While there is plenty of flux in the now 40-strong list, Louis Roederer’s consistent success is mirrored across the top four, which remains unchanged since 2024. Louis Roederer has topped each list since 2018, with Krug and Bollinger completing the podium for the third year in a row. To collate the list, Drinks International polls several hundred of the world’s most knowledgeable champagne voices, including…
The 4% decline takes total alcohol duty receipts for the provisional 2025 to 2026 financial year to date to £7 billion. Receipt for the period showed that alcohol duty from wine and other declined by £100 million (4%), duty from beer sales declined by £59 million (3%), while receipts from cider increased by £30 million (21%). Spirits were the hardest hit category with duty declines…
In total, the group saw an organic sales decline of 5.9%, outpaced slightly by a 7.5% decline in organic profits from recurring operations. The Americas led the decline with a 12% drop across the region, driven by a 15% fall in sales in the US. The group attributes the performance to the US “spirits market conditions remaining soft” and some adjustments in inventory. Individual markets…
The duo has built extensive experience across the international bartending landscape, with Castaldo having worked at London’s Baccarat Bar at Harrods and Kwãnt Mayfair, as well as heading up the Kwãnt By The Sea project. Mora brings 15 years of experience in the Latin American hospitality sector, including most recently a seven-year tenure at Alquímico in Cartagena. “With Gem Studio, we want to create experiences…
While Irish whiskey may have peaked in terms of the big distillery boom, it's now predicted that those who survive and thrive under different trading conditions will soon be delivering on the promises of the past decade.
The expo, which will take place at the city’s Radisson Blu Carlton Hotel, has been produced in close collaboration with Mirror Bar, recently named the 25th best bar in the world according to The World’s 50 Best Bars. The event will welcome more than 30 bars for two days of masterclasses, seminars and panel talks. In addition to the educational aspect of the show, Bratislava…
Authorities have confirmed the arrest of Mayor Diego Rivera alongside Tequila’s security director and the heads of public works and land registry. The group are accused of leading a racketeering ring that has targeted beer and tequila producers in the municipality. Federal security minister Omar García Harfuch said in a statement on social media: “Following Operation Enjambre, in which three municipal presidents from the State…
The Highland-based producer is the first whisky venture to receive investment from Catalyst Fund, a social investment fund operated by Firstport to provide capital for “social businesses in Scotland that need investment to grow but are currently unable to secure other social investment”. GlenWyvis is the world’s first whilly community-owned distillery with its roughly 3,800 members having equal say in the distillery’s governance. The distillery…
The rapid expansion of the category comes with its own set of challenges. Oli Dodd looks at how producers are balancing quality, economics and scale.
In a report in October, the IWSR named the category a “beacon of hope”, outpacing total beverage alcohol growth in eight of the top 10 global markets. London-based Black Lines is a ready-to-serve cocktail brand created out of the realities of operating a pre-batch program in a high volume cocktail bar – it was while working as group bar manager at Soho House that co-founder…
