Booze banter: SB Wrapped 2025
Turns out 2025 wasn’t just a big year for booze – it was a big year for us chasing it. Join us as we look back at a year of launches, activations, tastings and events, where we gathered stories, samples, and the occasional hangover along the way.
In 2025, The Spirits Business editorial team has written more than 3,000 online articles, published 13 magazine issues, travelled to more than 15 countries spanning five continents, and attended more spirits launches, brand activations and trade shows than we can count.
Yes, it’s been quite the year, and while there have been plenty of lows in the news in 2025, team SB has personally experienced a lot of highs.
We’ve looked back over 2025 and shared our highlights, from the stand-out spirits we’ve sampled to the very best brand experiences we’ve been lucky enough to attend, all the way through to our favourite on-trade visits.
Lauren Bowes, bars editor
Favourite spirit launch: Sylva Orchard
OK, OK, I know – it’s not a spirit. I’ve tasted possibly hundreds of fantastic whiskies, rums, gins, Cognacs and the like in 2025 – and while they’re obviously all very different to each other, nothing has particularly shaken up my conceptions of a category like Sylva has.
I drink a lot of low-and-no products – moderation is really important. Many of them are good; most of them are not. And of those that are good, nearly all of them lack a certain strength of flavour that you get with an alcoholic product. Ben Branson’s Sylva is the closest I’ve felt a non-alcoholic product has come to that. You can tell there’s no alcohol in it, but it serves as a great alternative to sipping a whisky or rum neat – an occasion that pretty much no other low-and-no product is targeting. Is it perfect? Not quite – but I have faith that the brand’s future expressions will be edging their way closer.
Favourite brand experience: Living La Dolce Vita with Disaronno
When I tell my friends about some of the trips or events I’ve been to, they’re usually shocked that this constitutes a job. Of course, there’s a lot of hard work that goes along with the fun – most of the time. Back in April, though, I had an (almost) entirely stress-free afternoon spent with Disaronno, celebrating the brand’s 500th anniversary with an Italian cookery lesson at London’s Enrica Rossa Cookery School.
We all helped to make bruschetta, fresh pasta, and tiramisu, with endless Disaronno Spritzes in hand, before tucking in together in the cookery school’s beautiful sun room. We also sampled a range of Disaronno cocktails, which helped to transport us from London to Lombardy (in our minds). All in all, not a bad way to spend an afternoon ‘at work’.
Favourite bar visit: All My Gods, London
Not to brag, but my role at SB means I get to visit a lot of bars – so picking just one as my ‘favourite’ for 2025 is no mean feat. Should I pick the bar that served me my favourite cocktail of the year: the Jerusalem Artichoke at London’s Waltz? Or the bar where I had the best experience: Barcelona’s Foco, which co-founder Theo opened for me on his day off to talk through some of his favourite cocktails (with many, many samples)?
Those would both be great answers – and, yes, I’m gaming the system by including them alongside my real choice. But if someone were to ask me for a recommendation for a bar that opened this year, I would hands down choose All My Gods in London’s Bethnal Green.
The cocktails are truly great, with an option for everyone. Many are on tap and served without fuss – meaning you’re not stuck waiting for 20 minutes while a bartender fires up the dry ice. And perhaps most importantly, each cocktail is £10 – meaning you can have multiple without a threatening message from Monzo, and it doesn’t have to be a special occasion to head in. As great as the American Bar is, it’s not somewhere I can recommend to many of my friends.
Throw in a pool table, a vending machine dispensing White Claw and BuzzBallz, a Martini machine and my favourite shot of all time – Picklebacks – and all bases are covered (in my opinion).
Miona Madsen, content writer
Favourite spirit launch: Copenhagen Raw No.5
As a whisky person, I would be doing an injustice to the category by not choosing one as my favourite spirit launch. While releases like The Whisky Exchange’s exclusive Jameson 23-year-old small batch and Glenfarclas 70-year-old limited editions are among the year’s highlights, I’m raising my metaphorical hat to Danish Copenhagen Distillery’s fifth annual edition of its Raw series.
Scandinavian whiskies are certainly making a name for themselves in the whisky scene with their exceptional quality. Copenhagen Raw No. 5, with an ABV of 59.7%, ticks many boxes with its complex, full-bodied palate, offering delightful notes of dark stone fruits, honey, malted barley, and molasses.
