Our weekly round-up of industry news, for September 30 to October 7, 2013
New single-grain Scotch challenges convention
William Grant & Sons is challenging convention with the release of a new brand of Scotch that aims to build interest in single-grain whiskies from Scotland. It is releasing The Girvan Patent Still Single Grain 25 Year Old, exclusively in the UK, named after the still at the Girvan distillery which is best known for producing grain whisky for blending. It will be followed by two more expressions in March: a 30-year-old whisky and a younger spirit with no age statement.
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Funkin names “Innovation Champion” winner
Dan Redman-Hubley (pictured) from Trailer Happiness in west London has won the brand ambassador role of “Innovation Champion” for cocktail mix brand Funkin. He beat other finalists at a competition where they were challenged to come up with a future concept for the Funkin range that they believed would shake up the cocktail industry. They also had to create an original cocktail using a new fruit purée made from cape gooseberries which was developed with London bar Nightjar and will be launched into the on-trade in December.
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Glasgow bartender wins Auchentoshan Switch
Aidan Bowie (pictured) from The Blythswood Square Hotel in Glasgow has won the European final of the Auchentoshan Switch. He beat 11 bartenders from across the UK, Sweden and Germany in London where they were put through a series of challenges. Aidan’s prize will be to “switch” continents with the North American winner and spend two weeks working in The Dead Rabbit in New York City.
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Diageo and Liquorists create Manchester bar
Diageo Reserve Brands, the premium spirits arm of Diageo, has teamed up with consultancy The Liquorists for a pop-up bar in Manchester city centre. Reserve by The Liquorists will open at 52 King Street on October 10 and run for three months. It coincides with the start of Manchester Cocktail Week from October 14 to 20.
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Cardiff bar saved from administration
Leading Cardiff cocktail bar Buffalo has been sold, saving 22 jobs, after going into administration. Administrators from insolvency practitioners SFP negotiated the sale of the bar in Windsor Place to new company 8 Bar Blue, which plans to continue running it as Buffalo for the time being.
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Pubco invests in bar for Cheshire town
Star Pubs & Bars is investing £197,000 in a complete refurbishment of a bar in Knutsford, Cheshire, to help its lessees relaunch it as Twenty One Bar and Grill. The Lounge (pictured) on the corner of Princess Street is being revamped to broaden its appeal, with a further £40,000 being invested in fixtures and fittings by new lessees Jasper Perry and Adam Bartnik.
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London Cocktail Week is under way
Bacardi Brown-Forman Brands (BBFB) training team are returning to London Cocktail Week this year with seminars from leading bartenders and experts under the banner of “Cocktail Culture”. The seminars are aimed at professional bartenders, featuring the likes of Bacardi rum’s master blender José Sanchez and Bombay Sapphire Gin’s master distiller Nik Fordham. For more on these and the many other events, visit www.londoncocktailweek.com.
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Search for cocktails for sea fort pop-up
A cocktail is being sought for The Kraken Black Spiced Rum that is worthy of serving in one of the most unusual pop-up bars ever – on a sea fort nine miles off the coast of Kent. The Think Ink competition, which takes place on Tuesday (October 8) in London, is calling on bartenders to come up with a cocktail that is “As Dark As A Kraken’s Ink”. It will be for serving in The Kraken Rum Black Ink Society bar on the historic Red Sands sea forts which are due to open their doors to the public for the first time.
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Punch Pong final in London tonight
Bartenders from across the UK and Ireland are preparing for the grand final of the Underground Punch Pong League (UPPL) Monin Bartenders’ Challenge Cup tonight (October 7). It will take place at the Arts Theatre in London’s West End on the opening night of London Cocktail Week. Fourteen teams of two bartenders from around the country will fight it out to win a trip to Paris – and the organisers want to fill the venue with supporters to cheer them on.
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Buffalo Trace pop-up celebrates classics
1960s Americana is the theme of a new pop-up bar for Buffalo Trace bourbon, inspired by US TV series Mad Men. The Buffalo Bourbon Empire has been brought back with the classic new look by the whiskey’s UK distributor Hi-Spirits. It features 1960s-style décor and classic American cocktails and runs on selected nights until October 19.
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Finest Call for bartenders to Bloody Mary bar
A Bloody Mary Garden is being created as a bolt hole for the bar trade in London’s Covent Garden as part of London Cocktail Week, created by bar events company Twist London. The Bartenders Lounge will serve twists on the classic cocktail using the premium Bloody Mary Mix from Finest Call, the ready-to-mix cocktail range distributed in the UK by Cellar Trends.
