This summer Finlandia has targeted Britain with its biggest UK marketing push, aimed at focusing on and extending the brand’s UK reach by communicating a brand essence of “natural purity”. A through-the-line campaign aimed at the 25 to 39-year-old audience includes outdoor, on-line, print, experiential and PR activities, including what is described as ‘a full takeover’ of Euston Station in London, with corridors and escalators swathed…

It’s an immense and growing category, accounting for around one fifth of all spirits drunk globally. The vodka world – ever more crowded, with fierce battles for market share – is becoming increasingly tough . Never short on innovation, brand owners, producers and distributors are having to fight harder to maintain and grow their chunk of business, and this typically translates into ever more off-beat…

Fed by an apparently unquenchable thirst for tequila in the US, the iconic Mexican spirit is the fastest -growing spirits category with the super-premium segment of the market leading the way. Total tequila sales grew by US$147 million in 2007 to a total of US$1.6 billion. Total US case volume was up by 4.2 per cent to 10.5 million, according to numbers from the…

Spain is probably the most outward looking of the so called Old World or European wine-producing countries and Rioja in northern Spain produces the best-known wine in the most export-oriented region. With 70 per cent of its production consumed domestically, the region is looking to export even more as its economy falters. " Rioja has had its ear to the ground," declared Tom Perry, managing…

A ban on smoking in public places, high taxation on tobacco in all its forms, and restrictions on advertising. Where in the western world did these ideas first take hold – California? Ireland? The answer is actually Nazi Germany. Hitler’s passionate anti-smoking stance was fuelled not just by his own personal dislike of tobacco, but by the increasing medical evidence presented to him by his…

The relaunched Galliano is pulling out all the stops to get bartenders to back the famous brand. Owner Lucas Bols claims to have taken the brand back to its roots with a new recipe w hich gives more complexity and returns it to its original strength of 42.3 per cent. It is being positioned as the “Italian artisan of liqueurs”. To back the introduction of…

The Galvin Cup, the mixology competition sponsored by Rémy Martin and Piper Heidsieck, has been won by Marco Ercolano (pictured left) from the Milestone Hotel in London. Second and third were: Mirko Falconi from London’s Lanesborough hotel and Stefano Cossio of the Dorchester. Ercolano’s prize -winning cocktail: The Milestone 40ml Rémy Martin VSOP 1 0ml butterscotch schnapps 2 5 ml figs crème 1 0ml…

To celebrate Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday, the head barman at a London hotel created cocktail 46664 – after the great man’s inmate number while he was imprisoned between 1964 and 1990. After a concert in London’s Hyde Park last month, Robert Gaggl at the Cavendish Hotel in nearby Jermyn Street decided to create the cocktail, with 50 per cent of the proceeds going to Mandela’s 46664 charity.

West Eleven has launched a range of prepared cocktails – Classic Mojito, Passionfruit Mai Tai, Pomegranate Cosmo, Elderflower Collins and Blueberry Bramble. The authentic tasting mixes are made from “the finest ingredients and natural fruit” including Jamaican and Cuban rums blended by the company themselves. (UK on-trade £5.99 for a 25cl bottle)…

== Marqués de la Concordia Reserva 2001 == 100 per cent Tempranillo; 24 months in new French and American oak + 12 months in bottle; UK£10.99, US$19, €13 Colour: Deep, youthful purple with a tinge of age at the rim Aroma: Remarkably fresh plum, blackcurrant, black cherry with a touch of cinnamon and smoky wood Taste: Youthful, sour cherry and plum with prune touches. Tannin…