has come up with a festive twist on the classic Collins cocktail in honor of Independence Day, called the Red White and Sapphire (right).

Bombay Sapphire, distilled from 100% grain neutral spirit using a recipe that actually predates the Declaration of Independence by 15 years, includes lemon peel from Spain, orris root from Italy, coriander seeds from Mexico and cassia bark from Indo-China, among others.

To make a Red White and Sapphire:

1 1⁄2 oz. Bombay Sapphire
1 oz. fresh lemon juice
3⁄4 oz. simple syrup
3-4 fresh raspberries
3 oz. club soda

Muddle raspberries with simple syrup and lemon juice in a Collins glass. Add ice, Bombay Sapphire and stir. Top with club soda. Garnish with lemon twist and a fresh raspberry. Repeat as necessary.

Dewar's Blended Scotch Whisky and Callaway Golf Company have teamed up to launch a nationwide sweepstakes and longest drive charity competition across the U.S. where each winner will win a $5,000 prize for the charity of their choice. The partnership coincides with the introduction of Callaway's Big Bertha Diablo Driver and Dewar's 18 Founder's Reserve Scotch (right).

There are three Sweepstakes Grand Prizes of a VIP Golf Experience, which include roundtrip travel for the winner and one guest to the Callaway facility in Carlsbad, California, hotel accommodations, meals, custom Callaway golf clubs professionally fitted by Callaway's experts, a Callaway golf bag and a round of golf with a Callaway-certified instructor. 10 Second Prizes of Callaway's new Big Bertha Diablo driver will also be given away.

The Dewar's and Callaway Golf Longest Drive Charity Competition event will take place in New York on June 24 as well as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Dallas, Chicago, Boston, Atlanta and Miami. Each event will also include a special Dewar's sampling to celebrate the partnership with specially-created golf-themed cocktails. More info. and entries can be found anywhere Dewar's is sold as well as online at www.dewarsproshop.com.

Rare whiskies from the different regions of Scotland were carefully selected by the brand's Master Blender for Dewar's 18 Founder's Reserve. The color is a warm, golden amber; vanilla and toffee notes dominate the palette with a mellow, soft sweetness, lingering creaminess and a full bodied oakiness, followed by a long, soft and warming finish with a slight dryness.

Last summer North Shore Distillery in Illinois tempted our taste buds with a limited edition mango gin, this year's offering is even more daring. Their Spring 2009 limited release is a Mole Poblano spirit. To create the spirit version of this chocolate-and-chili Mexican sauce they used seven types of chili peppers, cacao beans, herb and spices. The company has made just 500 bottles of their limited edition spirit. It's only available in Illinois but worth getting your hands on if you can.

[via Alcademics]

Famed Speyside distillery The Balvenie has just released the second batch of Signature, its celebratory single malt Scotch whisky, created by Balvenie Malt Master David Stewart in celebration of his 45th year in the whisky industry.

Available in in a very limited edition of 1000 cases, with a recommended retail price of $52 per bottle, the 12 year old single malt is a "skillful marriage" of three cask types - first fill bourbon barrels, refill casks and sherry butts - to create a completely unique nose and taste.

The bourbon barrels add subtle vanilla, oak and layers of honey and the refill casks impart delicate, sweet notes and smoothness, while the sherry butts bring rich fruit and spiciness, resulting in a perfect balance of all.

"It has given me great pleasure to create a signature whisky as part of The Balvenie range," says Stewart, whose signature is on every bottle. "Maturing and marrying the finest single malt Scotch whisky has been my passion for over 45 years and it's an honor to mark the moment with an addition to The Balvenie family."

Cognac buyers are still buying the expensive bottles in China. Blloomberg reports that Chinese buyers have snapped up all the available bottles of Pernod Ricard SA's Martell L'Or cognac. As I mentioned back in April, this pricey potable sells for $3,600 per bottle. The cognac, which includes eaux-de-vie dating back to 1871, was introduced in China at the end of last year. L'Or was Martell's answer to ultra-premium products available from Hennessy and Remy Martin for similar prices. The immediate status factor of a rare and old liquor contained in a crystal bottle seems to be irresistible thus far for China's newly wealthy.

Earlier we discussed the joys of Johnnie Walker as a prelude to Father's Day. Of course, some people prefer single malt Scotch to blends. The Classic Malts Selection, the world's finest portfolio of Scotch representing all of the major whisky flavor profiles, commissioned a survey to assess the drinking man's preferences both as Father's Day gift givers and receivers. Perhaps unsurprisingly, one third of respondents said they would prefer a bottle of high-end spirits to any other gift, and one in three indicated interest in gifting dad with a bottle of single malt. While men typically like to give dad a brand they know he's already fond of, one third said they would try something new if it had a similar taste and style.

Classic Malts has a new tool called the Flavor Map to help find whiskies that fit various taste profiles. You can check out www.Malts.com to view the Flavor Map and find matches. Meanwhile Classic Malts has some tantalizing suggestions. Pictured above are Glenkinchie 12-year-old ($49.99), a Lowland malt with flavors of late-summer fruits and harvest fields, young wood, malted barley and dry, sweet spice; The Singleton of Glendullan ($35.99) from Speyside, robust and sweet with notes of toasted grain, toffee, orange marmalade and brown spices; and Talisker 10-year-old ($49.99) from the Isle of Skye which with notes of dried fruit, peat smoke, barley malt and pepper.

