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A series of rigorous bling tasting featuring panels of the industry’s most renowned and influential experts awarded a total of 45 trophies spanning Scotch and Japanese whisky, American and Irish whiskey, agave spirits, vodka, gin, fruit distillates, Asian spirits, speciality spirits, rum, liqueurs, pre-mix drinks, and low or no alcohol distilled spirits. The Yamazaki 12 was honoured at an awards ceremony held in One Great…

No price has been disclosed for the brands and the deal with William Grant & Sons has been executed with Edrington subsidiary The 1887 Company. A spokesperson for William Grant & Sons said: “Having been around for over 125 years, The Famous Grouse has a rich history and would be a significant addition to our portfolio. The brand has potential for innovation and international growth…

Too was the owner of Kuala Lumpur speakeasy Omakase + Appreciate which featured in Asia’s 50 Best Bars in 2026 and 17, peaking at number 10. Co-founder Shawn Chong said on Instagram: “We fought many battles together but unfortunately this time we lost. And I lost big. Thank you for all the good times and all the bad ones too. “You were in pain…

In a report on the amaretto category last year by Clinton Cawood, Jose Luis Hermoso, research director at IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, said: “Amaretto has benefited from the on-premise boom post-pandemic and grew close to 5% again in 2022.” According to IWSR data for the same period, the global increase in volumes for total liqueurs was 3%, making amaretto one of the best performers within…

Wine Sapiens is the only wine encyclopaedia which took more than eight years of research and development and in addition to the already published English volumes 1–4, the remaining volumes 5–8 are scheduled to be published in the coming years. This support for the English edition stems from Juvé & Camps’ commitment to advancing gastronomy and sommelier practices for the cava category. Meritxell Juvé, CEO of…

The research, experimentation & development of Sylva is led by Branson and Jack Wareing, and sees a new approach to making premium dark spirits (<0.5% ABV), with the first experimental release available to pre-order from mid-September. At Sylva, Branson and Wareing have developed a process to not only extract the full flavour profile of traditional barrel wood and grain varieties, but explore the use of…

Total net sales equalled €11,598m for the period and Pernod CEO Alexandre Ricard insisted the “robust” results are positive given the economic and geopolitical uncertainty. “Pernod Ricard achieved robust results for the fiscal year ending June 2024 within an environment of economic and geopolitical uncertainty and spirits market normalization after two years of exceptional post-pandemic growth,” said Ricard. “Our global scale, our agility and our…

The government plans were leaked earlier this week but concerns have been raised about the potential loss of revenues in the UK on-trade. Kate Nicholls (pictured), chief executive of UKHospitality, said: “A ban on smoking in outdoor spaces comes with the prospect of serious economic harm to hospitality venues. You only have to look back to the significant pub closures we saw after the indoor…

Dan Murphy’s is the leading online alcohol retailer in Australia and also operates 270 retail stores nationwide. Yuriy Sorochynskiy, CEO at Nemiroff, said: “Our vodka is a tribute to our rich heritage and the timeless traditions of vodka making, as well as embodying the ‘fighter spirit’ that everyone has within them. We are confident that Australian consumers will embrace Nemiroff De Luxe as a new…

The traditionally popular markets for prosecco are Italy, the UK and US. However, in recent years Asia has attracted the attention of major producers and, according to Statista, the revenue of Asia’s prosecco market is expected to be US$2bn in 2024. Currently it’s only the major players showing significant inroads into the Asian market due to a number of factors. Perlino is one of the…