Martin Miller’s Gin 10th Anniversary Strength 54% was distilled in 2009 and bottled as a Limited Edition initial run of 1,000 bottles. However the response to the new expression has been so huge, plus it won, in its first year of entry, both the gold medal in its category, and the trophy for Best Overall Gin in all categories in the ISC, that it will nowbe released as a small batch for sale in 2010. The initial Limited Edition run will be available to favoured bars who are maintaining high standards of spirits selection, no ‘pay to play’ bars, and loyal Martin Miller’s supporters. So note to bars: if you’re really really good  you’ll get one!

Some days are just fun and being invited to join Martin Miller at Miller’s Academy, Notting Hill, London, to help him select a Limited Edition strength to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the birth of his namesake gin was a real honour. I was part of a panel that included Martin Miller himself, Alice Lascelles of Imbibe, spirits expert Ian Wisniewski and great blogger Jay Hepburn. We blind tasted five different high proof strengths of Martin Miller’s Gin, first neat, then drunk as a Gin & Tonic and finally as a Martini. We all agreed that the best one was the 54% AbV which came out as very complex with fantastic juniper and citrus notes. It will be bottled as a Limited Edition, hand signed and numbered by Martin. One thousand bottles only will be produced to celebrate the 10th Anniversary and will be given to friends and supporters of Martin Miller’s Gin. A really nice touch is that Bottle No. 1 will be auctioned at The Benevolent Drinks Industry Charity Dinner in London in June.

Hats off to Martin Miller’s Gin, which has won a Gold Medal at the 2009 San Francisco World Spirits Competition for the fourth consecutive year. The international competition was set up in 2000 to recognise excellence in the spirits industry.

As David Bromige, co-creator of Miller’s Gin, explains:  “We’re thrilled to win a gold medal at this prestigious world-class competition.  It recognises the care, attention to detail and high quality ingredients which go into the making of Miller’s and it’s particularly exciting as it coincides with the 10th Anniversary of the brand’s birth.”

To celebrate the brand’s 10th birthday a series of events are being held throughout the UK and the United States, Martin Miller’s Gin’s two key markets,  including a limited edition bottling and landmark talks for the ‘Gin-telligentsia’ at Miller’s Academy in Notting Hill in April and a US version to be hosted by Martin in New Orleans in July.

This April sees the launch of The London Gin into 25 Waitrose stores in London and Bath. Even better, from 27th April to 31st May you can buy if for £19.99 ie 20% off for a limited time only.

London stores include East Sheen, Kings Road, Richmond, Bloomsbury, Putney, Gloucester Road, Marylebone, Westfield, Canary Wharf, Belgravia, Wandsworth, Kensington, Fulham, Balham, Bayswater, Chiswick, West Ealing, Clapham Junction, Edgware Road and Islington

It’s also just been listed in five luxury Devere Collection 5 Star Hotels across the UK:

Cameron House – Loch Lomond
Slaley Hall – Northumberland
Oulton Hall – Leeds
Dunston Hall – Norwich
Royal Bath – Bournemouth

Emma Davis of Martin Miller’s Gin has just gone off on a six month sabbatical and Craig Harper is now UK Brand Manager with some exciting plans in the pipeline. Keep your eyes peeled  for the launch of the Miller’s Martini Club, a fab regular gin evening taking place in cities across the UK – watch this space for more details.

Some of the world’s top bartenders have created totally unique recipes for Beefeater 24 – here are four delicious ones with more to come…..

STRAWBERRY MALARKY
by Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown
A beautiful classic with strawberry and champagne.

Ingredients
40ml Beefeater 24
25ml Triple sec
2 Strawberries
Champagne

Method
Muddle strawberries, shake with Beefeater 24 and triple sec.
Top up with champagne.

SHIFTING SANDS
by Sasha Petraske
A long complex, refreshing drink inspired by the Milk and Honey ‘Sands’ cocktail.

Ingredients
40ml Beefeater 24
15ml Maraschino Liquer
25ml Grapefruit juice
15ml Fresh squeezed lemon juice
5ml Sugar syrup
Soda

Method
Shake first five ingredients, strain into ice-filled glass. Top up with soda.

LAMBETH LEMONADE
by Nick Strangeway
Beefeater 24 combines with the fruit character of Lillet sweetened with raspberry syrup and livened by the tang of bitter lemon. Named after the London borough in which the Beefeater distillery resides.

