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The week in pictures

Oriental spiced gin brand Opihr crowned the UK winner of its World Adventure cocktail competition this week, which took place at Oriole in London on Wednesday (5 September).

The UK round of the competition was won by Charley Carrington, from Last Chance Cocktail & Whiskey Bar in Nottingham, UK, who wowed the judges with her creation, called The Silk & Spice.

Second and third position in the contest went to Adrian Forde-Beggs, of Orchid in Aberdeen, Scotland; and Joe Brayford, of Whistling Shop in London.

New York cocktail bar BlackTail launched its latest menu this week, which highlights the untold stories of the women behind the Cuban revolution.

The menu features 40 drinks and includes three essays written by Mariela Castro Espín, the daughter of Raúl and Vilma Castro; Aleida Guevara March, the eldest daughter of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara; and Lincoln Cushing, a printer, artist, librarian, archivist and author.

The list includes the Maid of Honor, which combines single malt Scotch whisky, blended Japanese whisky, peated Irish whiskey, banana, lime and ponzu; and Urban Myth, which mixes Tequila, coffee, cardamom and mole bitters.

The semi-final of the Whisky Cocktail Classic competition, created by Speciality Drinks, took place this week, with four bartenders earning their place in the grand final, which will be held at this year’s Whisky Show in London.

Marc Antoine Gajlewicz, from Discount Suit Company; Mike Robinson, of Mash; Rob Simpson, from The Clove Club; and Vince Smart of Hawksmoor Air Street all impressed the judges with their creations, which were based on the theme of peat.

Judge Mia Johansson, manager at London’s Bar Swift, said: “I was genuinely impressed by the level of bartending today and blown away by the passion for whisky and the almost romantic way each contestant spoke about their creation.”

It was a busy week for The Spirits Business with two rounds of The Spirits Masters competition taking place.

First was the Vodka round of the blind-tasting competition, which took place at London’s Savage Garden rooftop venue.

SB gathered a team of judges to taste their way around the category, handing out Silver, Gold and Master medals to the most deserving entries.

To find out which expressions triumphed at the contest, look out for the October issue of The Spirits Business.

On Thursday, SB gathered another panel of expert tasters at London’s Bleeding Heart restaurant for the Travel Retail round of the Spirits Masters.

Our judges sipped their way through vodka, American whiskey, Irish whiskey, Scotch whisky, rum, Tequila and liqueurs to find the best spirits available in the travel retail channel.

A number of Silver, Gold and Master medals were awarded to the best spirits in each category, the results of which will be published in the October issue of The Spirits Business.

This week, film studio Disney announced that its Disneyland theme park in California will open a bar in its upcoming Star Wars-themed area, called Oga’s Cantina.

The new drinking den will become part of Disneyland’s new themed section Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, which is expected to open in summer 2019.

Oga’s Cantina in the Black Spire Outpost village will be “serving pilots, bounty hunters, smugglers, locals and galactic travellers” once it’s ready for business.

British gin brand Brockmans has unveiled its latest line up of seasonal cocktails, which are said to complement the gin’s mix of berry notes and botanicals.

Brockman’s autumn cocktails include the Brockmans Twilight, made from Brockmans Gin, Maraschino Liqueur, Yellow Chartreuse, lemon juice, sugar and black pepper; and the Brockmans Dark Night Negroni, which mixes Brockmans Gin with blueberry liqueur, rosso vermouth, Campari and orange bitters.

The Spirit of Speyside: Distilled event crowned Jasper Epson from Nairobi as the champion of its oatcake-eating contest this week.

Epson, who is now living in Scotland and working with Chivas Brothers, demolished 10 oatcakes in two minutes and was the first to polish off five in just over a minute during the final.

Festival chairman James Campbell said: “Congratulations to Jasper on a well-deserved victory. Speed eating dry oatcakes is no mean feat, but he is clearly very skilled and I’m sure must have been in serious training.”

American Bourbon brand Wild Turkey has revealed that American Animals will be the latest release in its Wild Turkey Bold Cinema Series at Everyman.

American Animals is a true crime thriller being released in cinemas throughout the UK today (7 September).

Fans of the big screen watching any of Wild Turkey’s film choices will be able to enjoy a complimentary Wild Turkey 101 Old Fashioned cocktail, delivered direct to their seat ahead of select screenings at Everyman cinemas.

Irish whiskey brand Jameson revealed its first TV appearance in the UK in seven years earlier this week, with a new £1.2 million (US$1.5m) advert.

The 40-second spot, created by creative agency TBWA Dublin, was broadcast for the first time yesterday (6 September) and will run for four weeks.

It is based on a true story and depicts a warehouse robbery in Johannesburg, South Africa, during which only crates of Jameson were stolen and other valuable goods were left untouched.

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