News

House of Suntory announces new UK ambassador

Edrington UK announces the appointment of its latest UK Brand Ambassador for the House of Suntory, Raffaele Di Monaco. Raffaele joins Edrington UK from The Berkeley Hotel where he was Bars Manager for The Blue Bar and The Berkeley Bar & Terrace. A true hospitality lover with a great passion and curiosity for the food…

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Big gin favoured over craft in UK on-trade & hospitality

Despite the boom in local and small batch craft gin brands, 50 percent of the UK marketplace is dominated by three main gins; nearly 70 percent of tonic served is Fevertree and Schweppes, and the average cost of a UK single G&T is £6.50. Market research by Shepper, an innovative data-collection service, has revealed that the…

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Diageo enjoys 20% boost down to its super-premium spirits offering

Drinks giant, Diageo, has increased its annual sales by a fifth, with the company statingthat its growth reflects continued recovery of restaurants and bars following thepandemic, as well as the consumers’ growing taste for premium spirits.Diageo’s sales jumped by 21 percent to GBP 15.5bn in the year to 30 June, ahead ofanalysts’ forecasts. The company…

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Top UK restaurants groups suffer heavy losses

Several restaurant groups have suffered heavy losses due to major restructuring programmes undertaken following the pandemic, according to UHY Hacker Young. Additionally, many of these restaurant groups’ debt repayments, particularly to landlords, has pushed them down into losses The restaurant sector had expected a post-pandemic recovery in profits, but this has been put on hold…

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4th collaboration between Walsh Whiskey & Dick Mack’s Brewhouse

Two of Ireland’s leading artisan drinks-producing families, Walsh Whiskey of Carlow and Dick Mack’s of Dingle, have collaborated to create a once-off, super-premium Irish whiskey, finished in a rare craft beer cask.  The Irishman – The Harvest Brown Berry Beer Cask Finish is a triple-distilled, non-chill filtered, marriage of aged Single Malt and Single Pot Still Irish…

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Clooney’s Casamigos fastest growing brand

New entrant, Casamigos, is the fastest-growing spirits brand, almost tripling in value since last year and is now valued at US$450 million, up 177 percent.   After its sale to the UK-based multinational alcohol company Diageo in 2017 for around US$1 billion, George Clooney’s brand continues to perform strongly with tequila sales skyrocketing globally. Not…

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Barrel storage proposals

Proposals for an expanded whisky storage and warehousing development in Glenrothes are set to go out for public consultation, reports Scottish Construction Now. Scotch Whisky Investments (SWI) is bringing forward proposals for the delivery of single malt Scotch whisky storage warehouses with associated bottling, cooperage, and office facilities in Glenrothes. The international business, which is…

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Castletown Mill whisky distillery plans approved

Organic Architects can chalk another one up; its plans to transform a 200-year-old mill in Castletown into a destination whisky distillery have been given the green light. Dunnet Bay Distillers has submitted an application to Highland Council requesting permission to refurbish Castletown Mill and surrounding land, near the company’s headquarters. The restoration and fit-out of…

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Earliest barley harvest ever

Some farmers in the UK are experiencing their earliest ever barley harvest, with winter malting barley coming in at what has been budgeted for, according to Farmers Weekly. With the current dry, hot days in July, farmers are quickly harvesting as much as they can of the Electrum winter barley. Spring barley, however, is not…

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Ardbeg donates £1m to local community after record auction

Scotland’s Ardbeg Distillery has donated £1 million pounds to the local community for their “patience” after the world record sale of a single malt cask to a mystery collector. Just days earlier, a new record for the most expensive cask of whiskey sold had been set when a one-of-a-kind 1975 cask of Ardbeg Islay single malt Scotch…

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