The week in pictures
Last weekend, Bacardi unveiled its latest Halloween effort, an immersive haunted house called “Nocturnal Awakening” in collaboration with Kenzo Digital. Staged inside a party at Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York, the haunted house installation was constructed in just three days and drew roughly 400 attendees including famous faces like Emily Ratajkowski, Alicia Keys and Baz Luhrmann.
The final of Eden Mill’s cocktail competition took place in Hong Kong last week, which saw over 40 of Asia’s top bartenders compete to be crowned reigning champion for their innovative cocktail creations. The winner – Rai Amrit from Artesian Bar, Langham – won the final with his Spiced Thai Royale cocktail created using Eden Mill’s Oak Gin, homemade Thai Sour Mix, lime juice, lemongrass and Thai chilli flavours.
Stuart Binks of Victory Mansion in Dalston, London, has won the Jefferson’s barrel aged cocktail competition with his original creation Trey’s Cup of Coffee. Expanded into a bigger format in this second year, the heats involved 30 entries from the Midlands, Scotland and London, culminating in the grand final at Nola in London on Monday. Stuart will be prized with a trip to the home of Jefferson’s in Louisville USA, to celebrates Jefferson’s 20th Anniversary in 2017. Stuart’s winning cocktail Trey’s Cup of Coffee contained Jefferson’s Small Batch Bourbon, Luxardo Sangue Morlacco cherry liqueur, Heering coffee liqueur, allspice sugar syrup, Angostura bitters and homemade tonto (allspice) bitters.
Arbikie took centre stage in Washington, DC at a recent White House Historical Association event celebrating the 2016 Official White House Christmas Ornament, which honours the 31st US president Herbert Hoover. The evening cigar event featured two Arbikie cocktails highlighting the company’s signature vodka and chilli vodka. Stewart D. McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association, said: “The Arbikie signature vodka cocktails were a perfect complement to the celebratory evening. We were pleased to incorporate the family-owned Arbikie products into our event highlight President Hoover’s appreciation for cigars and the White House Christmas Ornament in his honour.”
On Wednesday, the Bloomsbury Club Bar held its first residency with The Clumsies from Greece (voted 9th in The World’s 50 Best Bars) taking over the bar until the end of the week. SB staff writer Nicola Carruthers headed to the launch night to taste their handcrafted creations including twists on a Negroni and a Mojito.
The Clumsies marked the launch of the ‘Club Residencies Project’ which will see Bloomsbury Club Bar continue to host residencies from some of the world’s greatest bars, including the first ever residency from New York’s Black Tail – from the team behind the world’s best bar The Dead Rabbit – in early 2017.
Last week, Suntory Whisky partnered with Tokimeite, to deliver an exclusive dining experience as part of London Restaurant Festival. The sixteen-course ‘Kaiseki’ menu was created especially for the occasion by Chef Murata, who holds a total of seven Michelin stars. Courses were enjoyed by all and ranged from slow cooked smoked wagyu served with mustard to grilled Scottish lobster served with truffle merengue and were accompanied by a selection of rare and refined whiskies from Suntory, including Yamazaki 18 Year Old and Hibiki 17 Year Old.
Last weekend, the Barometer International Bar Show 2016 took place in Kyiv, the biggest bar festival in Eastern Europe. Over two days, there were more than 12,000 visitors who drank 27,458 cocktails at the show. On the 30 October, the festival also hosted the regional finals of the Bacardí Legacy Global Cocktail Competition and featured 64 guest speakers including Alex Kratena, Bek Narzi, Naren Young, Erik Lorincz, Spike Marchant, Kenji Jesse, Leonardo Leuci and Peter Copland.
On Wednesday, SB‘s news, web and social editor Annie Hayes headed to the launch night of Ray’s Bar in London, Dalston’s latest haunt. The innovative cocktail menu is divided into Aperitifs, Mains and Desserts, to guide guests through their evening with a combination of short and long concoctions. Guests can also enjoy fresh pizza from Voodoo Ray’s restaurant upstairs delivered to their table. So good that it even made our pick of the hottest bar openings last month.
The Scottish Parliament hosted some of the country’s finest gin producers in an evening to toast the success of Scotland’s gin industry. The Wine and Spirit Trade Association event, sponsored by Christina McKelvie MSP, welcomed MSPs to learn more about Scotland’s rich gin history, sample gins and meet the people behind the brands. The event also represented the opportunity to present the WSTA Award for Excellence to Hendrick’s master distiller, Lesley Gracie (pictured far right), for outstanding contribution to Scotland’s gin industry.
On Monday, Greek amber spirit house Metaxa hosted an evening to celebrate new brand ambassador Mike Horn and showcase their Metaxa 12 Stars expression. Metaxa master Costas Raptis hosted a live tasting, ice carving, and cocktails and during the event, Metaxa unveiled new Metaxa 12 Stars packaging at The Apartment in The Hoxton hotel, Holborn.