Ingredients
50ml Beefeater 24
25ml Lillet
10ml Home-made raspberry syrup (or Crème de Framboise)

Method
Build, stir and top with bitter lemon.

EVEREST
By Gary Regan
Exotic flavours to the fore in this drink named after the Indian restaurant in Gary’s home town.

Ingredients
75ml Beefeater 24
25 ml coconut/curry paste
15 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

Method
Mix 1 teaspoon curry powder with 50 ml Coco Lopez to make a paste. Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into martini glass.

Hendrick’s Gin knows all too well that love is not always a bed of roses, so for Valentine’s Day they’ve come up with a delightfully Peculiar Parcel and Potion of Love. Prospective suitors and jilted lovers both must hasten to

www.hendricks.com/love

The first 100 people to arrive will be able to nominate a special someone to receive the bitter sweet package and a bottle of Hendrick’s Valentine elixir. For the optimistic the love gained parcel includes a miniature bottle of Hendrick’s Gin adorned with wild red rose petals and flourishing buds.  For love lost the parcel includes a miniature bottle of Hendrick’s Gin with black rose petals and thorny stems. Each Valentine’s Day parcel will also carry a  peculiar telegram with a Victorian lesson in love, guaranteed to intrigue the beneficiary.

Monday was a big day for our favourite Cucumber and Juniper people when Prince Charles (known as the Duke of Rothesay in Scotland) )  popped in at Hendrick’s Gin’s Distillery  to find out more about the  elixir. Xavier Padovani and the Hendrick’s team showed him around the Distillery with particular attention being paid to the botanicals. Good news is that Prince Charles liked the gin and apparently is also very partial to a Martini. Obviously following in the footsteps of his grandmother who was well known for her love of all things gin.

City College Plymouth is now offering a new nationally recognised qualification for bartenders, the only one of its type in the country. Launched in partnership with Plymouth Gin, the College’s Centre of Vocational Excellence (CoVE) in Tourism and Hospitality has worked with City & Guilds to write the level 2 professional bar tending (cocktails) course, which takes place in the training room at Plymouth Gin’s distillery building, in the heart of the historic Barbican.

The course offers bespoke training in what is rapidly becoming a growth industry in the hospitality trade. It is aimed at employers looking to up skill their current workforce and also students who may look for this kind of niche bar work abroad during their gap year.

For £350 for a 60-hour course, students learn the finer points of cocktail mixing under the watchful eye of Sebastian Hamilton-Mudge, an independent consultant who runs his own company, Bar Experts, and has helped Plymouth Gin develop its bar menu and training programme.

Courses are run on demand, for more information or to book your place call the College on 01752 305890.

Here’s a great way to start the New Year. While celebrity chefs have been propelled to prominence in the last few years as Brits re-discover a love of cooking and fine dining, drinking in Britain has undergone a much similar, although not quite so publicised, re-invention. The days of foreigners scoffing at our love of a warm beer are long gone and Britain is now arguably widely regarded as the world’s leading cocktail destination. So it’s only fitting that Britain’s finest bartenders receive the recognition they deserve.

Diageo Reserve (including brands such as Tanqueray® No. Ten™, Johnnie Walker® Blue Label® blended Scotch whisky, Ketel One ® and Cîroc® vodka) has launched its ‘World Class’ bartender programme in a bid to do just that. In a nationwide search to find Britain’s finest bartender, the competition will pit the best against the best, culminating in a highly competitive Great Britain final and ultimately, for the GB winner, a global final which will see them competing against the finest bartenders from around the world including Australia, China, Singapore, Brazil and Greece.

The GB final will be judged by some of the country’s most esteemed experts in taste, style and bartending, namely Marco Pierre White, Michelin-starred chef; Andy Pearson, TV Mixologist; Bill Prince, Deputy Editor of GQ; Tom Innes, Editor of Theme (one of the bar industry’s leading publications) and Barrie Wilson, Diageo Reserve Brands Ambassador. Also, from 1st August, anyone with a Bluetooth facility on their mobile phone will receive a text message when they walk into any bar taking part in the World Class competition. The message will recommend a World Class cocktail for you to try, as well as providing you with the recipe so that you can try making it at home.

The winner of the GB final will win a place in the prestigious global final, to be judged by a star-studded panel. The global winner will go on to have their definitive book of cocktails published courtesy of Diageo and be the face of a global campaign to raise the profile of the industry, themselves and their bar – a once in a lifetime opportunity.

So, if you think you have what it takes to take on the best in the world, simply log on to www.weareworldclass.com to enter the competition