Hamish smith has the lowdown on the who, what and how of the way the annual lists are compiled

Alex Kratena and Monica Berg will launch their first solo London venue in Spring 2019, it has been exclusively revealed to Drinks International’s sister publication Class.

Matt Whiley has announced he will open a sequel to his London bar Scout in Sydney in February 2019.

Stryyk, the zero-proof ‘spirit’ brand has launched Stryyk Not Vodka to its portfolio in time for Christmas and ‘Dry January’.

Glencairn crystal company has been selected by the Distilled Spirits Council of the US to be the official tasting glass for this year.

The Benevolent, the charity for the UK drinks industry, presents its recommendations to safeguard employees’ mental health on World Mental Health Day

Orlando Marzo from Melbourne’s Lûmé restaurant was named the world’s best bartender by Diageo World Class last night amid wild celebrations in Berlin.

Maverick Drinks has partnered with an online beverage learning platform called Jerry to bring the software to the UK.

Ryan Chetiyawardana’s Dandelyan was named World’s Best Bar at The World’s 50 Best Bars awards 2018 which took place at Roundhouse in London, UK.

Obituary: Nicholas Faith

02 October, 2018

Legendary writer and journalist Nicholas Faith has died aged 84.

The 2018 World’s 50 Best Bars 51-100 list has been released and involves 28 cities across 19 different countries and 19 new entries.

London officially has the highest number of bars than any other city in the world followed by Tokyo and then New York.

The 10th edition of The World’s 50 Best Bars awards will take place on Wednesday 3 October 2018 at the Roundhouse in London, UK.

The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) has appointed Jeremy Shepherd from Brown-Forman and Mark Riley from Edrington-Beam Suntory UK to its board.

The American Bar at the Savoy has appointed Maxim Schulte as its 11th head bartender, a role considered by many to be the biggest job in bartending.

HMRC has confirmed that 326 soft drinks manufacturers have been hit by the sugar tax according to data held by national accountancy group UHY Hacker Young, while alcoholic spirits remain safe from such legislations.

Dead Rabbit co-founder Sean Muldoon has vowed that the bar will “bounce back” after it was closed indefinitely following a fire in the early hours of Sunday, 1 July.

Arron Grendon from Tropic City in Bangkok has been crowned the 2018 Chivas Masters Global Champion.

Former Diageo Reserve World Class GB champion Jamie Jones has backed this year’s winner, Daniel Warren to flourish in the global final in Berlin later this year.

Dutch bartender Eric van Beek of bar TwentySeven in Amsterdam believes winning the Bacardí Legacy Cocktail Competition last month will be “life changing”.

Bartending icon and bar owner John Lermayer, was found dead in his apartment on Miami Beach on the evening of June 6, aged 45.

The Wine and Spirit Trade Association has announced that one of the longest serving members of staff, Carlo Gibbs, director of UK Policy and Social Responsibility, is leaving to take up a new role in the UK Government’s Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Diageo Reserve has announced this year’s 10 World Class GB finalists, following the semi-final heats in London on May 16.

The UKBG has been turned on its head by the appointment of an all-star team that includes bartending legend Peter Dorelli, Declan McGurk of the American Bar and Mia Johansson of Swift.

In the wake of Scotland’s new minimum unit pricing policy, alcoholic drink manufacturers and retailers are being warned that they could risk breaching competition rules.

Cocktail mixer brand, Funkin has launched its Innovation Lab in partnership with London’s Crucible, opening with workshops in Bristol and Manchester in May.

Deglise to leave Vinexpo

05 April, 2018

Vinexpo has announced its chief executive, Guillaume Deglise will leave the company after the Hong Kong exhibition, which closes on May 31.

AB InBev and Beam Suntory have announced a marketing collaboration between their Budweiser and Jim Beam brands.

Erik Lorincz will leave his position as the head bartender of the American Bar at the Savoy – the World’s Best Bar 2017 - to open his own bar in London.

A graduate programme known as The Pernod Ricard Winemakers has opened for this year’s applications.

Champagne exports boom

26 March, 2018

Champagne has recorded a turnover of €4.9bn, an increase of +6.6% due to improved export performances.

Pernod Ricard has confirmed the death of an employee at its Midleton Distillery in Cork, who has been named locally as Dominic Knowles.

The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) has renewed its collective trademarks ‘Scotch Whisky’ and its translation ‘苏格兰威士忌’ in China until November 2028. So, Scotch Whisky is officially protected from locally produced copies for a further 10 years.

WSET annual awards

23 January, 2018

The Wine & Spirits Education Trust awards took place last night (January 22) at The Guildhall in the City of London.

The Benevolent launched a new mental health awareness campaign #NotAlone at the Vintners’ Company Annual Wine Trade Lunch on 12 January at Vintners’ Hall.

Hyde named new WSET chairman

08 January, 2018

Nick Hyde has taken over from James Simpson MW as chairman of the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) board of trustees. Simon McMurtrie has also joined the board.

Brands Report: How we did it

02 January, 2018

AS WE SEEK TO IMPROVE our research products, the Drinks International Brands Report has seen some fine-tuning but the objective – to provide a snapshot of the buying habits of elite bars around the world – remains the same.

WSET‘s Ian Harris gets MBE

02 January, 2018

Wine & Spirit Education Trust chief executive Ian Harris has been appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the New Year’s Honours List 2018.

The Wine and Spirit Trade Association is calling on the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer to freeze wine and spirit duty in tomorrow’s budget.

Vinexpo has announced the launch of a new event in Paris in 2020 and Vinisud has merged with Vinovision Paris

The Wine and Spirit Trade Association says it has joined up with trade bodies from across Europe to agree a ground breaking Brexit position paper.

The American Bar from London was named World’s Best Bar amid a dominant night for hotel bars at The World’s 50 Best Bars ceremony in London tonight.

The Benevolent, the drinks industry charity, has launched a confidential telephone helpline manned by professional counsellors.

The Benevolent, the charity for the UK drinks trade, has announced that a bike ride, in memory of Dan Townsend the Treasury Wine Estates’ European managing director who died in March while on business in Napa valley, raised more than £13,000.

WSET reports record demand

03 August, 2017

The Wine & Spirit Education Trust claims that demand for wine and spirits education is higher than ever, as more businesses recognise the return on investment in educated staff.

Quintessential Brands has announced a €18.3m investment by Stock Spirits in its Dublin Liberties Distillery Company.

The International Spirits Challenge’s Supreme Champion Spirit for 2017 is Suntory’s Hibiki 21 Year Old.

LVMH Moët Hennessy has announced that it has bought the Woodinville Whiskey Company in Washington State. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The Wine and Spirit Trade Association was invited to attend Defra’s Food and Drink discussions at a roundtable led by secretary of state, Michael Gove, last week.

San Francisco bar Trick Dog, a three-time member of The World’s 50 Best Bars, has launched its tenth menu today, a children’s book named: What Rhymes with Trick Dog?

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