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The week in pictures

The Dutch Atlantic Four have become the first team from the Netherlands to triumph in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.

The competition challenges teams to row across the Atlantic Ocean, with the Dutch team completing the journey in 34 days, 12 hours and nine minutes.

Marcel Ates, Erik Koning, Bart Adema and David de Brujin from The Netherlands arrived in Antigua to be greeted by a huge crowd of family, friends and people of the small Caribbean island

Ten casks of Cognac produced by Camus have now arrived in Barbados after spending a month and a half at sea travelling from France to the Caribbean island.

The Cognac will now undergo a second period of maturation under tropical conditions at the Rum House Foursquare for a year.

Jean-Dominique Andreu, Camus chief marketing officer, said: “Since the tall ship De Gallant departed from the port of La Rochelle on November 23 with our 10 sealed barrels of Camus Cognac on board, the expedition has had its ups and downs, but there have been some really good times, and it has ended right on schedule.”

William Grant & Sons-owned spiced rum brand Sailor Jerry has partnered with guitar manufacturer CF Martin & Co to release two limited edition instruments.

The Ink & Wood guitars, called Homeward Bound and True Love, feature designs inspired by the artwork of Norman ‘Sailor Jerry’ Collins, a Navy veteran who built his reputation tattooing soldiers and sailors in Second World War-era Honolulu.

The images on the guitars are made from different coloured pearl and wood that has been reworked and reimagined to replicate Collins’ designs. Each guitar is priced at US$19,999.

This week, The Spirits Business travelled to Speyside in Scotland to visit the new home of Edrington-owned Scotch whisky The Macallan.

While in Scotland, SB‘s Owen Bellwood toured The Macallan’s distillery, maturation warehouses and barrel stores, also stopping off to visit the estate’s fishing lodge and even the brand’s own herd of Highland cattle.

At the centre of The Macallan estate lies the new £140 million (US$188.4m) distillery, which opened last year and will allow the brand to increase its production by a third.

While visiting The Macallan, SB also helped celebrate the launch of the brand’s oldest expression to date – a 72-year-old single malt bottled in a Lalique crystal decanter.

The whisky was distilled in the 1940s and is bottled in a decanter that has been inspired by the curvature of the distillery’s roof structure, which is said to be suggestive of the building rising and falling from the ground.

The 72-year-old whisky has a slightly sweet and spicy flavour, with a touch of smoke and green apples on the finish.

This week it was announced that a Game Of Thrones-inspired dining experience would be coming to London in April.

Dinner is Coming, which will launch at The Vaults in Waterloo, is a new immersive spoof dining experience inspired by the fantasy drama. It will recreate the world of the fantasy series in the Vaults’ underground tunnels, and is assured to be an experience “that’s full of dark twists, allegiance challenges and ominous royal celebrations”.

On the night, guests will be treated to a feast fit for kings and dragons, as well as a specially designed drinks menu.

This week, London bar 100 Wardour Street hosted the final of the 2019 World’s Best Martini competition, with Hertfordshire-based Campfire Gin being crowned the winner.

Campfire Gin partnered with bartender Roberto from Dylan’s Kings Arms to impress the judges, which included Rebecca Milford of BarChick, Ivan Dixon of Enotria & Coe and Gabriele Sasnauskaite of Artesian Bar at The Langham.

The team triumphed with the combination of Campfire London Dry Gin and Dolin Dry Vermouth, garnished with orange peel “flowers” soaked in Carpano Antica Formula Vermouth.

The Mob Museum in Las Vegas this week celebrated National Bootlegger Day, which marks the birthday of renowned gangster Al Capone and the creation of Templeton Rye Whiskey.

To mark the occasion, the National Museum of Organised Crime and Law Enforcement hosted a 1920s-themed party complete with spirits samplings, Prohibition history presentations, live music and specially created cocktails.

Vampire-themed pizza restaurant Lost Boys celebrated the opening of its new absinthe bar this week.

Croque Monsieur, which has opened below Lost Boys in Camden, aims to educate Londoners about the history of the anise-flavoured spirit.

The new bar offers expressions from a range of absinthe producers, as well as a host of innovative cocktails, including the Spiced Plum Mai Tai, which combines almond and absinthe spiced plums, star anise and gold rum.

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