The airports themselves continue to fight against an edict issued on November 1, 2016, barring flights from outside the Schengen Area from landing at a number of small airports in France, including St Tropez. The decision was taken by the French government to reduce policeman hours.
Customs and police officials were withdrawn from a total of 13 small, but important, airports that lost their precious PPF status (point de passage frontalier). Critics of the move say that significant revenue is being lost, with repercussions for employment, principally in the tourism sector, as private flights are being turned away. In particular, flights from Russia and the Arab states have been affected.
Furthermore, the move was made without prior consultation and in contrast with the government’s frequent declarations of wanting a more inclusive decision-making process, critics say.
The affected airports are: Montbéliard, Besançon, Metz, Annemasse, Agen, Vichy, La Roche sur Yon, Nevers, Lannion, Abbeville, and Amiens, and two within the Var region, St Tropez and Le Castellet.
The fact that the international migrant crisis is still with us at the end of 2016 was tragically underlined on Friday when a refugee in his twenties was killed by a TER train as he walked along the tracks from Ventimiglia towards the French border, Italian media reported.
The driver of the train didn’t see the man, who according to passengers was walking in a group through one of the tunnels on the route.
Monaco Foodie: Whisky and The Art of Blending Liquid Sunshine
“Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough.”
It’s a rare thing that draws Mark Twain and Ava Gardner into alignment, but a love of whisky does just that. From tax wars and rebellions to prohibition, few drinks have had such a turbulent history. Whisky or whiskey: even its name is fought over. The battle for global preeminence is waged by whisky superpowers on either side of the Atlantic, while other whisky-producing nations struggle with international appeal: anyone for Taiwanese whisky? Yet nothing quite compares with a good Scotch, especially in Monte-Carlo, where our Prince’s roots are inextricably tied to the Lairds.
Good whisky is a question not only of provenance, but also production. Single malts vie with blended whisky; single grains scorn blended grains. Yet a lot of the nuances of whisky production are lost behind advertising billboards that sell brands above production methods. My own introduction to whisky came at a whisky-fuelled Burns Night at Cambridge University where we toasted the haggis with barrelfuls of blended whisky.
Since then, I have muddled through the barrage of confusing terms in the whisky puzzle. I gradually pieced together the pecking order of malt and grain whisky: from cheaper grain whisky produced through column stills on an industrial scale to artisanal malt whisky with its pot-still production delivering more nuanced flavours and higher prices. I discovered that single grains confusingly use multiple grains (such as corn, rye and wheat are mixed with unmalted barley) as the term “single” refers to the distillery rather than the grain. Likewise single malts are marriages of malted barley from different vats and years within a single distillery. Another jigsaw piece arrived in the realisation that all whisky is a blend except for rare single-barrel whisky. It’s just that the whisky industry prefer to use vague terms like “marrying” and “vatting” rather than “blending” because they want to differentiate single distillery whisky from the mass market of blended whisky that combines whisky from multiple distilleries.
Years of whisky tasting later, I still feel like a beginner. So I read with excitement of this week’s Monte Carlo Whisky Festival where whisky beginners and experts mingle in a three-day schedule of Scotch tastings and dinners hosted by Monaco-based La Maison d’Ecosse. In celebration of the event, festival founder Anita di Sotto has kindly rounded up some of her Scotch global brand ambassadors and expert members of the Monte-Carlo Whisky Society to help me upon my quest to become a whisky expert.
My first question to this impressive panel is whether single malt always trumps blended whisky. Blended whisky accounts for 90 percent of Scotch whisky sales through brands such as Johnnie Walker, J&B and Chivas Regal, yet single malt brings in 25 percent of revenue. Master of the Quaich, Charles Maclean puts the historical perspective as he explains that malt whisky is the original Scotch that was eclipsed by the more consistent and accessible blended Scotch during the 1890s. In those days, only one percent of malt whisky was bottled as single malt, whereas nowadays it’s increased to ten percent. Maclean says: “Malt is not better than blend, just different by design” with blends better for long drinks and single malt best enjoyed neat. As global ambassador for The Glenrothes, Ronnie Cox aptly sums up: “Blends are for drinkers, single malts for thinkers.”
Next we delve into the influences of casking upon whisky flavours. Multiple factors influence the taste from the predecessor liquid (such as sherry or Bourbon); the cask size; the level of charring and the use of mellow American versus spicy European oak casks. Cox favours second-fill casks that are at their most active since third-fill casks can take more than 30 years to mature. Global ambassador for The Balvenie, Sam Simmons, believes that single malts show their distillery style best in American oak, while Maclean concurs that his favourite casking formula is an ex-sherry, American oak cask.
