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The best April Fools’ Day industry ‘news’

The tricksters of the drinks world were out in full force this 1 April with a barrage of funny, wacky, and very-nearly-believable ‘news’ stories.

From a royal whisky to a rum beast roaming the Thames, these are some of the best April Fools gags from the spirits world

1 April is always a time of mixed feelings at SB’s headquarters – encompassing both excitement and trepidation as our team of journalists approach every press release with a particularly cynical eye.

With so much innovation and jaw-dropping announcements in the industry, some of the gags that did the rounds over this Easter weekend almost had us fooled – but not quite.

Click through the following pages to read about some of the creative pranks dreamt up by spirits brands this April Fools’ Day.

If you think we have neglected to mention any, let us know in the comments section below.

The Whisky Exchange’s £10,000 gin

Each year, SB eagerly awaits a blog post on 1 April from the jokesters at retailer The Whisky Exchange, and they delivered once again with the announcement of the new Park Royal Gin.

A play on the hyper-local gin trend, the £10,000 product was said to be distilled from ‘special summer wheat on the site of the former Guinness factory’ using a 30-metre column still. The gin’s 250 botanicals, it claimed, were sourced from Park Royal in London – not exactly a hotbed of lush greenery – and its ‘royal’ water filtered through diamonds.

Master of Malt takes whisky creation to next level


The award for the most elaborate and mind-boggling April Fools’ Day ruse undoubtedly goes to the team at Master of Malt.

The retailer announced it was to embark on its “boldest and most exciting project to date” with the build of a “ground-breaking” new distillery, encompassing 4D-printed stills and casks producing “fully programmable” whiskies.

Take a look at the video outlining the plans above – it’ll send your head into a spin.  

Pinkster gin’s female fragrance

No stranger to an April Fools’ Day charade, Pinkster Gin announced the launch of Parfum Pinkster, “a fruity fragrance for the modern woman”.

The L’eau de Framboise, with an RRP of £80, was described as a blend of essential oils that have been extracted from and then blended with gin-soaked raspberries.

World Whisky Day’s royal appointment

On 1 April, World Whisky Day (WWD) announced that its founder, Blair Bowman, had been appointed ‘whisky master’ for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, which coincides with the upcoming WWD.

The announcement said Bowman would serve 600 guests as they wait for the procession of the wedding party, with Andy Stewart’s Campbeltown Loch playing in the background.

“The couple were so impressed with a recent dress rehearsal tasting with Blair that they’ve decided to register the whole day as an official World Whisky Day event,” a spokesperson for the Royal Households was quoted as saying. “We’re now in discussions to include some subtle World Whisky Day branding in the chapel – a few hanging banners, floor decals, stained glass iconography, frescoes and so forth. It’s all jolly exciting.”

Corowa’s royal wedding whisky

Another brand to create a gag around the upcoming royal nuptials was Australia’s Corowa Distilling Co, which reported that Prince Harry and Meghan travelled to its distillery in a private jet to select a whisky for their wedding party.

“Nip of Courage founder, Kathleen Davies, has been working closely behind the scenes with the British Consulate in Sydney to make sure everything runs smoothly with the export of this special cask for the wedding,” the company said.

That Boutique-y Gin Company goes gluten-free

That Boutique-y Gin Company (TBGC) set out to do away with “inherently evil” gluten with the launch of Gluten-Free Gin.

The product is said to be “distilled entirely from farmers’ market-grade gluten-free bread, which takes almost eight times longer to ferment than a more reasonable cereal”, and contains only gluten-free botanicals.

TBGC said Gluten-Free Gin will be double the price of its standard range, except for consumers who can prove their intolerance to gluten with a doctor’s note.

Kraken roams the Thames


In a fake news report by BBC newscaster Michael Buerk, an 18-foot-long Kraken monster was said to be roaming the Thames.

Spiced rum brand Kraken offered authorities £10,000 for safe capture of the beast, attached to a pleasure boat laden with tourists.

Kyrö Distillery’s rapid-ageing innovation


Finnish distillery Kyrö revealed an imaginative way of ‘fast-ageing’ whisky, taking inspiration from Russian dolls.

The distillery said that by placing a smaller charred cask inside a larger one, which is also filled with new-make rye spirit, its required ageing time could reduce from three to one-and-a-half years.

Jägermeister’s Jäger Balm


Jägermeister said it was aiming to tackle “bartenders’ elbow” with the creation of Jäger Balm, which offers “soothing relief” to the affected area.

The joke followed an announcement from Finland’s Kyrö Distillery last year that it had created a special hand cream for bartenders.

Drinks by the Dram’s chocolate-dipped drams

To celebrate the Easter holiday, Drinks by the Dram (DBTD) unveiled its chocolate-dipped drams, touted as “the ultimate booze-and-chocolate pairing experience”.

The drams were said to be sealed with top-quality chocolate from the Polar Foils Chocolate Co instead of the brand’s usual black wax. Each variety of chocolate was specially paired with its accompanying spirit, DBTD promised…

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