Interestingly, despite its colour and flavour profile, the whisky has not been aged in Sherry casks; instead, it has been matured in toasted 225-litre virgin Hungarian oak casks. I definitely have a soft spot for limited edition and single cask bottlings; the only downside is that when they run out, that’s it. Whiskies like Copenhagen Raw No.5 make me proud of my Danish heritage (even though just a quarter).
Favourite brand experience: Disaronno 500th anniversary
Not to repeat Lauren’s favourite this year, but Disaronno pulled out all the stops for its 500th anniversary in 2025. I had the pleasure of being shipped off to Rome to join the liqueur brand’s milestone celebration for three days.
From dinner at the Glass Hostaria restaurant by Michelin-starred chef Cristina Bowerman and cocktails at the Drink Kong bar, to a roasting backseat convoy in vintage Fiat 500s around Rome and the 500-year celebration at the La Lanterna rooftop, the trip left great – and almond-sweet – memories to remember.
Nicola Carruthers, deputy editor
Favourite spirit launch: Jo Vodka
While some might think vodka has fallen out of fashion, it’s a category that attracted the creator of one of the world’s most well-known fragrance brands into the spirits sector. Jo Malone CBE, who is known for her eponymous brand, has put her name to a trio of vodkas that each represent her character.
The vodka is also in safe hands with 20-year spirits veteran Joanne Moore, master distiller for the premium gin portfolio at Quintessential Brands, creating the liquid with Moore. It was a particularly memorable launch as I had the chance to interview the eccentric entrepreneur this summer and hear the story behind the product. My personal favourite of the trio is 102 – The Bohemian, a citrus-led vodka featuring pomelo, yuzu, bay leaf and bergamot. But for Martini lovers, try Jo’s The Purist, which is well-suited for the base of a Dirty Martini.
Favourite brand experience: Kintsugi with Glenrothes
Fresh in my mind is a recent visit to Michelin-starred restaurant Cycene and its Blue Mountain School in Shoreditch to celebrate the launch of The Glenrothes 51 Year Old – the brand’s oldest whisky to date.
What was most impressive about this event was the opportunity to take part in a kintsugi masterclass after dinner, held by Glasgow-based Kintsugi Jones, where guests were taken through its history and craftsmanship before smashing the whisky’s packaging.
The 51-year-old is encased in a solid, sustainably sourced Jesmonite column, and is the first whisky in the world that can be accessed only by destroying its packaging: smashing the column with a hammer provided, each column breaking in its own unique way.
We were all allowed to smash the packaging of a bottle of the 51-year-old and use the shards to practise the art of kintsugi and decorate the edges of the pieces to take home as Christmas ornaments. It was a therapeutic experience and one unlike any other, complemented with a dram of The Glenrothes 42 Year Old.
Favourite bar visit: Esencia, Barcelona
A visit to Barcelona is not complete without checking out the city’s vibrant bars, as I did during the peak of the heat in July.
The concept of ‘mini’ cocktails is hardly new, but world-renowned bartenders Simone Caporale and Marc Álvarez have nailed the concept at Esencia, which opened as part of their Sips bar in 2024. The venue is a high-end extension of Sips, focusing on a multi-course liquid tasting menu of small, innovative cocktails.
The magic of the bar is in watching each drink meticulously prepared in front of you and presented in the most spectacular and unusual formats. It’s a memorable experience and one worth trying out while visiting the city.
Georgie Collins, digital editor
Favourite product launch: Botivo x Ottolenghi
This was the year I finally decided to believe the industry hype and jumped on the Botivo bandwagon. In the space of the past 12 months, I’ve managed to get through three bottles of this non-alcoholic botanical aperitivo – one of the original, one of the Islay cask-aged expression, and my favourite of the trio: the limited edition expression created in collaboration with Yotam Ottolenghi, which launched in May. I’m such a massive fan of Middle Eastern and Levantine flavours, so the notes of pomegranate molasses, cardamom, and rose have been a joy to indulge in a few times a week (and it really has been a few times a week).
