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The week in pictures

Chicago-based designer Joe Freshgoods partnered with Canadian whisky brand Crown Royal to launch a capsule clothing collection this week.

Crown Royal x Joe Freshgoods Present Royal Apple Goods features apparel and accessories, including a Crown Royal bottle bag reimagined as a sneaker bag and a collection of hoodies.

Freshgoods said: “I’ve always had a great love affair with Crown Royal, so this partnership felt like the thing to do. They’re redefining royalty in a way that’s relevant to a new generation – to creators and people and from all walks of life – and I’m really excited to be a part of it.”

Campari Group-owned gin brand Bulldog helped Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi celebrate his wins at this week’s Brit Awards with a VIP after-party.

The Scottish singer, who won Song of the Year for his hit Someone You Loved and Best New Artist at the London ceremony, hosted an exclusive party following the awards, and celebrated his wins with a personalised bottle of Bulldog gin.

The brand also announced this week that it had partnered with four-day festival The Beat Hotel in Marrakesh to host its Bulldog Gin Yard activation at the resort during events through the coming months.

Bacardi this week crowned Scottish bartender Nicole Sykes as the UK champion in its Legacy cocktail competition.

Sykes, who works at Satan’s Whiskers in London, has previously worked behind the bar in London’s Lyaness and Edinburgh’s The Voodoo Rooms. She will travel to Miami in May for the competition’s global final.

She said: “The standard was set so high by my fellow finalists who are all so accomplished in their own right. I feel grateful that we’ve had the chance to get to know one another as individuals and learn from each other. I’m so excited to see what the next phase of the competition brings.”

Also crowning its winner this week was the National Cocktail Championship & Bartender Awards at Ireland’s Food & Bev Live event.

The annual contest was this year won by Michal Lis, bar manager at The Sidecar bar in the Westbury Hotel, Dublin, who triumphed with his cocktail, called Summer Classico 2020.

Lis’s winning cocktail was made with vodka, St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur, Reàl Passionfruit Syrup, San Pellegrino Ginger Beer, lemon juice and lemongrass.

Beam Suntory-owned James B Beam Distilling Co this week celebrated the filling of its 16 millionth barrel of Bourbon since Prohibition.

The milestone barrel was filled and sealed by family distillers Fred Noe, seventh generation master distiller, and his son Freddie Noe, eighth generation beam distiller, in Clermont, Kentucky.

Fred Noe said: “It’s humbling that we get to fill our 16 millionth barrel as we kick off our 225th anniversary. This milestone speaks to our eight-generation commitment to never compromising on quality and always staying true to our roots.”

On Wednesday, SB headed to north London’s Top Cuvée to find out more about the bar and restaurant’s new cocktail menu, which launches next week.

Developed by Top Cuvée owner Brodie Meah and Three Sheets’ Max Venning, the new cocktail menu will launch during the bar’s first anniversary on Tuesday (25 February).

While visiting the neighbourhood drinking den, SB sampled new drinks including the Tropical Gin Sling and Rooibos Sour, as well as the alcohol-free Cream Soda, alongside a selection of the restaurant’s dishes, such as burrata and grilled squash.

A giant rooftop mural was this week unveiled ahead of the first ever Melbourne Cocktail Festival (MCF), which kicks off on 26 February.

Created by urban street artist Kitt Bennett, the MCF mural is over 100m long and depicts a bartender and martini glass “ethereally floating over the city’s rooftops”. Bennett produced the work in 70 hours over seven days using approximately 100 litres of paint.

Running from 26 February to 1 March, the MCF is dedicated to Melbourne’s dynamic cocktail scene.

Puerto Rican brand Bacardi took its Rum Room activation to Chicago this week for the final event in its US tour.

At the Chicago event, Bacardi was joined by Power actor Omari Hardwick, who helped the brand bring the Rum Room: Chicago to life.

Hardwick was joined by musician Chance the Rapper and American rapper Vic Mensa at the event, which took over Dance Studio in Chicago and transformed the club into a “premium rum oasis”.

Yesterday, SB headed to London restaurant Adam Handling Chelsea for a lunch and whisky tasting with Loch Lomond to find out more about the brand’s plans for 2020.

During the tasting, SB had the chance to sample its portfolio of 12-year-old Loch Lomond whiskies, and was given a sneak peak at upcoming whiskies from Glen Scotia.

The Distilled Spirits Council of the US (Dicus) welcomed more than 350 spirits industry professionals at its inaugural conference in Louisville, Kentucky, this week.

The event, emceed by Fred Minnick, author and Bourbon curator, included a host of awards for stars of the American spirits industry.

Award recipients on the night included Discus Top Shelf Award winner, congressman John Yarmuth; Discus Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Sazerac Company chairman William Goldring; and Discus Dave Pickerell Memorial Craft Member of the Year Award winner, co-founder and CEO of St Augustine Distillery, Philip McDaniel.

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