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The week in pictures

On Monday, 10 finalists competed in the inaugural Fenjiu Cocktail Competition – thought to be the “UK’s first” baijiu cocktail competition.

Held at The Connaught Bar in London, the judging panel comprised: Brian Silva of Rules, Alessandro Palazzi of Dukes Hotel, Enrico Gonzato of The Stratford, and Matt Harrison from Speciality Brands.

Andrea Dionori (pictured centre) from Crazy Bear grabbed the top accolade for his creation, The Golden Empire. For winning, Dionori receives an all-expenses-paid trip to China to visit the Fenjiu distillery. Furthermore, he will claim the title of Fenjiu ambassador for one year.

Second place in the competition was awarded to Kisa Yang from Annabel’s (pictured left) and third place was given to Paolo Lazzarich (above right) from Soho House.

Diageo-owned Tanqueray No. Ten has partnered with the Harvey Nichols store in Knightsbridge, London, to launch a rooftop terrace activation throughout June.

Specialist serves made with the gin are available from the terrace, including Green Park 10, which mixes Tanqueray No. Ten, lemon juice, celery bitters, egg white and basil. A Tanqueray flight is also available, allowing guests to taste three mini gin and tonics from the range, including Tanqueray Flor De Sevilla, Tanqueray Lovage and Tanqueray London Dry.

Campari Group-owned Bulldog gin held its fifth Notion magazine issue launch party on Tuesday at the Queen of Hoxton in London’s Shoreditch.

The event boasted a line-up of up-and-coming artists including House of Pharaohs and JAY1.

On the night, Bulldog served its G, T and Turbo T serve, which was said to cater to “London’s health conscious and ahead-of-the-curve millennials”.

The second Bar Convent Brooklyn returned to New York City, with an attendee increase of 30% at the Brooklyn Expo Centre.

The event featured 144 exhibitors, 112 new products, and 62 panels and tasting demonstrations.

Education played a key role at the event with panels and seminars led by leading industry experts including filmmaker Steven Soderberg, founder of Singani 63; bartender Franky Marshall; and Rob Dietrich, the master distiller for Blackened American whiskey.

Greek drinks producer Roots Spirits held the Milan and London legs of its Back to the Roots cocktail competition. This year, the competition focuses on low-abv long drinks and classic twists.

The Milan final, held at the Octavius Bar at The Stage, saw Corey Squarzoni from Luca & Andrea bar storm to success with his long drink Tree to Drink, made with Roots Mastic, Suze Rose Liquor Briottet and Fever-Tree Elderflower Tonic.

In the UK, Juan Jose Orellano from the Beaufort Bar at The Savoy hotel in London won with his long drink Pinewood, a combination of Roots Mastic, smoky ginger ale, pineapple juice, lime juice and walnut bitters. Both winners will visit the Athens Bar Show in November.

Last Friday, the O.Z. Tyler Distilley in Owensboro, Kentucky, began its deconstruction of Warehouse H. The work followed an incident at the site a few weeks ago when the barrel storage warehouse, containing thousands of whiskey barrels, collapsed.

The distillery confirmed that “there has been minimal leakage” as a result of the deconstruction. Damaged barrels will be assessed, repaired or disposed of and the Bourbon will be re-barrelled and moved to storage.

British mixer brand Fentimans has taken its Rose Lemonade on the road. A pink Fentimans Land Rover will be touring England – mapping a route from Land’s End in Cornwall to the far reaches of John O’Groats in Scotland – and stopping off at top summer events along the way.

Fentimans Rose Lemonade will be served from the Land Rover throughout the road trip.

SB took a trip to Dublin, Ireland, for the global final of the Jameson Barrelmen’s Homecoming cocktail competition, which followed the theme ‘From Farm to Glass’. The competition aims to encourage bartenders to return to nature using local seasonal ingredients and products.

During the competition, bartenders took part in the Irish whiskey experience at the Jameson Distillery Bow Street, wellness and mindful sessions, and a range of educational workshops including an up-cycling class. The first round of the competition saw bartenders go head-to-head in a speed round.

The trip also included a visit to Cork to see the Jameson Distillery Midleton, featuring a tour of the visitor centre, the microdistillery, barrelhouse, a blending workshop and a tasting of some of the Jameson expressions produced at the site.

The microdistillery also houses Ireland’s oldest gin still (pictured) called Mickey’s Belly, which was first commissioned in 1958 in Midleton. The still was used to create a new gin in the experimental Method and Madness range.

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