FEW pleasures are greater than the joy of discovering the novelties that the worlds booze makers are inventing for tipplers looking for a change of palate. My Net trawls keep taking me to websites that grab my attention and just dont let go. I had just that kind of experience when I landed at World Duty Free and clicked on the New spirits button. and what an amazing world of discovery it turned out to be!

I was first drawn by the Chase Marmalade—a potato vodka made in Herefordshire, uK, and flavoured just like (what else?) the English breakfast staple. The mildly sunset-hued vodka is infused with seville oranges and is good enough to be drunk on the rocks or made into a Breakfast Martini. Invented by the creative bartender salvatore Calabrese in 2000, at the library Bar at londons lanesborough Hotel, its a gin martini with marmalade, orange liqueur, and lemon juice in place of vermouth.

Next on my list of discoveries was Baileys Biscoti, which has the taste of double-baked Italian biscuits. I love biscoti, and I am sure Ill like this one more than the Baileys with hazelnut flavour, which has become so commonplace that I strongly feel it should be limited to coffee and not the famous Irish cream liqueur.

stolichnaya has rolled out Elit, which it insists is ‘a vodka of astonishing and unprecedented purity and smoothness, made using ‘an ancient russian technique that dates back to the Czars. Its amazing how the purveyors of booze are such unabashed royalists! For plebeians with refined taste, Bacardi has created the Oakheart, a spiced rum that is named the way it is because some of it is matured in old Bourbon oak casks. It is incidentally available only to travellers flying out of the European union. Go for it!

The other brand thats taken off at World Duty Free stores is absolut Mode, which comes with a distinctive silk label to emphasise the brands association with haute fashion, and the claim that it doesnt have any added sugar, making it the ‘purest vodka in the business. My final stop was at the icon of Jack Daniels silver select, which is hand-labelled on its neck with the unique barrel number and bottling date. The whiskey (were talking Tennessee whiskey here, hence the addition of the ‘e) is from a single barrel set apart by Jeff arnett, the Jack Daniels Master Distiller, for its unique taste. The barrel is then moved to a particular location of a particular warehouse where the whiskeys colour and taste deepen and mature an extra measure.

coffee, cocoa and tequila

super premium tequila maker patrón spirits has big plans for Birmigham international airport, which has become like sada pind for many of us. It has rolled out a new chocolate-and-coffee flavoured liqueur, reports Dfnionline.com, for the World Duty Free Group (WDFG) store at the airport. It is the only European duty-free location where you can pick up a bottle of patrón xo café dark cocoa to sip its contents on the rocks in the comfort of your home. an extension of the popular patron XO café coffee liqueur, the duty-free brand combines the much-acclaimed patron silver tequila with the prized Criollo variety of chocolate produced in the Tabasco region and coffee from the Mexican states of Veracruz and Chiapas. The liqueur, which isnt as sweet as the products in its category, comes in an eyeball-grabbing handmade glass bottle—a frosted version of the cork-closed patron tequila bottle. Have it with crushed ice, or mix it (two shots) with premium vodka (3/4th shot) and caramel syrup (one shot) to fix for yourself the cocktail named Sweet Dreams.