Week in pictures: 8 – 14 June 2024

This week features Sarah Neish at Kew Gardens, Douglas Blyde at The Connaught, Louis Thomas at Lungarotti, and Sarah Jessica Parker at the New York Mets

La Segreta

DB editor Sarah Neish attended the launch of Italian brand La Segreta’s latest vintage, complete with new botanical packaging, inside London’s Kew Gardens on Tuesday.

Macallan

Mehdi Ichedadene, manager of Coburg Bar at The Connaught launched a new “Whisky Vitrine”, coinciding with Macallan’s 200th anniversary. The idea that came to him “in the middle of the night” resulted in a glass cabinet that “reshapes the front of the hotel.” As part of a year-long relationship with the iconic Speyside distillery, the first sculptural whisky icon to feature in the window beside the famous revolving door of the hotel is The Macallan’s The Reach. Encapsulated in “mother Earth” like clasp, says Ichedadene, the 81-year-old release, which sells for as much as $500,000 in New York, is protected by bulletproof glass. Given the rotating installation weighs half a tonne, the ground beneath, where a luggage lift once operated, required reinforcement.

As the year-long collaboration with Macallan continues, three further bottles will take pride of place in Ichedadene’s Vitrine, comprising a book holding a Lalique crystal decanter of Tales of The Macallan II, then, bound by an aluminium ribbon, The Macallan Horizon in collaboration with Bentley. Although the nature of the final bottle is a closely guarded secret, Ichedadene hints that its age may well be momentous. Ichedadene last visited the Macallan distillery a fortnight ago, during which time guests took in a Cirque du Soleil show in a warehouse.

The Vitrine follows the introduction of the Coburg Bar’s whisky trolley, which includes a 32-year-old Bowmore from 1968, and a duet of alarmed cabinets added to the main bar, which house such specialities as Yamazaki 55.

Ichedadene notes that The Coburg was the first bar in the Maybourne collection of five-star hotels to establish the role of whisky sommelier, held by Clement Ambrosi.

Lungarotti

Senior staff writer Louis Thomas paid a visit to Lungarotti, Umbria, to deliver the 2024 db Award for Best Contribution to Tourism to Chiara Lungarotti.

Invivo

SJP and Invivo have just blended the sixth vintage of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc at Cit Field, home of the NY Mets in New York. SJP is a Mets fan and it’s all part of the wine brand’s approach to make wine more accessible.

Ferrari Trento

Ferrari Trentodoc sparkling wines, Tenute Lunelli wines, Tassoni Cedrata and Tonic Water were offered at many institutional occasions of the G7 leaders summit in Puglia.

Giulio Ferrari Riserva del Fondatore 2012 was gifted to the Heads of State. The only exception was those not drinking alcohol, who received a selection of Tassoni labels, including Cedrata and Tonic Water.

The Cambridge Club Festival

The Cambridge Club returned to the magical Childerley Orchard just outside Cambridge for a three-day, feel-good festival of Music, Arts & Culture – entertaining crowds across the whole weekend, from Friday 7 June to Sunday 9 June 2024.

A stellar line-up included pop, soul, funk and disco icons – including superstar headliners Chaka Khan, Jessie Ware, Earth Wind and Fire and Soul II Soul, amongst many others.

Brakspear

A Brakspear village pub in Wiltshire became the venue for the largest D-Day 80 event of its kind last week. The Barleycorn in Collingbourne Kingston staged a three-day commemoration which has so far raised £12,192 for charity, including a £2,000 donation from Brakspear under its Brakspear’s Giving Back scheme.

As long-standing supporters of the military and veterans, The Barleycorn’s licensees Tom Robinson & Terry Burgess started planning the events programme in January, with their pub team, the local community and military personnel at nearby Tidworth.