World Gin Week to launch in June
June will welcome what is being billed as ‘the first’ World Gin Week with pop-ups, tastings and educational seminars led by some of the industry’s biggest names.
Taking place from 13-20 June, the week is being launched by spirits experts Phillip Duff and the owner of New York’s The Ivory Peacock, Karl Finegan.
The pair have created the week with the aim of fostering a deeper appreciation of gin.
The launch of World Gin Week follows the success of the annual World Gin Day, founded in 2009 by global gin expert Emma Stokes, aka Gin Monkey. The annual celebration reaches millions of consumers worldwide.
Duff said: “We want World Gin Week to be the greatest celebration of gin that the world has ever seen, empowering and encouraging bars, bartenders and gin lovers everywhere to give some extra love to that noble juniper spirit which has spanned the globe, kick-started not one, but two golden ages of cocktails, and given us the very icon of the cocktail itself, the Martini.”
The week will see many of the world’s top bars put on special menus and promotions to engage consumers in discovering new gins, gin cocktails and gin-focused bars.
Some of the participating bars include Mexico City’s Handshake Speakeasy, Amsterdam’s Shakerato, Connaught Bar in London, Singapore’s Atlas, and the current top-ranked bar in North America, Sip & Guzzle, as well as Bar Leone in Hong Kong, which placed first on last year’s World’s 50 Best Bars list.
The week will offer a variety of gin-focused events in New York with The Ivory Peacock as the host venue.
On 13 June, World Gin Day, a kick-off party will launch the week with tastings of various gins at The Ivory Peacock’s four bars. The venue is home to more than 1,200 gins and ‘one of the largest’ selections in the world.
World Gin Day founder Stokes told The Spirits Business: “I look forward to working closely with Phil and Karl this year, and in the coming years, on World Gin Week.
“World Gin Day has built incredible momentum around gin in June over the years, and using their format of events and seminars there is the opportunity to provide further opportunities for the gin-loving public to celebrate their favourite spirit.”
Other events during World Gin Week will include a two-night takeover at The Ivory Peacock by a major London cocktail bar will follow on 14 and 15 June.
World Martini Day (20 June) will then see a range of educational seminars on gin and mixology from bar owners, gin distillers and authors, including Dale DeGroff, Allen Katz, Steve Schneider, and Natasha Bahrami, with more to be confirmed.
A closing party and celebration later on World Martini Day will wrap up the week, featuring an array of ticketed pop-up bars with renowned New York venues and bartenders serving their signature Martinis. Confirmed so far are the team at Sip + Guzzle, Dale DeGroff, Bar Madonna, and Room 207.
In addition, World Gin Week will award four brand scholarships: two for US brands and two for international brands. The scholarships are said to be for small, up-and-coming and independently-owned craft gin brands that otherwise would not be able to participate in events at World Gin Week.
Some of the confirmed sponsors so far include Diageo-owned Tanqueray Gin, New York Distilling-owned Dorothy Parker Gin, Heaven Hill-owned Bluecoat Gin, and Campari.
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