Category: Spirits

Mixing the best martinis in London: Maurizio Schiavone

Maurizio Schiavone is Assistant Bar Manager at Dukes, London, home to the capital’s best martinis and some of its bartending greats. A native of Puglia, Maurizio has been refining his craft alongside manager Alessandro for seven years, ensuring that this enclave of Mayfair is never without some Italian style. Here he talks to our spirits […]

The art and craft of the bartender

From the white-jackets of St James’s to the beards-and-baseball-caps of Shoreditch, Ronnie Cox, our spirits specialist, ponders the evolving art of the bartender. London’s Shoreditch has become a Mecca for cocktail “Specialists”, cocktail “Creators”, “Mixologists”, and a plethora of other names which describe what is now not only an art but also a bone fide […]

Sake: a re-education

With Japan mid-way through its Golden Week holiday season, our spirits aficionado Rob Whitehead selects three of his best-loved Sakes and dispenses some sage words of wisdom on how they are best enjoyed. Sake might just be collectively the least understood part of our diverse portfolio of libations – although some of our wonderful vignerons […]

The man behind Penny Blue rum

Jean Francois Koenig, Master Distiller at Medine Distillery in Mauritius, gives us the background behind our award-winning, premium rum. Is there a Mauritian rum “terroir” – how is it different from what is produced in the Caribbean? I believe Mauritians rums tend to be dryer, less syrupy than most Caribbean rums. With regards to Penny […]