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The week in pictures

Bacardi-owned Oxley gin was in London this week to host the final heat of its inaugural cocktail competition.

Oxley Gin has been challenging bartenders in Manchester, Edinburgh and London to create their own twist on the classic Gimlet cocktail.

The winning recipe will be selected by Karine Tillard, brand ambassador for Oxley gin, who visited the competing bars to taste each creation.

Luxury spirits retailer The Whisky Exchange hosted its second annual Cognac Show this week, which took place at London’s Bloomsbury House.

The show saw 32 producers descend on London to showcase more than 100 Cognacs, including several 19th-century bottlings and 47 ‘Dream Pours’.

Around 950 consumers attended the show, where they were treated to the “experimental” side of Cognac, through sensory experiences from Frapin and Rémy Martin, as well as cocktails created by Guillaume Le Dorner of Bar Luciole, in Cognac.

Rum liqueur brand Malibu is bringing back its Malibu Games summer activation, which will bring together 32 influencers from nine countries.

The global campaign kicked off with a three-day event in the Dominican Republic, attended by internet personalities such as comedian and model Hannah Stocking, and Latin music star Natti Natasha.

Now in its second year, the campaign taps into changes in audience behaviours and habits, and aims to create an experience drinkers can enjoy.

UK booking app Design My Night has announced the winners of its annual awards, with London bar Last Tuesday Society walking away with the title of Best Bar.

More than 180,000 votes were cast in the awards, which saw Heads + Tails (pictured) named Best Cocktail Bar, Italian dining spot Gloria crowned Best New Venue, and Stem + Glory walk away with the title of Best Vegan/Vegetarian restaurant.

Awards were also handed out to bars in north, east, south and west London, with Homeboy named north London’s best cocktail bar and Kudu claiming the award for south London’s best new venue.

Island-based Scotch whisky producer Raasay Distillery has been awarded a special Gold Laurel at the 16th annual Scottish Hotel Awards.

The distillery was commended for “creating a unique visitor experience” at its accommodation on the Isle of Raasay.

After winning Best Island Guesthouse 2019 at the Regional Scottish Hotel Awards in January, Raasay Distillery was nominated for a national award, taking home the Gold Laurel prize that recognised its achievements and innovation.

SB visited south London cocktail bar The Hide this week to sample newly launched alcohol-free apéritif brand Everleaf.

Created by conservation biologist and The Hide owner Paul Mathew, the event was a chance to sample the new apéritif on its own and in a range of lo- and no-alcohol cocktails.

Everleaf is made from 18 different plants, including vanilla and saffron “for richness”, gentian and iris “for bitterness and earthy warmth”, and vetiver and orange blossom “for freshness and vibrancy”.

The Spirits Business descended on London restaurant Boisdale for the Scotch whisky round of The Global Spirits Masters blind-tasting series.

A crack team of judges were on hand to taste a wide variety of whiskies, covering the Lowlands, Highlands and Islands, Speyside and Islay regions.

Silver, Gold and Master medals were awarded to the best expressions across the categories, and the full results from the competition will be published in the upcoming June edition of The Spirits Business.

Last night, SB was invited by Diageo to attend the a talk hosted by the Baileys-sponsored Women’s Prize for Fiction – titled Women Mean Business. The panel was led by best-selling author Kate Mosse and included inspirational female entrepreneurs from across the worlds of tech, beauty and strategy.

The wide-ranging talk covered the careers of panellists Jess Butcher, Melanie Eusebe, Sharmadean Reid and Sarah Wood; the ‘glass ceiling’, new workplace structures and inspiring books.

SB attended the Worshipful Company of Distillers’ annual Distillers’ City Debate, which put forth the motion: ‘This house believes that the gin boom has reached its peak’.

The panel included Dawn Davies, head buyer at Speciality Drinks and Ed Mundy, beverages analyst at Jefferies, who argued for the motion; and David T Smith, gin advisor, and Sophia Shaw-Brown, senior insights manager at IWSR, who argued against it.

At the end of the debate and after hearing some convincing arguments, the audience votes against the motion.

William Grant & Sons-owned blended Scotch whisky brand Monkey Shoulder travelled to Newcastle this week with its Mixer Truck.

Taking to the city’s Baltic Market, the whisky brand handed out free whisky cocktails and used hundreds of paint-filled balloons to create “the world’s messiest advert”.

The Monkey Shoulder Breakdown Service also popped up to support bartenders as they cleaned down and closed their bars after service, bringing members of the on-trade Monkey Shoulder Lazy Old Fashioneds, Boilermakers and snacks.

LA cocktail bar The Wellesbourne launched its weekly cocktail competition on Tuesday (30 April), with bartenders competing for a chance to travel to the home of Patrón Tequila in Mexico.

Set to run for four weeks, the Wellesbourne Classic will challenge local bartenders to create imaginative cocktails that can be paired with ingredients from the bar’s menu.

Bartenders from Broken Shaker, Melrose, Toca Madiera, The Wellesbourne and TomTom Bar will take on the task and their creations will be judged on flavour profile, imagination, appearance, bartender flare and use of ingredients.

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