Even when dad's not available I like to spend Father's Day with the family – the Johnnie Walker family. They have a Scotch for every occasion, and, as it happens, every dad as well, with five varieties ranging in age, complexity and exclusivity. Having tried (and tried and tried) every blended Scotch on the market over the years, I long ago settled on JW as the best; judging by the Royal Warrant on the bottle, that famous souse the Queen of England agrees. For one thing, it's the only one that's got any real peat to it, and of course we've always been fond of the "Striding Man" on the bottle; We like to think he's striding off in search of a damn drink after a long day's foxhunting, hoping the family is lined up waiting at home. Let's meet 'em:

The classic Red Label (which dates from 1906) and Black Label (1909) are old standbys, of course. We like the former with soda and the latter on the rocks. Originally known as Extra Special Old Highland Whisky in the 1800s, Red Label ($23) is a combination of 30 spicy, smoky malts, such as Talisker, and lingering, lighter grains. It has notes of clove, butterscotch, spice and vanilla, with a robust, smoky character and a warm finish.

Black Label ($34) contains as many as 40 whiskies all aged in oak casks for at least 12 years, including Talisker and Cardhu. The result is a rich combination of dry smokiness, with malt and peat overtones balanced by hints of cedar and fruit, with trademark dark chocolate and vanilla notes.

On to more recent innovations: Green, Gold and Blue Label. Green Label ($60) is actually a blend of 15-year-old Island and Speyside malt whiskies. Notes of spice, green fruit and nutmeg, are accompanied by an aroma of green apples and pears with a hint of sandalwood.

Gold Label ($85) is crafted from blend of 15 different whiskies, each aged at least 18 years. It's a very mellow Scotch, with a creamy, honeyed body and a slight caramel and vanilla nose. Some folk like to freeze it for 24 hours to release its true character as the whisky warms in the mouth.

Finally Blue Label ($220) is the ultimate luxury blend. Many of the rare whiskies come from distilleries that no longer exist, hence the pricetag. The nose has hints of smoke, sherry and fruitcake, while the body is soft and mellow with sherry, honey and vanilla notes married with peat and dark chocolate. The bee's knees.

I haven't tasted this one yet but if we are judging books by their covers and tequilas by their bottles this one might be worth checking out. DeLeon Tequila is a premium tequila in a very sexy thick glass bottle with the logo sandblasted on the front. The bottle is topped with an ornately wrought metal top, the master for which was hand-carved from a one-pound ball of sterling silver by rock 'n roll jewelry designer Bill Wall.

What's the story on what is inside? The brand says that DeLeon Tequila is produced in the highlands of Purisima del Rincon in a village named after the Immaculate Conception. The story is that a family has tended a distillery and grown agave in the soil of a mountainous region higher than 7,500 feet above sea level. They say that agave cultivated at this altitude is sweeter, with more honey, citrus, and floral notes. The water comes from two natural spring wells that exclusively serve the family's private distillery. And that's all the detail we're getting, no info on aging, barrels or the distilling process seems to be available. Currently in selected markets including New York, Las Vegas and Miami you can find a Diamante (silver) version for $129.99 and a Reposado for $142.99. The Extra Anejo is set to launch this fall.

Nothing says summer like a nice cool glass of something sparkly. Well, now you can make anything bubbly!

The SodaStream is a DIY home carbonating machine with no electrical parts, nothing too tricky or messy, and a small splurge price of around $100. The Fountain Jet Start-Up Kit, with which I had the pleasure of experimenting, is currently on sale for $89.99 (normally $139.99) -- and it's perfect for both you and your dad for Father's Day.

How it works: You get the lightweight Fountain Jet, two BPA-free bottles, and a 110-liter Carbonator which makes approximately 110 liters of seltzer. You can select from a number of flavors for sparkling water, or buy their syrups in all kinds of varieties: cola, diet cola, root beer, orange soda, diet grapefruit, tonic, and more.

You put cold water in the bottle, then the bottle and the Carbonator in the Fountain Jet, and press the button on the top to infuse the water with seltzer. Like sparkling water? You're done. If you want soda pop, you add syrup -- which I can honestly recommend; it truly tastes like root beer, cola, or whatever it says -- and you have soda pop!

Not only is it fun to make yourself, but their syrups have no high-fructose corn syrup or aspartame, and you're also doing the planet a favor by not adding cans and bottles to landfills -- and the servings come out to pennies-per-glass.

So what's luxurious about this? You can use it on anything -- turn your whites and even reds to sparkling cocktails or make the most alcoholic gin and tonic ever (by mixing a little tonic syrup into sparkling gin). Look through the gallery to see, and click here to shop for a SodaStream.

France has jumped on the organic spirits bandwagon with a new organic vodka. Laclie Alcools has created HR Organic Vodka which is said to be the first French organic vodka. It is produced in the Cognac region and made with water which isnaturally filtered over Champagne limestone and organically certified French wheat. The vodka is distilled six times and the company says that the wheat byproduct from the vodka-making process is then sold as feed to an organic dairy farm.