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Courvoisier seeks new drinkers and occasions
A new marketing campaign for Courvoisier cognac is to celebrate “living in the now”, including on-trade activities and a link-up with going-out app YPlan. The multi-channel campaign, called “Here’s to Now”, aims to challenge conventions around the cognac category, appealing to premium spirit consumers aged 25 to 45 and creating new drinking occasions.
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Bar operators named best employers
Urban Leisure Group, The Breakfast Club, Jolly Fine Pubs and The Roof Gardens in London are among winners in this year’s Best Employers in Hospitality Awards. Run by leading online job board Caterer.com, the awards are judged independently by the employees of the companies who enter via an online survey.
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Brighton club sold to Eclectic
Coalition, one of Brighton’s best-loved clubs, has been sold by pub and bar group InnBrighton to national bar operator Eclectic Clubs & Bars. The 600-capacity club employs around 60 staff, all of whom will join Eclectic. Eclectic also owns Madame Geisha in Brighton which it bought in March and is planning to redevelop into the first of a new cocktail bar and restaurant brand, Dirty Blonde, in 2014.
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Novotel launches “cocktail month” promotions
Hotel group Novotel is running promotions as part of a strategic alliance with London Cocktail Week, tying in with its own “Cocktail Month” activities across the UK. It will be installing a prize wheel in Seven Dials, Covent Garden throughout this week and also give free London Cocktail Week wristbands to guests booking through a “Perfect Mix” promotion. It will also introduce a signature cocktail, the Novotel Royale, part of a new drinks menu across all 31 Novotels in the UK for “Cocktail Month”.
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Halewood adds lower-ABV herbal spirit
A lower-ABV herbal schnapps, Stukaberg, is to be distributed in the UK by drinks company Halewood International, aimed at younger people on high-energy nights out. The smooth-tasting 22% product, developed by Cubic Brands, is a secret blend of selected herbs and spices, complementing Josef Meiers herbal liqueur.
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Hankey Bannister releases new 40-year-old
Inver House Distillers has released a new limited-edition 40-year-old expression of Hankey Bannister Blended Scotch Whisky. Only 1,480 bottles of the whisky are being made available over a three-year period until 2015, with the first 500 coming in gilt-engraved decanters.
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Glen Garioch releases new whiskies
Highland distillery Glen Garioch has released two new whiskies that highlight its exploration of wood. The inaugural expression in its small-batch vintage programme, the Glen Garioch Vintage 1999 has been matured solely in oloroso sherry casks for 14 years. The other limited offering is its first-ever single malt to be fully matured in virgin oak, creating a whisky packed with spiciness and vanilla.
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Classic London beer revived by Fuller’s
London brewer Fuller’s is delving into its history for its new bottled 1966 Strong Ale. With an ABV of 7.3%, it is the fourth beer in its Past Masters range of unique ales and is a re-creation of a beer first created at the Chiswick brewery in 1966.
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Sourz promoted for shots on nights out
The latest ad campaign for Sourz liqueurs celebrates how consumers enjoy it as a shot on a big night out. The ad, part of the brand’s biggest-ever through-the-line campaign, follows a group of young people from pre-party drinks in an apartment to the end of a night in a club, with the tagline “This is our shot”.
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New Stoli bottle glows in the dark
A bottle that glows in the dark is the latest limited edition from premium vodka brand Stolichnaya, Stoli Night Edition, which is being introduced this autumn. It appears to come in a minimalistic, frosted glass bottle but the front label has a subtle pattern that absorbs the energy of light throughout the day. When the lights go out, it releases a radiant pattern using special glow-in-the-dark ink.
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New look and liquid for Black Bottle
Burn Stewart Distillers has unveiled the new look and liquid for premium blended whisky Black Bottle, marking a return to a recipe closer to the original Scotch created in the late 19th century in north-east Scotland. Maintaining the ABV at 40%, the result is a rich and slightly smoky taste that maintains the distinctiveness of Black Bottle but adds another layer of depth to the liquid.
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Africa inspires new London dry gin
A new London dry gin inspired by Africa and made with African ingredients is being introduced in the UK, with a slice of the profits helping to save endangered elephants. Elephant Gin is distilled in Münster in Germany, with an ABV of 45%, using 14 botanicals including the herb Devil’s Claw, the shrub Lion’s Tail, the baobab fruit, African wormwood and the buchu plant.
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Mayfair bars join gin cocktail trail
Bars, hotels and restaurants across Mayfair in London are hosting a “cocktail trail” that offers six different drinks made with Berkeley Square Gin. Running until November, it brings together bars that took part in the Berkeley Square Cocktail Competition to devise a sophisticated cocktail for the gin, which was won by Scott Green of restaurant 34.
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