Without a doubt, the most important story of the week was the billion-dollar purchase by Diageo of Casamigos, a tequila brand founded four years ago by George Clooney and two friends. The three amigos reportedly got $700 million up front, with another $300 million in performance incentives. The carefully crafted story of Casamigos is that the buddies couldn’t find a decent tequila and decided to make their own for home consumption---perhaps true, perhaps not. We examine different aspects of this tale, some of which should reverberate for quite a while.

Who’s drinking Japanese whisky? Apparently, a growing number of Scotch lovers. When Jim Murray named Yamakazi Single Malt Sherry Cask as the world’s best whiskey a few years back, you could hear them screaming in the Highlands. We look at three of the best introductory bottles by Suntory: Yamakazi, Hibiki and Hakusu, all twelve years old.

Finally, our weekly roundup of the web’s most interesting stories covers the expansion of Katz’s Deli, the destruction of French wineries by vandals, Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods and the introduction of robot bartenders into Las Vegas.

Here are last week’s posts:

Reflections on Casamigos, George Clooney's Billion-Dollar Tequila

Glass Half Full: 6/21/2017

Japanese Whisky