Hedonistic thrills and cosmopolitan grandeur in Rhodes August 15, 2022 THE WEEKEND: Can’t decide between a culture break or a beach holiday? Rhodes offers both! This Greek island has historic sites reaching back to antiquity, and sundrenched beaches that slip into a dazzling, clear blue sea. From the cheap, hedonistic thrills of Faliraki nightclubs to the cosmopolitan grandeur of Rhodes’ medieval Old Town, there’s something [...]
Why rum cocktails are perfect in the hot weather August 10, 2022 There’s nothing like cool, crushable rum cocktails to take the edge off the suffocating sultriness of summer, but with another heat-health alert in place, who has the energy to mix anything? British rum-makers Dead Man’s Fingers have you covered though, with three new thirstquenching cocktails in a can. These ready to drink beverages (RTDs) come [...]
Tom, Dick and Harry at Alexandra Palace is a musical Great Escape August 5, 2022 This summer, as temperatures soar and international flights don’t, Alexandra Palace Theatre offers Londoners escapism, rather than escape. From the producers of Six the Musical and The Play That Goes Wrong, Tom, Dick and Harry, is an engaging retelling of allied POWs’ attempts to break out of Stalag Luft III. The Great Escape is a [...]
El Bandarra: The Spanish twins making aperitivo sexy August 3, 2022 A short drive inland from Barcelona, the town of Vilafranca is famous for its castells, or human towers. In a tradition dating back to at least the eighteenth century, the townsfolk have gathered to construct these fleshy monuments, grouping together and standing on one another’s shoulders to create highly choreographed and architecturally impressive pyramids of [...]
All’s well that blends well: Our top blended whisky July 8, 2022 The rise of single malt whisky is a relatively recent phenomenon. William Grant & Sons pioneered modern, mass market single malts in the 1960s, and as other producers entered the market in the ‘70s and ‘80s, they steadily gained in popularity and prestige. But, while single malts have driven interest in Scotch, in terms of [...]
Yamazaki limited edition Tsukuriwake selection 2022 June 28, 2022 Yamazaki was Japan’s first whisky distillery, blazing a trail by producing multiple styles at the same site, so that it could blend whiskies of depth and complexity, with a delicacy that would appeal to Japanese palates. At first they did this out of necessity. As the sole whisky distillery in the country, they could not [...]
The alpha and omega of single malt whisky June 24, 2022 Diageo controls the world’s largest, most diverse portfolio of Scottish whiskies. With access to more than 9 million casks from around 30 distilleries – some of which are long closed – they can really roll out the barrel with their special releases, and that’s what they’re doing now with the third iteration of Prima & [...]
Jitney review: Atmospheric and quietly revolutionary, but lacks plot June 17, 2022 August Wilson, who The New York Times described as “theater’s poet of Black America”, is having a moment. Fresh off the success of recent Oscarwinning film adaptations of his plays Fences and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, we are now seeing a return to the London stage for Jitney, Wilson’s workplace drama, which won the Olivier [...]
Scotch on the blocks: The world’s most expensive whisky auction June 10, 2022 Sotheby’s has partnered with spirits giant Diageo to sell what could be the most expensive casks of Scotch whisky ever sold at auction. The casks in question are two of the rarest single malts in existence, from two of Scotland’s most legendary distilleries; a 1979 Port Ellen, from the island of Islay, and a 1982 [...]
As World Gin Day looms, we ask: Is the gin craze 2.0 finally over? June 8, 2022 World Gin Day is a relatively new phenomenon. Founded in 2009 by London-based gin enthusiast and educator Emma Stokes – the author of The Periodic Table of Cocktails, also known as Gin Monkey – it is intended as “a global celebration of all things gin”. The gin boom of recent years means that consumers are [...]