Close Menu
Top 10

The week in pictures

Ghostbusters actor Dan Aykroyd hosted his very own ‘Cocktails & Blues’ party with his vodka brand, Crystal Head, at the Blues Kitchen in London’s Shoreditch on Monday. His over-subscribed blues-inspired cocktail party offered a specially curated cocktail menu including Crystal Head vodka Martinis, Caipiroskas, and Twinkles all night.

Earlier in the day, Aykroyd arrived at The Whisky Exchange in Covent Garden, to sign Crystal Head bottles for a legion of fans who had waited up to seven hours to meet him.

On Tuesday, Diageo invited SB to see Take That’s Wonderland tour at London’s O2 arena in a VIP box. The three-piece act, who were supported by British girlband All Saints, performed their hit songs from the 90s as well as new material from their forthcoming album, Wonderland.

The official launch party of VII Hills Italian Dry Gin was held last week at Oriole bar in London. Bartenders were invited to taste the new product, created by Filippo Previero and Danilo Tersigni of London cocktail bar Mr Fogg’s. To create the expression, Italian juniper is combined with coriander, angelica root, celery, artichoke, blood orange, rosehip and Roman chamomile, which hail from the seven hills that surround the Italian capital city.

As Father Day approaches, the Cotswolds Distillery has unveiled a limited edition cask of the distillery’s first ever single malt whisky. The distillery are offering dads the chance to visit the distillery and fill their very own numbered cask and watch it age into the distillery’s single malt, the first to be distilled in this area of the UK.

Diageo Reserve has announced a partnership with London Food Month with Ketel One Vodka as sole spirits sponsor for the inaugural month-long festival. From 7–18 June, the 12-night cuisine and cocktail festival in Kensington Gardens will be home to the Ketel One Vodka Kitchen serving Bloody Marys by day and Espresso Martinis by night, whilst the Bulleit Woody will welcome visitors to enjoy a Bulleit Julep amongst a live-art installation including a tattoo-inspired mural backdrop.

On Wednesday, SB headed down to the Mondrian hotel on London’s South Bank for a unique three-course meal, the culmination of a gruelling two-day final to discover Diageo Reserve GB’s World Class Bartender of the Year 2017. Jamie Jones of The Social Company stole the show with his super serves – a Tanqueray No. Ten Martini, a jelly gin and tonic amuse-bouche, and an augmented reality Old Fashioned-style drink that brought its surroundings to life with a performance by a Day of the Dead-themed skeleton mariachi band.

To celebrate World Gin Day pan-asian style, Oka Restaurants in London has created a bespoke cocktail, The Opihr Zen Garden Cocktail, which will be served across all London sites. Priced at £10, the cocktail combines the exotic flavours of Opihr Oriental Spiced Gin with an Asian twist of lime lychee and soy sauce.

On Monday, Gordon Dundas, global brand ambassador, travel retail at Beam Suntory held a Skype session with the SB team for an in-depth tasting of Jim Beam Black. The expression is aged in American white oak barrels for years longer than the original Jim Beam Bourbon. The extra years of ageing is said to give it a full-bodied flavour and “smooth caramel and warm oak” notes. Jim Beam Black went through a packaging redesign earlier this year with a new bolder structure and cleanly designed labels featuring premium finishes and a refined rosette logo.

As part of Chase Distillery’s 10 year celebrations, the Chase land rover will be stocked with Williams GB Gin for a tour across the country. The aptly named GB Tour is a celebration of great British gin and will kick off on World Gin Day on the 10 June until 24 June.

Joanne Moore (pictured centre), master distiller for Greenall’s gin, celebrated the launch of the new look Greenall’s and Greenall’s Wild Berry bottles, having their first outing at the Epsom Derby last weekend. Greenall’s is the official gin of The Jockey Club’s 15 racecourses around the UK, including Epsom.

A limited number of bottles of Mr Lyan gin will be available to buy from London’s new Super Lyan bar on World Gin Day this Saturday. The exclusive batch of 10 bottles will be numbered and signed, and available on a first come first served basis. Priced at £30, purchasers of the gin will also receive a Hedgerow cocktail – a throwback to the White Lyan menu – which will be available to customers throughout the day.

From 5 June–30 July, Wood’s Navy Rum has joined forces with Ladies & Gentlemen bar to bring their very own working barge and two pop-up sheds offering Wood’s cocktails to King’s Cross. Ladies & Gentlemen will showcase a Wood’s Navy Rum menu with twists on traditional cocktail classics including the Mai Tai, Pina Colada Slushy and Zombie in the Wood’s.

Scottish craft gin producer El-gin Gin has partnered with a local craft butchers in Elgin, Moray to jointly celebrate its first year of production and World Gin Day. The distillery has extended its suggested serve of El-gin Gin, premium tonic water and a raspberry garnish to incorporate food, crafting bespoke El-gin and tonic sausages served with caramelised apple, mango and red onion chutney that contains a “hint” of its Moray Berry gin liqueur.

On Tuesday, Canary Wharf’s Roka played host to Suntory whisky with the unveiling of The Suntory Chita Terrace, an open-air Japanese garden for the summer months. The media preview unveiled the new Chita Single Grain Whisky, which is launching this July, as well as canapés and live DJ sets.

This week Patron announced the return of its Patron Perfectionists cocktail competition with an even broader international reach. Entrants from Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, China, the UAE, Israel, Mexico, Canada and the UK will take to the bar to compete to become the 2017 champion. To enter, visit the website: www.patrontequila.com/perfectionists

Dodd’s Gin will be hosting a one-day gin and tonic pop-up to celebrate World Gin Day on Saturday at Circus West Village at Battersea Power Station. The brand will be giving visitors a taster of what will be on offer when they open their new distillery at Circus West Village later this year. Visitors will be also able to enjoy street food from Anna Mae’s, The Beefsteaks and South East Cakery.

Gordon’s gin has partnered with Soho’s new crisp and dips cafe Hipchips to launch a bespoke crisp n’ dip snacking box, exclusively for the inaugural London Food Month. The duo have created three savoury and pudding style dips with a Gordon’s gin twist. Flavours include: Beets, Maple, Feta and Gordon’s Gin; Lime and Gordon’s Gin Cheesecake; Gooseberry, Elderflower and Gordon’s Gin.

Yesterday, The Gin Guild held its annual event, Ginposium, a one-day advanced seminar on gin and gin distilling, at the RSA in London. Speakers included Matthew Pauley, Heriot Watt University; Daniel Szor, Cotswold’s Distillery; Tarquin Leadbetter, Tarquin’s Gin; Joanne Moore, G&J Distillers; David T Smith, SummerfruitCup.com; Sam Carter, Bombay Sapphire; and Michael Cruickshank (pictured) of Xix Bar in Barcelona.

It looks like you're in Asia, would you like to be redirected to the Drinks Business Asia edition?

Yes, take me to the Asia edition No