Of course, I have to give some honourable mentions to a few spirits (which do occupy 95% of my job), one stand-out being Aureus Vita, a first-of-its-kind gin that utilises an entirely new production process invented by chemist turned master distiller John Hall. Hall had perfection in mind when he created his production process inspired by the ‘golden ratio’, and I’d say he wasn’t far off with the resulting gin.
Similarly, I was blown away by Bruichladdich’s quadruple-distilled 18-year-old, which was revealed in November. The effect those additional distillations have had on the spirit is quite extraordinary, and it’s really exciting to see brands taking risks with innovation. More of that in 2026, please.
Favourite brand experience: No.3 Gin Martini Boutique
While interviewing Pietro Collina earlier this year, he made a comment about people who make Martinis their personality, and I’ve never felt more seen in my life. But despite being that kind of woman, I had never really known what my perfect Martini is until World Martini Day this summer, when I attended the No.3 Gin Martini Boutique.
The concept was simple: through a masterclass led by Alicia Stark, No.3’s global brand ambassador, we were given the opportunity to play with ratios, garnishes and temperatures (AKA stirring or shaking) to determine what makes our own individual perfect Martini. From tasting the gin and vermouth on their own, to gradually combining them in different measures, and then working out what garnish works best for that particular recipe, I was able to determine that my perfect Martini is made with a 4:1 ratio of gin to vermouth, with an expressed lemon garnish (and a bowl of olives on the side to maybe add later). Of course, I wanted to make sure this was correct and so had a few (five) Martinis to make sure, and the fact I can still remember the experience after all of that is a testament to how good it was. I do not, however, remember getting home.
Favourite bar visit: Silver Lyan, Washington DC (and friends)
In July, I travelled to the US capital to celebrate the fifth birthday of Silver Lyan and experience its new Butterfly Effect menu. Once I had acclimatised to the hot, swampy climate (still 30ºC at 10pm), I found myself really falling in love with the city, and especially its hospitality scene.
Silver Lyan was, of course, the highlight of the trip. Set in the former basement vault of the Riggs Washington hotel, the whole place is a vibe. From the room adorned with glowing wall-to-wall cabinets hosting every kind of amateur sporting achievement trophy going, to the mirror-ceilinged bar where some of the best cocktails I’ve ever tried are shaken, stirred and poured.
But the best thing about this bar is the team, who definitely know how to throw a party. To mark the bar’s fifth birthday, it closed to the public, cranked up the music, and let the cocktails from the new menu flow all night. Plus, to keep our stomachs lined and hunger at bay, there was no shortage of the bar’s iconic snacks, including the everything pretzel bites with grain mustard dip, and the legendary tater tots with dill buttermilk ranch, which still occupy my thoughts on a weekly basis.
But beyond Silver Lyan, the team were also kind enough not to gatekeep what is going on around DC, taking us to a selection of some of its best bars, from Allegory and Service Bar, to Trouble Bird to Your Only Friend – all of which served up incredible drinks alongside incredible service. Why aren’t more people talking about how great the DC bar scene is?
Melita Kiely, editor-in-chief
Favourite product launch: Ardbeg House and Badger Juice
OK, so this isn’t your classic ‘product launch’, but it is an unbelievably clever style of brand home for Islay distillery Ardbeg – and being able to try the recently launched, limited edition Ardbeg Badger Juice, only available at the hotel’s Islay Bar, should suffice. Once home to The Islay Hotel, Ardbeg House has paid attention to detail like no other brand home or boutique hotel I’ve experienced. Each of the 12 rooms boasts a unique design – and I mean unique. No two rooms are the same, with bespoke wallpaper, carpets, bedding, artwork, and bathroom tiles. It’s characterful, weird and wonderful, and thoroughly cosy, luxurious and inviting, particularly after a chilly Islay day visiting peat bogs and taking to the rocky seas. Then, at 18:15 each evening (an homage to Ardbeg’s founding year of 1815), guests are invited to the Islay Bar for a dram of Badger Juice, handpicked by master blender Gillian Macdonald. Just 60 litres are available, and once it’s gone, a new juice will be filled into the cask that sits atop the bar. It was truly special to be able to sample the first iteration of what will no doubt become another iconic Ardbeg offering.