Finally we address the conundrum of age. What began decades ago as a marketing ploy to shift excess inventory has become so successful that there is now a shortage of vintage whisky. While Cox believes that “provenance is much more important”, Simmons observes that certain complexities that cannot be imparted to a whisky without great lengths of time exposed to oak and oxygen, slowly maturing and losing a share to the angels after years and years in cask.
“There are no guarantees, but older whisky is more rare, more expensive and, if we’re lucky, mind-blowing and unrepeatable,” says Simmons.
What is guaranteed is that, with 50-year-old Scotch selling for up to £20,000 per bottle, the rare whisky market has become a cash cow. So it’s no surprise that investors are queuing up for Thursday evening’s festival auction at the Oceanographic Museum of the limited edition of 180 bottles of The Glenmorangie Rare Single Cask from The Grimaldi Collection. This collection of 10 rare, single-barrel malt whiskies has been hand-selected by Prince Albert who roamed the corners of Scotland from Speyside to the Isle of Skye to find his perfect whisky.
With the lofty Grimaldi collection out of my journalistic price range, I shall content myself with a wee dram of single malt at home by the fire as I reflect upon the puzzling art of blending liquid sunshine*. In Simmons’ words:
“Whisky is such an enigma, from three simple ingredients and the mysterious influences of oak come infinite variability.”
The Monte Carlo Whisky Festival is on until 6th November with prices ranging from €20-€8,000. Hotel Métropole has a Tasting Room open daily during the festival from 11am til late. Visit mcwhiskyfestival.com for tickets and information.
*George Bernard Shaw: “Whisky is liquid sunshine”.
On Saturday, November 5, HSH Prince Albert II attended the presentation of the new electric-bike station installed at the Palace Square.
Monaco’s environmentally friendly bike scheme, a joint initiative developed by the Government of Monaco and the Monaco Bus Company (CAM) launched in 2010, now has 82 bikes and 13 charging stations across the Principality, with three more stations to be opened by the end of the year.
Ms Marie-Pierre Gramaglia, Minister of Public Works, the Environment and Urban Development, Colonel Luc Fringant, Senior Commander of the Police Force, and Mr Roland De Rechniewski, CAM’s COO, also braved the rainy weather Saturday morning to be on hand for the launch.
Mr Werner Peyer has been Managing Director of the Compagnie Monégasque de Banque since 2010.
For eight years the magazines Private “Wealth Management” and “The Banker” in collaboration with Financial Times organise “The global Private Banking Awards”. The awards recognise the Best Private bank for each category and receive over 170 submissions from over 63 countries.
The financial institutions were judged by a prestigious, international and independent jury that consisted of 14 various well known consulting firms and experts in the financial sector, including Seb Dovey, Partner, Scorpio Partnership, based in London, UK, Julia Leong, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers, based in Singapore, and, based in Geneva, Switzerland, Shelby du Pasquier, Partner, Head of Banking and Finance Group, Lenz & Staehelin.
Private Banks were evaluated on the progress they made in their growth strategy and how they were able to boost inflows and profits, as well on client relationship management and adaptation of service offerings to meet ever changing needs of investors.
The award was officially announced on Wednesday October 26, 2016, in the festive setting of the awards gala dinner held in London at the Four Seasons Hotel: CMB stands out and brings home the award for Best Private Bank in Monaco.
“We are particularly proud and delighted to have been granted this award,” stated Werner Peyer, CEO of Compagnie Monégasque de Banque. “It is the fruit of our labour and our commitment to always put the value of our clients first.”
CMB, the Monegasque private bank is deeply rooted in the Principality since 1976 and specialises in investment advice. The bank, which saw its net income last year rise 13% over 2014 to reach €49.3 million, offers a diversified range of tailor-made products and services: Asset & Wealth management and Financing adapted to the specific needs of each investor.
Because of the long-term relationships with its clients, a highly skilled workforce, but foremost thanks to the trust their clients place in CMB, the bank has been able to reach €10 billion of Assets Under Management to date.
Article first published October 27, 2016.
Intent to pay or not to pay? That is the court’s question
A citizen of the Netherlands with a fondness for the highlife in Monaco has appeared at the Monaco Criminal Court accused of not paying his restaurant bill.
On November 15, the 33-year-old visitor ran up a large bill at the Café de Paris for food and drink, including cold dishes, lobster, champagne and premium whisky. The bill was €665, which he could not pay. The defendant told the court that he wanted to go to the Consulate of the Netherlands to ask for money. He became agitated and was taken to Princess Grace Hospital.
The court heard that four days previously he had been unable to pay a bill of €1,280 at the Hermitage, which included Cristal Roederer for €800. He will be ordered back to court for a further hearing for the earlier offences.
Arguing that it was not clear if the defendant had been unable to pay or had refused to pay, his lawyer called for an acquittal. “He had only drunk too much,” the lawyer said.
The court sentenced the accused to 15 days in prison.
