Drinks Product Launches of the Year: We have lift-off
13-Dec-2010 By Claire Dodd Claire
Christmas - it's the time of year where it's out with the old and in with the new. The scruffy old slippers with the hole in the right toe, and...
13-Dec-2010 By Robyn Black
Drake & Morgan bars will be pushing sales of bourbon in the new year, as part of a tie up with the Buffalo Trace brand. All four of the group's...
09-Dec-2010 By Robyn Black
A Ukrainian vodka, made by a British filmmaker who has created a documentary about his efforts to distil and sell the brand, is to join the...
26-Nov-2010 By Robyn Black
First Drinks has revealed it has "big plans and ambitions" for its Tia Maria brand in the on-trade. Currently 70% of the coffee liqueur brand's...
22-Nov-2010 By Robyn Black
Cellar Trends is planning to roll out its Auchentoshan Presents events nationwide as it looks to attract younger drinkers into its Auchentoshan...
22-Nov-2010 By Robyn Black
Posh mixer brand Fever-Tree has developed a tonic water especially to go with vodka. The new Mediterranean Tonic Water is made with thyme and...
22-Nov-2010 By Robyn Black
Bacardi-Martini is putting £250,000 behind its Eristoff vodka brand in the run-up to Christmas, as it readies itself for a UK push and US launch in...
Adnams Distillery: Spirits from the coast
18-Nov-2010
Trying to interview Jonathan Adnams in one of his own pubs is a challenge. Not least after he has just treated selected guests to some brand new...
Westminster Watch: Tax and Diageo-gate
15-Nov-2010 By James Wilmore
So minimum pricing has finally been blown out the water in Scotland. The nail was hammered firmly into the coffin of minimum pricing last week, as...
Whisky Tasting: Putting whisky on the map
11-Nov-2010 By Claire Dodd Claire
Poor Colin Dunn. He had a tough crowd to play to. Take four grumpy journalists and a handful of reluctant Publican sales and production staff who all...
10-Nov-2010 By Lesley Foottit
Scotch Whisky distillers have urged MSPs to reject proposals for a minimum price for alcohol. The Scottish parliament is due to vote today (10...
Drink School: The new gin boom
04-Nov-2010 By Claire Dodd Claire
The last few years have seen quite a transformation for gin. Its turnaround from 1980s cliché or the drink of, shall we say, older women, to hip and...
03-Nov-2010 By Michelle Perrett
Diageo has been consulting with major pubcos on strategies to boost sales at its new "customer immersion centre". Representatives of Mitchells &...
01-Nov-2010 By The PMA Team
Suffolk brewer Adnams is to set to launch a range of hand-crafted spirits later this month, including vodka, gin and whisky.
Party Drinks: Serve up a celebration
28-Oct-2010
The season to be jolly is nearly upon us. For many pubs this also means a jump in sales of what you might call 'occasion' drinks. The term applies...
Fireball to take on the might of Jägermeister
22-Oct-2010 By Claire Dodd Claire
Hi-Spirits hopes to take on the might of Jägermeister as it launches cinnamon flavoured whisky Fireball in the UK on-trade in time for the Christmas...
22-Oct-2010 By Robyn Black
Laid-back Caribbean coconut rum Malibu is refusing to take it easy this winter, with a raft of on-trade initiatives designed to show the spirit as a...
15-Oct-2010 By John Harrington
Pub operator Ladhar Leisure has been fined £2,000 for selling watered down spirits at a Cleveland bar. The firm was also ordered to pay £2,093.85 costs.
Diageo offer licensees the chance to win £10,000
13-Oct-2010
Publicans have the chance to win cash prizes of up to £10,000 by collecting the caps from bottles of Smirnoff Flavours and Morgan's Spiced. The...
Southern Comfort annouces £3m Christmas campaign
12-Oct-2010
Bacardi Brown-Forman is backing Southern Comfort with a £3m Christmas marketing campaign - its biggest ever for the brand. On-trade promotions will...
12-Oct-2010 By Lesley Foottit
Diageo has officially opened its new £40m Scottish distillery three years after work on it began. The 3,000m² Roseisle malt distillery in Speyside...
Grant's whisky sponsors Piers Morgan Life Stories
11-Oct-2010
Grant's whisky is set to sponsor the ITV1 show, Piers Morgan Life Stories marking its return to TV after a15-year break. Every Saturday, break...
Drink school: Teaching the taste buds about whisky
07-Oct-2010
Whisky, whiskey, drams, blends, grain, single malt, bourbons - you'd be forgiven for thinking that whisky talk is a bit like speaking another...
04-Oct-2010 By The PMA Team
Entrepreneur Yaser Martini, former director of property agent Fleurets, has unveiled a new mobile and social marketing company, MePlease. The...
Diageo announces multimillion-pound Christmas marketing plans for Smirnoff and Baileys
27-Sep-2010 By Claire Dodd Claire
Diageo has announced it will invest £4.5m promoting cream liqueur Baileys, including the launch of a new flavour, Hazelnut. Other plans include...
