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The world's oldest malt whisky which costs as much as US$15,000 (yes...fifteen thousand dollars!) a bottle, has gone on sale in Scotland

The Mortlach 70-year-old Speyside was sampled by a select group of selected tasters at a ceremony in Edinburgh Castle.

Bottles of this rare piece of Scotland's 'liquid history' are now on the market. Unfortunately only 54 full-size bottles, costing US$15,000 each, and 162 smaller bottles at US$3,750 have been made available.

The whisky has been released under Gordon and MacPhail's Generations brand.

Another earthquake, this time of a magnitude of 7.2 on the richter scale, hit Chile this morning at 14.39GMT.

The quake hit as Chile was to inaugurate it´s new President Sebastian Pinera. The epicentre is reported (by the USGS) to be about 71 miles away from Valparaiso and was 22 miles deep.

At the time of writing, The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, has not issued any tsunami warnings for any areas.

 

August 27-29  (Major note for diary!) - The return one of the most important musical events of the Caribbean was announced yesterday. The President of the Dominican National Brewery (DNB), Rafael Menicucci, announced that the Latin Music Festival will be back after a 4 year pause.

Considered the biggest musical event in the Dominican Republic, Menicucci announced that this will be a great boost to both internal and external tourism of the DR. This will be the seventh time this has event will be held and its return has been demanded by the public.

The Seawinds at Punta Goleta has completed the main part of its first stage which includes 82 apartments, built on the beach with sea views from every angle.

Company executives said the apartments will be handed over to owners on March 15.

This tourism project, "Condominiun Punta Goleta Resort" has been defined by its investors as an innovative concept that is projected onto the beach with a dramatic view over the bay of Cabarete and the North Coast of the Dominican Republic.

Santiago - With welcoming arms, Dominicans will be able to embrace a return to near normal temperatures on Tuesday.

A weather system that has come down from the Canada and US over the past few days, providing some unusually chilly weather, now seems to be disappearing and a more easterly front is forecast to roll in behind it.

Temperatures have been recorded as low as 18°C in Puerto Plata, Samana and Santiago and they dipped as low as 13°C in San Juan de la Maguana. In Constanza, they even got down to 7°C causing a huge blanket of fog preventing motorists and tourists alike from desending from the top of the mountain range due to bad visibility.

Santo Domingo - Yesterday, at the Malecon in Santo Domingo, it didnt really rain...it rained Dominicans! The National Carnival Parade was held with the most diverse cultural display of more than 180 different creative themes and full of color carnival, music, history, fantasy, humor and an exuberant display of joy.

The carnival, organized by the National Folklore Committee, started just after 3:00 pm, and the sidewalks and streets leading to the malecon were filled with a lively audience.

Ok, so there are Tourist Cards to purchase here and taxes there, and taxes everywhere...

Here´s a new one..Any non US citizen travelling to the US will soon have to pay a US$10 charge to use the Esta online immigration system. A new law was recently passed by the US Senate and the vote in favor of the "Travel Promotion Act" clears the way for the creation of a new organisation to promote the US as a destination around the world.

Amhsa Marina was the favorite among hotel chains in the Dominican Republuc in 2009 in a ranking conducted by Read & Associates, whose aim was to find the most admired company by Dominicans in the past year.

The chain won first place among national and second position between 10 international hotel chains.

Luis Lopez, president of Amhsa Marina Hotels & Resorts, expressed his satisfaction with the staff that makes up the chain that provides daily delivery of excellence to their work and stressed that this is a recognition that motivates the company to continue the commitment to excellence and quality of services it offers.

Love it or hate it...Marmite made from yeast from 4 different breweries, is about to reveal its "Big Brother" or the "Mother" of all Marmites

An extra strong version of the spread is due to go on sale this month and is a result of a secret recipe matured 28 days (4 times longer than the regular Marmite)

With the extra time maturing, XO allows the already full flavored spread to intensify, creating a spread so strong and full bodied, that it can only be appreciated by the most devoted fans.

This new recipe was developed with the help of a group of Marmite fanatics calling themselves the 'Marmararti'

February 22 to March 28  - The Cap Cana Championship is back for the 3rd consecutive year and this year hopes to be even better than the previous two.

This official PGA Champions Tour event is being held at the Punta Espada signature design of Jack Nicklaus golf course. This course is already listed among the worlds finest, with even some golf magazines ranking it as the best golf course in the Caribbean and Mexico. Eight of its holes play along and over the sea and from every direction golfers can experience amazing views of the Caribbean.

Some of the players already confirmed for this years championship include - Keith Fergus (Defending champion)  Bernhard Langer,  Jay Haas, Jeff Sluman, Nick Price, Joey Sindelar, Tom Kite, Mark Wiebe, Hale Irwin, Corey Pavin, Wayne Levi, David Frost and Vicente Fernandez.

The Championship is being televised globally through the Golf Channel and subsidiaries