You can't take it with you, so you might as well drink it down by the dram. Lyle Shellenberg made a special trip to Hillsdale Liquor in Portland, Oregon to make one extravagant purchase.

KPTV reports that Shellenberg purchased a 50-year-old bottle of Glenfiddich Scotch whisky at a price of $27,000, making him one of only 50 people in the world - and six in the United States - to own this special release.
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Contraband alcohol is believed to have sickened at least seven Arizona inmates, who are receiving antitoxins for suspected botulism poisoning, officials said Tuesday.

Pinal County communications director Heather Murphy said inmates began showing symptoms at the Arizona State Prison Complex Eyman in Florence.

Four inmates become seriously ill Saturday. By Monday, seven inmates were in intensive care, all suffering from some form of paralysis, officials said.
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Food says so much about where you’ve come from, where you’ve decided to go, and the lessons you’ve learned. It’s geography, politics, tradition, belief and so much more and this week, we invite you to dig in and discover the rich, ever-evolving taste of America in 2011. The week will culminate with a Secret Supper in New York City, and Eatocracy invites you to participate online starting Monday July 11th at 6:30 p.m. E.T.

Douglas Jones works at CNN International

We were at a lake in east Tennessee on U.S. Independence Day weekend when someone’s grandfather brought out three glass jars and started passing around the flavored moonshine. In these parts, it wasn’t a surprise.

We had just returned to camp and already the barbecue grills were sizzling. The coolers were open and you could hear that crisp rush of ice falling as hands pulled out more cold beers.

We were three Americans from CNN who went to Tennessee to show a group of international journalists a bit of Americana on the most American time of the year: 4th of July weekend.

Fresh out of the lake water and still drying off, our group was exhausted after a trip on the Tennessee River catching catfish with our hands. It’s a practice called catfish “noodling” or “grabbling”.
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You say Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, we say the Food, Wine and Moonshine Classic in Our Happy Place. We chat and quaff with the makers of Ole Smoky Moonshine - and somehow manage to keep all our faculties intact.
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Four Loko - no way you'd have any of that nasty stuff around. First of all, how would you? The sale of the caffeinated malt beverage has been banned in communities around the country. It's been said to cause hallucinations and blackouts, has driven a New York assemblyman to come thisclose to ralphing on camera, and plus? It's just kinda vile-tasting - like "mildly offensive...puréed gummi bears," per our associate editor.

You should not make your Christmas cookies with it.
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Because Four Loko wasn't stupid-inducing enough, the earth has belched forth 36-proof 'whipahol' - whipped cream fortified with alcohol. We can only assume the nadir of the stunt booze movement will be reached when Ke$ha actually succeeds in launching her line of grain-neutral dentifrices, but with any luck, that'll get held up in FDA approvals until the world wakes up from it collective hangover and can't for the life of it recall what a "Ke$ha" is or why anyone gives it money to make noises.

Disclaimer: No editors were harmed in the making of this blog post. ... Except maybe their egos.

In the name of journalism and science, I - or more specifically, my liver - am taking one for the team.

Wednesday afternoon, the Food and Drug Administration announced the results of its safety review of caffeinated alcohol drinks, and whether or not to ban them. The announcement came with increasing pressure after a media firestorm erupted in October because nine students at Central Washington University were hospitalized after consuming the caffeinated alcoholic beverage, Four Loko.

According to the the CNN Wire Staff:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration told the manufacturers of seven caffeinated alcoholic beverages Wednesday that their drinks are a "public health concern" and can't stay on the market in their current form.

"FDA does not find support for the claim that the addition of caffeine to these alcoholic beverages is 'generally recognized as safe,' which is the legal standard," Sharfstein told reporters. "To the contrary, there is evidence that the combinations of caffeine and alcohol in these products pose a public health concern."

Thus far, Michigan, Oklahoma, New York, Washington and Utah have taken action to remove the drink from state stores. Eatocracy's own home base of New York will stop receiving shipments of the controversial "blackout in a can" on December 10.

With the impending Food and Drug Administration ban, Phusion Products, the beverage company behind Four Loko released the following statement late Tuesday evening:

Phusion Projects today announced the company’s intent to reformulate its products to remove caffeine, guarana and taurine nationwide, saying it has taken the necessary steps to do so and is informing its employees and distributors of the plans. Going forward, Phusion will produce only non-caffeinated versions of Four Loko.

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