Jeremy Beadles: Off-trade is not the enemy
23-Sep-2010 By Matt Eley Matt
Cast your minds back to January 2009. Barack Obama was inaugurated into the White House and the Icelandic banking system had just fallen off a cliff....
Pernod Ricard announces biggest ad spend yet for Absolut
21-Sep-2010
A second run of Absolut Vodka adverts is about to hit TV screens, with owners Pernod Ricard confirming it is the biggest advertising spend yet for...
Most ambitious advertising campaign yet for Smirnoff vodka
17-Sep-2010 By Claire Dodd Claire
Diageo has unveiled what it calls its most ambitious advertising campaign, as it attempts to celebrate the best nightlife around the world with...
Disaronno gets TV push
16-Sep-2010 By Jessica Harvey Jessica
The Disaronno liqueur brand has received a doubled marketing investment, including a heavyweight TV campaign in the run up to Christmas Disaronno...
13-Sep-2010 By Robyn Black
Diageo is launching an ambitious new initiative for its Smirnoff brand, in a bid to create buzz and excitement around the vodka globally. The...
Rum Focus: A spirit that still has the fun factor
09-Sep-2010 By Jessica Harvey Jessica
"It's funny asking a person for their perception of what rum is," grins Richard Seale, owner of the Foursquare Distillery in Barbados and master...
Pernod Ricard boss slams minimum price proposals
08-Sep-2010 By Hamish Champ
The boss of Pernod Ricard UK has joined the chorus of disapproval over the prospect of a minimum price for a unit of alcohol. Speaking after the...
Matt Eley: Spirits leveller is not as fair as it first appears
02-Sep-2010 By Matt Eley Matt
Both Diageo and the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) have put forward a compelling, if superficial, case to the Treasury calling for a radical reform...
Spirit producer tax plans would 'devastate' pubs
02-Sep-2010 By Matt Eley Matt
Calls by spirits companies to overhaul the alcohol duty system would "devastate" beer production and lead to more pub closures, according to trade...
31-Aug-2010 By Robyn Black
A citrus-flavoured Brazilian cachaça is ready to hit UK pubs and bars — Salto has a lower alcoholic strength than other cachaça brands, at 24% ABV.
Join Jack Daniel's birthday celebrations and win prizes for your pub
31-Aug-2010
Jack Daniel's is giving readers the chance to win over £200 worth of merchandise for their pub as well as tickets to an exclusive concert to...
Diageo calls for alcohol tax to be 'equalised'
31-Aug-2010 By James Wilmore
Drinks giant Diageo is urging the UK government to raise duty levels on beer, wine and cider to bring them in line with spirits. In its submission...
31-Aug-2010 By Robyn Black
The Aussie Spirits company is launching three new drinks into the UK market, following success in its homeland. Vodka O, Tequila Blu and Kinkylux...
31-Aug-2010 By John Harrington
Diageo has called for spirits duty to be frozen — but the alcohol duty escalator on other drinks to remain until they are taxed at the same rate....
Pernod Ricard's festive plans
27-Aug-2010 By Jessica Harvey Jessica
Pernod Ricard has unveiled marketing plans to "drive premium" across its key brands in the build-up to Christmas, including a range of television...
27-Aug-2010 By Sonya Hook
Pernod Ricard UK plans to boost its marketing plans for the 2010 Christmas period by giving four of its brands festive spots on TV. The drinks...
Diageo boss says 'no' to minimum pricing
26-Aug-2010 By Hamish Champ
Applying a minimum price to alcoholic products will not reduce the problems associated with binge drinking in the UK. So argued Paul Walsh, chief...
26-Aug-2010 By Martyn Leek, M&C Report
Diageo has revealed a 9% increase in UK volumes and a 5% rise in sales — but a decline in on-trade volumes despite the stabalisation of pub closures.
Warning as mandatory code part two nears
24-Aug-2010 By Matt Eley Matt
A trade group has issued a reminder to licensees to be ready for the next stage of the mandatory code on alcohol sales. The second stage of the...
18-Aug-2010 By Ewan Turney
Jack Daniel's is offering two Morning Advertiser readers the chance to win a bumper birthday kit and tickets to an exclusive gig as it gears up to...
Diageo gives Guinness a £3m push
13-Aug-2010
Guinness is unveiling a £3m advertising drive to encourage sports fans into pubs. The campaign will kick-start with a national outdoor campaign at...
Entries for Spirits Pub of the Year now being taken
12-Aug-2010
Calling all specialist spirit pubs and bars! You now have the chance to prove you're the best in the business by entering The Publican's Food &...
10-Aug-2010 By Ewan Turney
Maxxium UK is to cease distribution of the C&C Group's spirits and liqueurs after the division's sale to William Grant & Sons. Maxxium, the...
First gin from "whisky island" Islay
09-Aug-2010 By Robyn Black
A gin has been produced for the first time on the Scottish island of Islay, more famous for its distinctive peaty whiskies. The Bruichladdich...
06-Aug-2010 By Sonya Hook
Jamaican rum producer Appleton Estate is bringing a rare 30-year-old rum to the UK market. The company has created just 1,440 bottles of the drink,...
