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What’s on this weekend

Softer Side Sessions

Highland distillery Tomatin will host the seventh episode in its Softer Side Sessions series, which will be live streamed on Youtube and Facebook. The series will be held every Friday night with a special guest from the whisky world.

This evening (1 May) at 9pm BST, George Michie, general manager at London’s Soho Whisky Club, will join the series.

Next Saturday (9 May) will also see Tomatin host its second virtual Lockdown Whisky Festival to raise funds for its charity partner, Maggie’s Highlands.

Instagram Lives

London bar Coupette has launched a new video series, called Instagram Lives, which is held at 5pm BST daily on @coupettelondon.

The videos feature an informal Q&A with bar manager Andrei Marcu, who will provide tips and techniques to inspire cocktail-making during lockdown.

The series will also include guest appearances from London bartenders and drinks experts, including Oriole’s Mihai Ostafi, Scarfes Bar’s Yann Bouvignies, Salvatore Calabrese, Dukes Bar’s Alessandro Palazzi, The Connaught Bar’s Giorgio Bargiani and Elon Soddu of The Savoy’s Beaufort Bar.

This evening’s (1 May) guest will be Healthy Hospo founder Tim Etherington-Judge.

The Booze Brain

At 4pm BST today (1 May), The Booze Brain will kick off its 21st episode with Jack McGarry (pictured), co-owner of New York’s acclaimed Dead Rabbit bar, and Aaron Wall and Ciaran Smith, of London’s Irish-themed bar Homeboy.

The three bartenders will discuss ‘what makes a bar great’ on Instagram (@theboozebrain).

Smokehead TV

Smokehead Scotch whisky is back this Sunday (26 April) with episode three in its Smokehead TV series on Instagram Live (@smokeheadwhisky).

Taking place at 5pm BST, Mikey Sim, Smokehead brand ambassador, will be joined by Scottish musician Dave Arcari.

The country blues singer is said to be a friend of Smokehead whisky and has written a song about the Islay single malt.

During the live session, the duo will drink Smokehead Sherry Bomb, make Smokehead cocktails and play Arcari’s signature national reso-phonic guitar, while giving fans the chance to win Smokehead merchandise.

JJ Corry tasting

Irish whiskey bonder JJ Corry will host a virtual tasting to celebrate the launch of its new blended grain whisky, The Hanson, today (1 May) at 5pm BST.

The new 46% ABV expression is comprised of a blend of four and 10-year-old grain whiskeys from different Irish distilleries. It is available to purchase from irishmalts.com.

The Hanson is named after JJ Corry’s son-in-law who was a revenue man in the early 1900s, known locally as ‘The Gauger Hanson’.

The tasting will be held on JJ Corry’s social media channels – Instagram (@whiskeygate) and Facebook (jjcorry).

King of the Bootleggers Prohibition Trivia Night

George Remus Bourbon will host its King of the Bootleggers Prohibition Trivia Night every Friday in partnership with We Are Live Radio.

Taking place from 6pm-7pm CST, the George Remus team will join the hosts of We Are Live Radio for Prohibition trivia and a virtual happy hour on George Remus’ Facebook events page.

The virtual event will involve a different US city each week, inviting local bartenders and surprise guests for Prohibition trivia, cocktail recipes and prizes.

The next cities will be Dallas this evening (1 May), Denver on 8 May, and Kansas on 15 May.

Black Bush Stories

Irish whiskey Bushmills’ Black Bush Stories series returned this week with a number of interactive Instagram events. Each episode will explore a key theme and celebrate an individual and their craft.

Hosted on Instagram Live by presenters, Neil Ridley and Joel Harrison, the series will see Bushmills assemble a cast of collaborators across Ireland to bring the whiskey-inspired masterclass events into viewers’ homes for the first time.

The series debuted this week (29 April) with charcuterie master, Rob Krawczyk (pictured). Next Wednesday (6 May), the show will feature creative photographer Freddy Kelly, followed by Oscar Wolley from Suki Tea on 13 May, and candle maker Michael Morris on 20 May.

Each event will be live streamed at 8pm BST every Wednesday on the @bushmillsuk Instagram page where viewers will be introduced to Black Bush whiskey, hear the collaborator’s story and watch an interactive masterclass. The series will also be available to watch on IGTV.

GlenAllachie tasting with Billy Walker

Next Thursday (7 May), Speyside distillery GlenAllachie will host a live tasting of its new trio of Wood Finish whiskies.

Led by master distiller Billy Walker, the new limited edition range comprises nine-year-old Rye Wood Finish, 11-year-old Moscatel Wood Finish and 11-year-old Port Wood Finish.

The interactive tasting will encourage whisky fans to have drams ready to taste and share their thoughts and questions in the comments section.

The live tasting will be held on GlenAllachie’s Facebook page at 7pm BST. The event is the latest in a series of ‘Isolation Tastin’’ sessions from GlenAllachie on Facebook.

Our Whisky virtual festival

Educational platform Our Whisky kicked off its first online whisky festival yesterday (30 April). The event will also run at 6pm-7.30pm BST on 7 May, 14 May and 21 May.

The digital festival aims to connect whisky fans with their favourite distillers and blenders across the world, while raising money for those affected by the pandemic.

Each week ticket holders will be sent five unmarked whisky samples and will then be invited to join a live-streamed tasting, which will be hosted on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. The style, region and age of each whisky will be kept a secret until the tasting.

The event will be live-streamed on Our Whisky’s website and its Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channels. All funds from the event will be donated to The Drinks Trust charity.

Cinco Simply

To mark Cinco de Mayo on Tuesday 5 May, Tequila brand Patrón will host a virtual bar experience at 5pm ET on Instagram Live. The five-hour session will feature 20 bartenders from across the US as they shake up easy-to-make Margaritas using ingredients that are likely to be found in the kitchen, while providing tips and tricks for the perfect at-home cocktail experience.

The Tequila brand will also encourage viewers to leave a virtual tip to help support the on-trade during the pandemic by donating to one of Patrón’s partner charities during the virtual experience.

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