The week in pictures

Visitors travelling through Singapore Changi Airport over the next month will be able to gaze upon The Balvenie Morgan V6 Roadster, ahead of its Asia tour. Whisky and motor fans can find the vintage vehicle in Terminal 1 Airside – Central Piazza.

Mark Williams, of Galloway Wild Foods, led a forage on the Bruichladdich shoreline with the winners of The Botanist Japan foraged cocktail competition. Pictured above, the foragers can be seen picking tubular weed.

Bacardi has named multiple finalists for its 2016 Bacardi Legacy cocktail competition. Pictured from left to right are Northern Europe finalists Moe Aliaf of Brooms & Hatchets, Oslo; Oskar Johansson of Corner Club, Stockholm; Arash Ghassemi of Green Door, Berlin; Anya Lily Montague of Mr Porter, Amsterdam; Iain Griffiths of Dandelyan, London; Stefan Bauer of The Bank Brasserie & Bar, Vienna; Will Lynch of The Exchequer, Dublin; and Christof Reichart of Dom ‘Grill Kitchen Bar’, Karlsruhe.

The Benevolent Ball, hosted last week at The Dorchester, London, raised more than £40,000 for the charity, which works to support drinks industry professionals. Guests enjoyed a Champagne reception followed by a three-course dinner, guest speeches, a tombola and a 30 minute performance by magician Jamie Raven.

SB joined William Grant for its Rare Expressions prestige tasting day. In addition to sampling a range of products from across the brand portfolio, we joined Charlotte Voisey, director of brand advocacy at William Grant & Sons USA, for a look at cocktail trends in the US. A particular highlight of the day was a Balvenie cheese-pairing – delicious. 

On Tuesday, we joined the celebrations to mark the opening of Brasserie Blanc Southbank, a modern, French bar-restaurant in London. We sampled spring cocktails, sipped bespoke bubbly and nibbled on an array of tasty canapés.

Jägermeister teamed up with Matt Tuck, lead singer of Bullet For My Valentine, to host what is believed to be the world’s first gig on land, sea and air. Part of the brand’s Ice Cold gig series, the three-part affair took place across Lyngsfjord, Norway, with temperatures dipping as low as -30 degrees.

On Thursday SB headed to Number 90 Bar & Kitchen in Hackney Wick to help kick off a four-day celebration for the canal-side venue’s second birthday. The first day of festivities featured an array of immersive entertainment, from well-known artists creating bespoke masterpieces, to live music and a DJ set from Groove Armada’s Tom Findlay. Throughout the evening the bar served up delights from its new food and drink menu, including sliders, vegetarian nibbles and cocktails made from house-infused spirits. 

This week SB hosted the Bloody Mary Twist heat of The Wenneker Swizzle Masters cocktail competition. Ten original Bloody Mary recipes were put through their paces by our judging panel, comprising Marcin Twardowski, bar manager of The Crazy Coqs; SB’s very own Nuria Puertos Ahuir, events executive, and Kristiane Sherry, editor. The group gathered in The Boulogne Bar at The Bull and Gate in Kentish Town, where the pub’s assistant manager, Fatima Kamil, recreated each of the recipes to spec. The winning cocktail will be revealed in the April edition of the magazine. 

Havana Club hosted the Denmark heat of its global bartending competition this week, The Cocktail Grand Prix, which saw bartender Terkel Kleist take home first place. Contestants were tasked with creating the “next classic serve” by incorporating Cuban cocktail traditions, authenticity, personal experiences and local ingredients into their drinks.

Whisky fans can enjoy a day trip to Islay Festival with Bunnahabhain, thanks to the brand’s new Daytripper experience that is set to take place on Friday 27 May. Guests will be taken from Glasgow to the distillery in the north of the island, returning the same day, during the Feis Ile – The Islay Festival of Music and Malt.

To celebrate St Patrick’s Day on Thursday, The Teeling Whiskey Company turned its Dublin distillery green for the day.

Rapper A$AP Rocky celebrated the launch of new collaborative product Guess Originals with an exclusive party at Selfridges, where guests indulged in Patrón Tequila Margaritas and Patrón & Ginger cocktails. Guests included Skepta, Stormzy, Cora Delany, Siobhan Bell, Liam Hodges, Caitlin Price, Mimi Wade, Section Boyz, Western, Carri Munden, Rosie Fortescue, A$AP Nast, Krept and Konan.

SB‘s Amy Hopkins was treated to a tour of Diageo’s Glenkinchie Distillery as part of the group’s #LoveScotch press trip. Following an insightful look around of the single malt Lowland distillery and a Scotch whisky 101 tutorial with Dr Nick Morgan, head of whisky outreach at Diageo, the small group of journalists was whisked off to Edinburgh’s famous Bramble bar and The Kitchin for some delectable Scottish dishes. The following day, we toured the Diageo Abercrombie Coppersmiths & Engineers and the group’s impressive Cambus Cooperage before getting a dose of spirits history at Diageo’s archives centre.

Greenall’s Gin returned for the second year as the official gin of world-famous horse racing event Cheltenham Festival. The experiential activity included the return of The Greenall’s Good Times band (pictured), parties in the Final Flight Bar, and the Greenall’s Photo Booth.

As the official Irish whiskey of the Cheltenham Festival, The Dubliner Irish Whiskey hosted a designated Hot Toddy Bar, serving a selection of classic Irish whiskey cocktails.