The week in pictures

The re-opening of former haunt of Ed Sheeran’s The Swan & Hedgehog pub in Ipswich as part of the Ed Sheeran Made in Suffolk exhibition, sponsored by Aspall Cyder.

In Ed Sheeran news, cider maker Aspall has backed the revival of a pub in Ipswich that hosted some of singer Sheeran’s first ever gigs, and is even sponsoring an exhibition in his honour.

The Swan, on King’s Street in Ipswich, will get an extensive refurbishment, according to Aspall, and will be renamed ‘The Swan and Hedgehog’.

According to the cider maker, the local venue will be “an important stop on a self-guided Ed Sheeran trail around the town, as part of the Ed Sheeran: Made in Suffolk exhibition, which is exclusively sponsored by Aspall.”

Yes, you read that right.

The pub is being restored to its former glory as a venue for up-and-coming musicians to perform.

Aspall has tracked down “previously unseen photographs of Ed Sheeran’s performance at The Swan”, which will form the beginning of an Ed Sheeran tribute wall in the pub.

In addition, “other exciting exhibits” from the Ed Sheeran: Made in Suffolk exhibition will become a permanent feature at The Swan & Hedgehog when it closes in May 2020.

Aspall has also pledged to donate £1.50 for every pint or bottle of its cider sold in the pub to two local Suffolk charities until the end of May next year.

L-R: Scott McCallum, MD of Avian, and Andrew Mackenzie, Founder and Managing Director at Verdant.

The House of Commons has awarded Dundee distillery, Verdant Spirits, the contract to be their sole supplier of a House of Commons Gin with a special edition of their award-winning spirit.

Verdant Spirits will not provide its gin, as well as deliver training and tastings for the House of Commons team and members.

L-R: Megan Loveridge, George Prideaux, Granville Murray, Freya miller, Paul Graham, Tim Webster, Charlotte Jones, Will Dennison, Holly Davies from team Pol Roger.

In Sports Day news, the gang at high end wine and spirits group Pol Roger were keen to share a snap of their rugby team with us from the Pol Roger Portfolio Touch Rugby Tournament from last Wednesday (15 August), in aid of drinks charity the Benevolent.

It is the second year Pol Roger hosted the competition, with sides from drinks groups Maison Marques et Domaines (MMD), Hallgarten Wines, Freixenet, Liberty wines, Lanique, WSET, Pernod Ricard UK, and Richmond Young’s pub The Orange Tree, WSET and Pol Roger all getting stuck in at Richmond Athletics centre in west London.

Pernod Ricard were victorious.

Simon Barnes, Free Trade Sales Director for Marston’s Beer Company with Andy Muggleton, Assistant Secretary (Commercial) for MCC.

In more sports news, Marston’s Beer Company has announced a renewal of their five-year sponsorship and supply partnership with Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the owners of Lord’s Cricket Ground.

This new agreement marks the continuation of a ten-year relationship that began in 2008 to supply all ales, beers, lagers, stouts and ciders to every bar at Lord’s.

Left to right: Dan Gadsby (Small Beer Wholesale), Stuart Birtles (Louis Latour), John Penley (Great Grog), Patrick Schmitt (db), Matt Smith (Berry Bros & Rudd)

And in yet more sports news, the Poggio alle Mura team, sponsored by Banfi Wines, completed the 65-mile Eroica Britannia, which took place in the Peak District on Sunday (pictured above and below).

Same as above plus Warren Adamson (AS Wine Solutions, third from right) and Thom Cleary (The Wine Society, far right)

Competitors in the Eroica Britannia must wear vintage clothing and ride a bicycle built before 1987. db’s Patrick Schmitt took part on a 1975 Carlton Equipe, picture above in front of Chatsworth House, and below alongside Banfi’s wine sampling stand during the lunch stop for the day-long event.

Independent UK jeweller Nicholas Wylde has teamed up with Bath Distillery to create a bottle of gin mounted with a 1 carat diamond worth £10,000.

After distillery founder Peter Meacock and jeweller Nicholas Wylde struck up a friendship, bonding over their shared love of gin, the two businesses decided to combine their resources and create a competition.

As such, they’re offering gin and diamond lovers the chance to win a one-litre bottle of Bath’s Wylde Flower Diamond Gin containing a 1 carat diamond.

Consumers must buy a 70cl bottle of any of Bath’s gins – including the original, hopped rhubarb and orange sloe gins – between 1 September 2019 and 31 January 2020.

Each bottle contains instructions to find a code which can be entered in at nicholaswylde.com/gin.

Who remembers the launch of duck-obsessed London restaurant Monsieur le Duck earlier this year?

Now, Monsieur Le Duck has launched the London Armagnac Club, dedicated to all things Armagnac. Taking place on the first Wednesday of every month from 4 September, London Armagnac Club will meet with some of the regions most established and well renowned houses.

London’s Connaught Bar has marked its 11th birthday with a new cocktail menu inspired by the venue’s famous guests.

Created by the hotel’s director of mixology, Agostino Perrone, and head mixologist, Giorgio Bargiani, the list, dubbed ‘The Vanguard’, is split into three sections: Enigma, in ode to the hotel’s signature Martini; Strata, inspired by the bar itself; and Verve, after the bar’s iron gates.

The above serve is the Number 11, inspired by the classic Martini, which blends the bar’s house gin with vodka, Martini Ambrato, Amalfi lemon oil and five bitters, including ginseng, bergamot and lavender.

The owners of a Hampshire pub were left perplexed after a large pile of manure appeared outside the premises accompanied by several foul-mouthed signs.

A huge heap of dung was dumped outside The Hawkley Inn pub in Hampshire this week, accompanied by five foul-mouthed placards accusing the landlord of having an affair.

The inexplicable excrement was first spotted on the morning of 19 August accompanied by five signs reading “the landlord is f***ing my wife”.

Pub landlord and chef, Simon Emberley, said the allegation was “unfounded and untrue”, believing instead that the pub is the target of a smear campaign.

Speaking to media at his pub, he added: “All I know is I turned up for work at 7.30 this morning, and there was a big pile of sh*t in the road.

“I don’t know where it’s come from or who has done it, but something like this can turn somebody’s life upside down.

“Whoever has done it is trying to ruin our business.”

Emberley said that he had reported the incident to the police, who confirmed they were investigating an allegation of “malicious communications” at the pub in Liss.

In sustainability news, US winery Larkmead Vineyards is planting a research block at its Calistoga property for trial purposes to see what varieties and clones may suit Napa Valley in the future.

With a changing climate potentially necessitating substantial changes across many wine regions of the world, Larkmead has decided to dedicate 3 hectares of its 110ha estate to see what may suit the region one day.

In other green news, we discovered that America’s first cannabis restaurant will open in West Hollywood next month, featuring on-hand “budtenders” offering food and pot pairings.

As reported by The Washington Post, chef Andrea Drummer is set to open the 220-cover Lowell Café in September, which will specialise in farm-to-table food and terroir-driven marijuana.

Diageo has added two more Game of Thrones-themed whiskies to its Johnnie Walker range to cash in on the “culture fostered around the series.”

The latest whiskies are inspired by two of the most important houses in the show – House Stark and House Targaryen. They are successors to the White Walker by Johnnie Walker limited edition blend, which Diageo launched in 2018 in partnership with HBO.