Guest Blogger - Jason Cretacci

Down below you find a text written by Jason Cretacci, Fine Spirits Director at Passport Wine & Spirits in Buffalo. The store has Mackmyra Whisky on their shelf.

http://www.passportwineandspirits.com/

1 & 1/2 days. That is all it took us to sell our 1st shipment of Mackmyra. Once customers got the whisky in their hands and heard the story of Mackmyra, it was an easy sale. Not only that, but we have had customers come in after hearing about the Swedish Single Malt by word-of-mouth and on Facebook. We also have already had a loyal customer come back in for a 2nd bottle after they
had drank it during the Buffalo Sabres victory and didn't during their game 6 loss! I love the vanilla crème, caramel & honey nose and the dried fruit flavor that dominates the palette, finishing with a youthful, spicy finish. This is an excellent whisky with a great story, and I am impatiently waiting for other expressions to arrive Stateside!

Good Drinks,
Jason Cretacci
Passport Wine & Spirits

Mackmyra on the shelf at Passport Wine & Spirits

Jason Cretacci with Mackmyra in his hand

Day 2 and 3 in China

Yesterday we had a lot of meetings, for example we met with the Swedish Embassady and after that with Svante at the social network P1. Svante was very kind and also joined us for dinner and later on took us to some of the local pubs and restaurants wich was really good too see because the drinking tradition is very different from the European way. We also managed to take a spontaneous meeting with Wilfred who seems to be a true entrepreneur and also the owner of the whiskybar Glen. So, it was a day full of inspiration, impressions and good contacts.

Wilfred, the owner of Glen

Today, at wednesday, we had a full schedule where we visited the LAN-club wich is a beutiful and cool nightclub that are holding lots of event, the Swedish chamber of commerce and also we hold the first Mackmyra tasting in China! We were at The single malt club and Maggie and Raymond who are the owners and arranged the tasting gave us a warm welcome. It was around 30 participator who were choosen to be the ones who tried the first Swedish whisky in China. The presentation was interpret by Maggie and it was so cool to hear the presentation in Chinese. The response was fantastic, everyone understood that Mackmyra is something very different from a traditional whisky and many of the tasters had a hugh curiosity and really enjoyed the whisky!

 

The tasting at The single malt club

Tomorrow are we leaving for Shanghai, who everyone says is really different from Beijing, and we are really looking forward to see if thats the truth...

So, thats all from Beijing for this time!

Cheers!
/Sanna

First day in China

So, finally; we are here!
We landed at nine local time after a pleasant flight from Stockholm with a lot of empty seats around us so we were able to stretch out and take a nap. That was lucky for us because we have had a first day full of meetings and new impressions.

First of all we met Anna Centerman from SWEA at Starbucks. SWEA is a good and interesting organization; they are holding lots of events and have a great way to take care and organize people who lives outside of Sweden.

 

Strengthen after the coffee and a very welcoming meeting we took a trip to a close superstore to look at the Chinese range of spirits and then went off to the center of Beijing and had two other meetings. The day ended with a traditional Beijing duck with our excellent contact at the Swedish Trade Council, Robert.

Take care!

/Sanna

China

Ready for China! The plane is leaving in two hours...




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Aquavit + Mackmyra!

The famous Swedish restaurant Aquavit in New York is the first place in US where you find Mackmyra Whisky in the bar (it’s even already on the menu). So next time you are there you know what to order.

http://www.aquavit.org/restaurant/newyork/index.asp

The Food & Beverage Manager at Aquavit John Knight with a bottle of Mackmyra in his hand 

Have a great Easter weekend. Skål!

Tasting at Ward III in New York tonight!

Drop by Ward III tonight at 8pm if you want to try some Swedish Whisky. 
Look forward to see you there.

http://nycwhisky.com/event/mackmyra-koval-ward-iii

http://www.ward3tribeca.com/

/Jonathan

The first customers in US/NY!

Pictures at the first customers from the tasting at Park Avenue Liquor in New York.  

Ni hao China!

The rest of the team is now preparing for the journey to China! We are leaving Stockholm next Sunday and will arrive to Beijing on Monday. So with Jonathan in NY, Headquarter in Stockholm and us in China we will cover the globe and will be able to work 24h a day ;)!

The visas are collected, special made business cards with our names in Chinese are printed and of course a translated front for Swedish Whisky on the media kit.
.

It also turned out that in some part in China they drink whisky mixed with green tea, just like coke and whisky, so of course we have bought a bottle to try it out...

Have a lovely weekend!

/Sanna

The first event and tasting in New York!

Yesterday we had our first official event in New York. The Swedish American Chamber of Commerce in New York hosted the event at the Charles Bank Gallery. The guest speaker was Mikael Schiller, Executive Chairman of the successful Swedish clothing brand Acne. During the evening the guests had the change to try Mackmyra and the response was great.   

Tomorrow we will have our first store tasting at Park Aveny Liquor (Madison and 42th street) between 3PM-6PM.  Drop by if you’re in town.  

http://twitter.com/ParkAveLiquor/statuses/58197067121700864

Whisky greetings

/Jonathan

Mackmyra on Manhattan!

A big step! The first bottles have now reached the US market. When one of New york finest liquor shop, Park Avenue Liquor opens today is Mackmyra on the shelf! Even if you not live in New York you will be able to get a bottle trough Park Avenue Liquors online/shipping service. http://www.parkaveliquor.com/

I will now look for more stores and restaurants in New York that want to carry Swedish Whisky. Please contact me if you know any places that you think should have Mackmyra in their assortment.

Watch out here we come!






























Whiskygreetings
Jonathan

Back in Stockholm

So, we are back in the office, well at least me and Rikard, Jonathan is now working Manhattans streets, looking for good cooperations and interesting partners. You will hear more from him soon! 

We had a really good week, first four days in Canada, three of them in Toronto and one i Montreal. We had a lot of meetings with different potential partners. We also visited three of LCBO´s stores (the monopoly in Toronto) and they are amazing! First of all, its not like in Sweden where you cant advertise or "encourage" drinking. In Toronto they have their own newspaper, with a lot of ads and articles about special brands! But best of all, they have tasting areas. They select some of the more expensive products (and new products as well) and offer you to buy a taste! So they have like a bar in the store. You can only taste two different products and only a very small amount. It's great if you dont want to spend lots of money on something you actually dont know if you would like. 

On friday we said farewell to Canada and took off to New York. We arrived quite late so the first night was calm. The day after we had a lovely brunsch with our mentor, Steve Trygg (who also is guestwriter in this blog) at the Time Warner buildning with a spectacular view! He know how New York works and what you should and shouldnt so we are very grateful for his support and help!

On sunday got Jonathan access to the apartment where he will be staying for the coming months so we went there and took a look and then Rikard and I went to the airport for the long journey home while Jonathan started to unpack and settle.

What a journey - so much impressions, relations and new knowledge!

 

New York, New York

Yesterday we arrived to the city that never sleeps... We had a perfect landing at LaGuardia, flying over the city and the river, imagining that every little light in the buildings had a Mackmyra... ;)

It has been an intense week in Canada, full of meetings with interesting companys, a daytour to Montreal, lots of impressions and toughts to sort out. It seems that Canada has a lot in common with Sweden, both has the monopoly (in Canada its LCBO and SAQ) its about the same climate and nature and both countries are big whiskydrinkers!


This weekend in New York will be a little less booked with meetings, we will have brunsch with Steve, our mentor, and assure that Jonathan is sattled.

Here's some photos from our tour, enjoy!



CN Tower in Toronto




Times Square, NY

All the best,
Sanna