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Kentucky distillery Woodford Reserve has revealed plans to expand and double its production capacity to meet ‘growing demand’.
The expansion will include the installation of three new copper pot stills, as well as a new building that will house the boiler plant, additional fermentation tanks, a grain unloading area, a barrel unloading and storage area, and a conference and training centre for employees.
Starting in the spring, the expansion is expected to be completed in the summer of 2022. During this time, the distillery will remain fully operational.
“Woodford Reserve is celebrating its 25th anniversary throughout 2021, and the expansion of the distillery allows us to look to the next 25 years,” said Master Distiller, Chris Morris.
Woodford Reserve surpassed one million cases for the first time in 2019.
“Woodford Reserve has enjoyed exceptional growth over the last decade, maintaining a double-digit net sales growth rate year to date with more than one million case sales,” said Lawson Whiting, CEO of parent company, Brown-Forman.
Making A Stir
MOËT HENNESSY USA CELEBRATES THE RETURN OF THE HOLIDAY WISH-SHOP
November 17,2021
If you are after an online oasis providing unique holiday offerings and tips to elevate your hosting, guesting and gifting skills, you can’t go past Moët Hennessy USA’s Holiday Wish-Shop.
The luxury house’s iconic brands have teamed up with celebrity friends, actress and author Gabrielle Union, actor Harry Shum Jr, model and founder of Every Mother Counts, Christy Turlington Burns and actor and Hennessy ambassador Henry Golding, to craft joyful experiences and share personal entertaining tips to inspire holiday celebrations.
Beginning today through January 1, 2022, people can visit HolidayWishShop.com for new inspiration and offerings to help guide them through their holiday celebrations, from Friendsgiving to Thanksgiving and from New Year’s Eve to New Year’s Day brunch.
With curated bottle packages, cocktail recipes, food pairing ideas and our celebrity host’s entertaining tips, visitors won’t need to look further for inspiration on how to host, guest and gift. While stocking up on inspiration, The Holiday WISH-SHOP visitors can also donate to charities hand-selected by Moët Hennessy USA’s celebrity friends—Operation Smile, Every Mother Counts, The People Concern and LEAP.
Finally, The Holiday WISH-SHOP will do a little gifting on its own by offering visitors the chance to win a memory of a lifetime – a private, virtual celebrity drop-in with our celebrity hosts on New Year’s Eve.
A Celebratory Hang Out and New Year’s Eve Toast with Gabrielle Union
A Cocktail Crafting Experience with Harry Shum Jr
A Champagne Tasting Experience with Christy Turlington Burns
Play a “Best Moment of 2021” Party Game with Henry Golding
“For the first time in nearly two years, families and friends are reuniting during the holiday season with a renewed appreciation for love, friendship and unbreakable bonds,” says Chad Stubbs, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Moët Hennessy USA.
“We started the WISH-SHOP initiative as a response to the pandemic and to raise funds in support of the restaurant industry. We are thrilled to bring it back with our fantastic group of celebrity friends to help inspire elevated holiday festivities and increase awareness and support of those in need.”
From the Grand Canal to the bustling palazzi, Italy’s floating city is about to show off its vibrant culture in a whole new light. The city’s uniqueness and zest for life will be transformed into liquids, as the city prepares for the launch of Venice Cocktail Week.
Organised by journalist Paola Mencarelli, who also founded the first Florence Cocktail Week, which is now in its sixth year, the event is dedicated to quality mixed drinks and responsible drinking.
“In this extraordinary year, we have not given up, and we have decided to double up by bringing our Cocktail Week format to Venice,” says the event’s Founder & Creative Director, Paola Mencarelli. “It will be an unusual edition for this event, our first-ever event in winter, but we will warm up this splendid city of art and culture at the sound of shakers and cocktails.”
With the support of Aman Venice, the festival will follow the same structure as Florence, with a week dedicated to the city’s vibrant bar and cocktail scene.
During the week, hotel bars, cocktail bars and historic cafés will unite to demonstrate their talents and promote responsible drinking culture, with a variety of themed nights and masterclasses from visiting bartenders, as well as recreational activities celebrating Venetian culture that will allow guests to discover the city in a new light.
Participating bars with include but are not limited to –
● Alchemia, Ca’ di Dio ● Amo, Fondaco dei Tedeschi ● Arts Bar, The St. Regis Venice ● Bar Gabbiano, Cipriani, A Belmond Hotel, Venice ● Bar Longhi, The Gritti Palace ● Blue Bar, Hotel Excelsior ● Blue Drop ● Caffè Baglioni, Baglioni Hotel Luna ● Caffè Florian ● Caffè Lavena ● Chet Bar ● ChicBar, Taverna La Fenice ● Bar Dandolo, Hotel Danieli ● Excess Venice Cocktail Food & Garden ● Experimental Cocktail Club, Il Palazzo Experimental ● Grancaffé Quadri ● Il Caravellino, Hotel Saturnia & International ● Il Mercante ● Londrabar, Hotel Londra Palace ● Palazzina The Bar, Palazzina Grassi ● San Giorgio Cafè ● Tarnowska’s American Bar ● Terrazza Aperol ● The Bar, Aman Venice ● Time Social Bar ● Skyline Rooftop Bar ● Hilton Molino Stucky Venice
For more information on the festival go to venicecocktailweek.it or follow Venice Cocktail Week on Instagram at @venicecocktail_week.
