March was one hell of a month! Alongside Mothers’ Day and my birthday, there were tastings, trade shows and a fair bit of judging as well as the first ever World Hanky Panky Day and even a bit of much-needed sunshine. And there was no shortage of booze news and new gin alerts either!

Booze News

I don’t think anyone can have missed the news that Brewdog has been sold to US cannabis and drinks company Tilray Brands for £33million amid reports that Brewdog had debts of more than £550million. The deal is reported to have left more than 200,000 “equity punks”, who invested £75million in the business, out of pocket and resulted in the closure of 38 pubs across Britain and 484 staff being made redundant. It hasn’t ended there though: Tilray is said to be “working towards reopening a number of bars” and has invited staff to reapply for their old jobs in a move that the Unite union has described as “fire and rehire, plain and simple – and it is morally reprehensible and, in our view, unlawful.” Now former owner James Watt and Tilray’s Irwin Simon are having a public spat too. Personally I’ve been boycotting Brewdog for years and will continue to do so.

Meanwhile, Pernod Ricard and Brown-Forman have confirmed early-stage talks about a potential merger that could create one of the world’s largest spirits groups, and Spirit of Harrogate, home to Slingsby Gin, has been saved from administration following purchase by Brightside Spirits.

And there could be a new London distillery in the works too as East London restaurant Alfi has been crowdfunding to open Spitalfields Distillery, which they hope will bring ‘greater transparency and quality control’ to the drinks it serves.

New Gin Alerts

Quite a few new releases have caught my eye this month although I can’t guarantee they’re all available in the UK I’m afraid! Overseas, Singapore’s Tanglin Spirits has partnered with Changi Airport’s Duty Free to launch a limited edition Golden Blossom Gin which pays homage to the floral and festive elements valued in Chinese culture; Denmark’s Stauning Distillery has launched their first gin which is said to built on classic gin ingredients and shaped by a final touch of locally harvested pine shoots, while Aviation has released a brightly coloured Cranberry & Blood Orange Gin.

Meanwhile, Highclere Castle Spirits has launched its first flavoured expression in the form of a Peach Rose Gin; Tarquin’s has released an Olive Leaf & Lemon Gin to celebrate 25 years of Cornwall’s Eden Project, and The Wiltshire Distilling Company has collaborated with English Heritage to launch a gin collection featuring three expressions; a London Dry Gin, a Grapefruit & Pomelo Gin and a Blackberry & Rosehip Gin.

My Month in Gin

In addition to judging a lot of food for the Great Taste awards and a few liqueurs for the Gin Guide Awards, I’ve had the pleasure of attending a few trade events this month. First up was the first ever Canadian Spirits Showcase at Canada House in Trafalgar Square where I got to discover lots of new liquids and also meet some of the people behind the brands. Although there was lots of wonderful whisky to explore, I was drawn to the gin and I was not disappointed. Among my favourites were Distillerie du Fjord’s dry and herbaceous KM12 Gin and 1769 Distillery’s non-carbonated Madison Park Breakfast Gin Iced Tea RTD. However I was blown away by Valley of Mother of God’s Canadian Wild Juniper and Maplewood Smoked Gins, and also Copperpenny Distilling’s Ember Smoked Gin and No. 006 Oyster Shell Gin, all of which I’d love to see in the UK market.

Hot on the heels of that was CASK’s showcase which was bigger and better than ever before! In addition to tasting dozens of fantastic liquids, and catching up with loads of industry pals, I had the pleasure of attending not one but two outstanding masterclasses. In the first – The Martini’s Agave Makeover –  Alice Lascelles and Zoe Burgess talked us through their recent trip to Mexico and shared with us some truly incredible martinis made with wonderful tequilas and mezcal including Casa Dragones which I loved! And in the second, Tristan Stephenson, Dawn Davies and Vérie Gamond discussed why Chartreuse is so beloved by sommeliers, and won over a few more fans by inviting us to taste a selection of products, including a 30 year old Yellow Chartreuse from 1996 which was truly special!

And to close out the month I was lucky enough to celebrate the first ever World Hanky Panky Day where it all begin at The Savoy’s American Bar! The day, which falls on 25th March, has been brought to life by Asterley Bros, Cygnet Gin and Celebrate Her, and together we celebrated not only the cocktail’s creator – Ada Coleman – who was head bartender at The American Bar from 1903 to 1926, but also all the women in the industry for whom she paved the way, as we sipped on delicious British Hanky Pankies and refreshing Hanky Panky Highballs. There are few better ways to spend an afternoon than at The American Bar and alongside catching up with lots of industry folk it was wonderful to bump into Benita Finanzio and get a sneak peek of the next issue of Tonic Magazine in which I have a feature!

Welcome to My Collection

In addition to a wonderful goody bag from CASK and a couple of pins from the Canadian Spirits Showcase, I was delighted to receive a bottle of British Hanky Panky (made with equal parts Cygnet Gin and Asterley Bros Estate Sweet Vermouth and a dash of their Britannica London Fernet), a bottle of Sierra Tequila Blanco and samples of their new 100% Agave blanco, reposado and añejo tequilas, a bottle of Patience Winter Gin and a bottle of Nelson’s London Dry No.7 Gin. And I also got lots of new canned cocktails to sample including Strawberry Daiquiris and Mango Margaritas from MOTH and Raspberry Clover Clubs and Mai Tais from Whitebox.

Catching Up and Looking Forward

My latest column for Drinksbiz is all about English whisky so why not give that a read if you haven’t already. Oh, and it might also be time to start thinking about #GinADayMay 2026! 😉 🍸🛎🛎