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The week in pictures

Non-alcoholic spirit brand Borrago kicked off this year’s London Cocktail Week with a pop-up cocktail bar on the London underground.

Borrago founder Tom Tuke-Hastings said: “This London Cocktail Week we want to give more choices for naturally delicious non-alcoholic cocktails, especially with lots of people trying to go sober for October. With the Tube not allowing alcohol, we felt this was a great way to highlight that you can have a delicious cocktail without the alcohol”.

The pop-up bar also coincided with the launch of Go Sober For October, which encourages imbibers to give up alcohol for the month.

William Grant & Sons-owned gin brand Hendrick’s welcomed a select group of guests to the launch of its Levitating, Elevating, Voluminous, Illuminous, Tantalizing, Amazingly, Towering, Roaming, Eye (L.E.V.I.T.A.T.R.E.).

The installation was launched at the Nuit Blanche arts festival in Toronto and guests including Rob Baker of Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip were in attendance.

Hendrick’s also hosted a tasting of its Orbium expression, which is infused with three additional ingredients: quinine, wormwood, and blue lotus blossom.

To celebrate London Cocktail week, New York bar BlackTail travelled to Cub in London to host The Paladar Dining Series.

The evening saw assembled guests taste their way through a number of Cuban-inspired dishes, which had each been created with a local and seasonal twist. Alongside each dish was a cocktail made by BlackTail bar manager Jesse Vida using rum from Havana Club’s Icónica collection.

The evening also saw the New York bar take over Super Lyan, which is based below Cub.

At this year’s Whisky Show, hosted by The Whisky Exchange, Marc-Antoine Gajlewicz of Discount Suit Company was crowned the winner of the Speciality Drinks Whisky Cocktail Classic competition.

To triumph in the contest, Gajlewicz created The Black Island, which combined combined Laphroaig 10 Year Old, Amaro Averna, Fernet Branca and Brown Cacao Liqueur.

Gajlewicz said: “I’m really proud of this drink so am delighted to win the Speciality Drinks competition!”

On Monday, The Spirits Business hosted its annual Beach Party at the TFWA World Exhibition & Conference in Cannes. Celebrating medallists in The Vodka Masters and The Travel Retail Masters 2018, the event saw the great and the good of the industry come together for drinks, canapés, chatting and general merriment.

The rain clouds even made way for bright sunshine and a beautiful sunset as the award winners were named.

Earlier this week, SB was invited to The Vaults in London for a special preview of a new online education platform for bartenders, called Jerry.

The preview saw leading bartenders Dean Callan, Jason Williams and Chris Lowder, as well as Maverick Drinks co-founder Michael Vachon, discuss the hospitality industry, the importance of training and staff welfare and the future of the industry.

Jerry, named in honour of legendary bartender Jerry Thomas, launched this week as an educational tool for bartenders.

The Spirits Business was invited to a special Bloody Mary making masterclass earlier this week, hosted by Ketel One UK brand ambassador Kate Jackson.

The evening saw assembled guests learn the history of Ketel One and the Bloody Mary as they attempted to create their own twist on the classic cocktail using a host of fresh juices, herbs, spices, seasonings and sauces.

Last night (3 October) saw the launch of 21st Century Women, a new group exhibition of British female artists, at London’s new Mayfair gallery, Unit London.

On arrival, guests sipped on Hacienda Punch in mini Patrón bottles, followed by Patrón Tequila cocktails including Patrón and Fever-Tree tonics, Perfect Patrón Margaritas and Patrón Old Fashioneds throughout the night.

The exhibition will be open to the public from Thursday 4 October until Saturday 3 November.

Colombian rum brand Dictador hosted a tasting of its 2 Masters range at luxury London hotel The Ritz.

The tasting was hosted by Dictador master blender Hernan Parra and Callum Fraser of Scotch whisky distillery Glenfarclas.

Over the course of the evening, guests were able to sample expressions from the 2 Masters series that had been finished in Cognac, Armagnac, Champagne, Whisky, Sauternes or Bordeaux casks.

As calls for plain packaging on alcohol products increase, leading designers came together in London this week to address how these rules may impact the industry.

Designers attended the Endangered Species Global Hackathon to challenge and debate the threats brands face from plain packaging regulation.

The Global Design Hackathon will continue online throughout October and at the end of the month the designs will be collated and published in a Hackathon Live book.

Diageo-owned Bourbon brand Bulleit took to the Tattoo Convention in London this week to unveil its leather tattoo mural.

The installation has been created by leading tattoo artists Dominique Holmes, Ross Nagle, Chris Henriksen, Valentin Hirsch and Sara Koning.

Each artist’s design tell its own story, but together produce one large collaborative piece of artwork.

The finished piece was unveiled at a launch party that brought all the artists together, as well as a selection of urban street food and rock music from the Hot Soles.

Spirits producer Heroes Drinks marked World Vodka Day (4 October) by announcing a new partnership with the Wings Parachute Display Team.
The partnership will see the Wings Team perform a signature Heroes jump at events across the UK, the stunt involves a team of Wings parachutist safely delivering a bottle of Heroes Vodka from between 1,500 and 6,000 feet to one person on the ground.

To celebrate the launch, the Wings Team took to the skies to create a British Mule cocktail for a Royal Air Force veteran.

This week, The Spirits Business was invited to explore the Absolut Pornstar Martini Townhouse in London’s Soho.

The pop-up saw three floors transformed into different elements of the iconic cocktail, including a vanilla forrest, bubble maze and passionfruit kaleidoscope.

The finale of the experience was a chance for SB to flex its shaking muscles and make its own Absolut Pornstar Martini.

London Cocktail Week has taken over the UK capital this week not just with delectable drinks, but dozens of insightful talks. The Jack Daniel’s Tennesese Calling III event was just one of these, and hosted an array of insightful discussions at The Bike Shed in London on Tuesday (2 October).

DrinkUp.London’s Hannah Sharman-Cox and The Dead Rabbit’s Rebekkah Dooley took to the stage discuss entrepreneurialism, while former American Bar head bartender Eric Lorincz and The Dead Rabbit’s Jillian Vose talked about creativity and shared their thoughts and tips on “the art of delivering the perfect drink”. To complete the line-up, Jack Daniel’s assistant master distiller Chris Fletcher, and UK brand ambassador Cam Dawson explored the theme of quality and consistency.

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