Making A Stir
JESSICA ALBA & COINTREAU CELEBRATE WITH COSMOPOLITANS
November 9,2021
Cointreau is kicking off the holiday season with award-winning actor and entrepreneur Jessica Alba and the Cointreau Catching Up Over Cosmos cocktail kit, making it a little easier for everyone to celebrate with friends and family from home.
Cointreau is all about bringing people together over cocktails whether through at-home holiday festivities, virtual celebrations, or cosy nights-in. Available starting today, exclusively on Sourced Craft Cocktails, the Cointreau Catching Up Over Cosmos cocktail kit has everything you need to mix up The Cosmopolitan and the Uptown Spice – a spicy twist on the classic. With the Cointreau Catching Up Over Cosmos cocktail kit, get ready to shake up an elevated cocktail to enjoy with your crew from home or gift to a loved one during the holidays.
“The holidays are right around the corner, and I’m looking forward to celebrating with friends and family while I sip a Cosmopolitan — one of my favourite classic cocktails,” said Jessica Alba. “That’s why I’m excited to partner with Cointreau to help bring the holidays to life this year with the Catching Up Over Cosmos cocktail kit, making it even easier to shake up a delicious Cosmopolitan or two.”
“The holiday season is always a time where friends and families reunite, whether in-person or virtually and what better way to celebrate than with The Cosmopolitan in hand,” said Ian McLernon, President and CEO at Rémy Cointreau Americas. “The Cointreau Catching Up Over Cosmos cocktail kit, inspired by Jessica Alba, makes it even easier for our clients to mix up a Cosmopolitan of their own or gift it to a friend.”
Originally created in 1988 by Toby Cecchini in New York City, The Cosmopolitan holds court as one of the most well-known modern Cointreau classics. Year after year, The Cosmopolitan proves to be an elevated, mainstay cocktail for all to enjoy. It’s festive for any holiday tablescape or cocktail gathering.
The Cointreau Catching Up Over Cosmos cocktail kit is available for purchase at sourcedcraftcocktails.com. Each cocktail kit comes with everything you need to make six cocktails, including:
375ml bottle of Cointreau
375ml bottle of vodka
A bottle of The Cosmopolitan and a bottle of Uptown Spice cocktail ingredients batched together for ease
Mint and orange for garnishes
A jigger to help you measure out each cocktail and a shaker to mix it up
Two cocktail glasses
A recipe card with instructions on how to mix your cocktails
Making A Stir
RYAN REYNOLDS AND AVIATION GIN CREATE THE RIBLET
November 9,2021
It seems that Ryan Reynolds has indeed been busy. Aside from starring in a variety of Hollywood blockbusters, the actor who is also a co-owner of the gin brand Aviation, has been creating a delicious cocktail that he describes as tasting ‘like Aviation Gin and a Bloody Mary made love in your mouth’.
In case you weren’t sure that barbecue sauce would go with gin, Reynolds Mc-proves it, with the introducing the Gin Riblet, a cocktail which he also dubs as “Bloody Mary’s hotter cousin” to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the McDonald’s McRib, a barbecue-flavoured pork sandwich sold by fast-food chain McDonald’s.
First introduced in 1981, McDonald’s has announced the return of the pork patty to its menus in the US on 1 November. Reynold’scockytail, The Gin Riblet, includes many of the flavours from the sandwich, including tomato juice, barbecue sauce and lemon, with the addition of Aviation American Gin.
Reynolds instructs drinkers to “celebrate the return of America’s favourite rib-shaped sandwich” by filling a shaker with ice, and adding four ounces (120ml) of tomato juice, a half-ounce (15ml) of barbecue sauce, one-and-a-half ounces (45ml) of ‘smooth Aviation American Gin’, and a squeeze of lemon juice. To garnish, the actor recommends placing a pickle and an onion on top of a highball glass.
Making A Stir
DEAD RABBIT BECOMES A SNOWBIRD FOR THE WINTER
November 8,2021
Although normally restricted to people in their retirement years, the eight-year-old Dead Rabbit is becoming a snowbird and going south for the winter.
Taking over the Lapidus Bar at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Miami for the whole of December, the Dead Rabbit will be serving some of The Dead Rabbit’s best-known drinks such as its Irish Coffee while also offering cocktail classes too.
The bar announced the news on Instagram, saying: “From the start of December until New Year’s Eve The Dead Rabbit will be in residency in the Lapidus Bar at the Ritz Carlton in South Beach, Miami.
“As for the character in the sharp suit and tie, don’t be fooled. Underneath he’s still The Rabbit. Sorry about that, South Beach.”
