The week in pictures
To mark the 150th anniversary of the Canadian Confederation, Rivington Greenwich and Plymouth Gin have created a range of cocktails that reflect the historic event that will see ships sail from Greenwich to Quebec. From 12-14 April, the Tall Ships Weekend will mark the launch of the pop-up, with the cocktails available throughout the summer.
Patrón Tequila has announced the finalists for the 2017 Margarita of the Year competition, with UK entrant Sophie Bratt (pictured) going through to the final. She will be competing with her English Garden Margarita against two other entries who achieved the highest number of consumer votes in the competition’s first round. Voting is now open to find the winning Margarita recipe at margaritaoftheyear.com, results will be announced on 17 April ahead of Cinco de Mayo.
The press conference concluded with a tour of the new Room 1879 museum which showcases the long-running history of the Gebr. Heinemann business. The museum space is located in the new K5 building, an extension of the Gebr. Heinemann offices. Peter Irion, Gunnar Heinemann, Claus Heinemann and Kay Spanger stand with a cart, one of the museum pieces, which would have been used to transport goods in the area in the 1800s.
R&B Distillers headed to The Cocktail Trading Company on Tuesday to give away free drams of their limited edition, second release of Raasay While We Wait alongside the final drops of the first release. The evening tasked guests with tasting the whiskies with blindfolds on and guessing which whisky is which, as well as write their own tasting notes.
To celebrate Whisky month, Edinburgh attraction The Real Mary King’s Close has launched Cask Is King, a specialist tour combining whisky tasting and the capital’s history. Every Thursday evening this May, a limited number of guests will be guided through the streets of Mary King’s Close where they will enjoy a dram while uncovering the story of the city and Scotland’s national drink. The tour will also see the launch of The Real Mary King’s Close blend.
As chocolate feasts take place across the globe this weekend, London restaurant Aster prepared a special cocktail to satisfy sweet-toothed imbibers. Served in a hollow milk chocolate egg, the Aster Egg cocktail combines Diplomatico Reserva rum with Mozart dark chocolate liqueur, aztec bitter chocolate, milk and sugar. Aster Egg is available from 3–17 April at the price of £18.
SB‘s deputy editor Amy Hopkins headed t’north for t’opening of t’Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery – an innovative new site that was formed under the guidance of the late, great Dr Jim Swan. Founders David Thompson and Tom Mellor set up SOY as an extension of the Wold Top Brewery and use barely grown on Mellor’s farm for the distillery’s single malt whisky – the first in Yorkshire. Innovation is at the heart of SOY and is typified by the use of a column still to distill its single malt, which is also produced using traditional pot stills.