Favourite brand experience: Martinique with La Martiniquaise-Bardinet for The Bartenders Society global cocktail competition final
The title location alone needs little explanation, really. Martinique is probably a lesser-known Caribbean island, and an overseas region of France, but it’s beautiful, historic, and everything you’d hope and expect an island in this part of the world to be. Having attended the global final of The Bartenders Society in Paris the year prior, I knew for the 10th anniversary and in a location like Martinique, this was going to be something super special. La Martiniquaise-Bardinet brought together contestants from around the world, along with esteemed partners (distributors, importers, ambassadors, and more), and provided a week of education – particularly at the Saint James Rhum Distillery – networking, and cultural immersion through local bars, restaurants, and even musicians. All of this was topped off post-competition when a duo of catamaran boats sailed us over rich blue waters as we sipped Ti’ Punch, and swam to sandy beaches (while avoiding being dive-bombed by pelicans eyeing their next meal). An utterly ‘pinch me’ work moment.
Favourite bar visit: Bar Leone, Hong Kong
In all honesty, I could reel off a number of bars I visited in Hong Kong that marked my 2025 on-trade experience: The Diplomat, Coa, (alcohol-free) Mostly Harmless, Penicillin – I will wax lyrical about this phenomenal pocket of hospitality to anyone who will listen. But I have to single out Bar Leone – there’s a very good reason this venue now sits as not just the best bar in Asia, but the world. And it was so good, I had to stop by twice (thrice if you count my first visit to record an episode of The Spirits Business Podcast with founder Lorenzo Antinori). The cocktails are classic, well-made and delicious, the bar snacks are satiating, and the atmosphere – with huge credit to the team there – is abundantly warm and fun. One day, I’ll go back for another Filthy Martini, and it won’t be soon enough.
Rupert Hohwieler, senior staff writer
Favourite spirit launch: Dutch Barn, Ginger Spice
I like vodka and can appreciate donkeys, so this release from Dutch Barn was always going to work. Not named after or inspired by Geri Halliwell (I think), this limited release is great in a Mule mixed in a glass with ginger beer (though no doubt many forms of juice will also do just fine), for a very drinkable serve that requires minimal effort and offers both punch and a kick. It’s ideal for the home bartender, like me, who usually can’t be bothered getting out all the shaking equipment and cleaning it up after. And the orange bottle is pleasing on the eye and nice to hold, too.
Dutch Barn says it donates 25% of the profits to a donkey sanctuary that looks after and protects the animals – and who can begrudge that? Having been to Ellers Farm up by York earlier this year, and witnessed everything it does, it’s a distillery that’s pretty easy to get behind. Cheers and brays all around…
Favourite brand experience: Bowmore ARC-54 launch
It’s not every day that you get to try a whisky worth £71,000 (once in a lifetime, more like). That rare day happened for me earlier this year when Bowmore released the second whisky in its ARC series with Aston Martin. As you’d expect, a whisky of this calibre was treated like royalty, commanding a room of well-dressed guests at Raffles at the OWO in London – many of whom had flown in from around the world – and preceded by a five-course tasting experience that also included some of the Islay distillery’s other impressive whiskies, paired with things like an Earl of Stoneham Wagyu-filled pasty. What a life, eh?
After guests completed their circle around the ballroom, sipping whisky, guzzling oysters and eyeing up the prize in the middle, it was time for the main event – a tasting of the ARC-54. But first… a standing ovation and a musical performance, as one does, and then guests finally raised their glances before giving it a try. Silence and head nodding followed, then the assessment period. I had tropical notes like pineapple and some peat, of course, though it was all a bit blur, if I’m honest – but it’s also a memory I’ll never forget.
Favourite bar launch: Sprout
Beetroot, red onions, Marmite… Sprout in the Templeton Garden hotel has managed to find a way to insert nearly every kind of ingredient into a drink, whether polarising or not, and make it work. I’m into unlikely, perhaps strange, flavours in drinks, so the menu here really did it for me. In my book, it’s the best bar that opened in 2025.
I went to the launch in April and tried many of the cocktails, and the only reason I haven’t been back is because it’s on the wrong side of London for me. I’ve spied a spinach Chilcano on the menu now (the menu changes a lot, with ingredients needing to be at their peak), so maybe I’ll need to return soon.
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