Bring a Bottle Podcast: Episode 98

Episode 98 is here and this week Alex Layton joins Aidy in the studio as we continue our Bruichladdich journey, try the ultimate ‘Christmas in a glass’ liqueur, give amazing Australian wine tips, and decide what the perfect drink is for our most loved fast foods. Oh, and you’ll want to keep listening to the end for one of the most embarrassing confessions we’ve had on the pod yet!

Our Guest Drinker

With us in the studio this week is Alex Layton who is Head of Marketing at Decanter Magazine no less! Decanter is the place to go for everything wine, reaching millions of people across its numerous channels. Alex also tells us about the Decanter Awards on the pod, as well as his love for BBQ food and his extensive job experience across the world of drinks (if you can think of it, he’s probably done it).

What’s In Our Glass?

We adored the Bruichladdich Classic Laddie last week, so we’ve progressed onto the Bruichladdich Port Charlotte 10-Year-Old this time, also produced on the Southwestern tip of Islay Island just off the Scottish west coast.

If you like smoky whisky, then at 40PPM this super peated dram will suit you down to the ground. Behind that oak-y smoke though there is a roundness, with subtle sweetness and notes of seaweed and salty sea air coming through. It would be a great dram for someone who’s into something between the Speyside and Islay whisky styles, and it’s from a fantastically sustainable distillery too. Lots to love with this!

Size: 700ml
ABV: 50%
Find here: £46.75

The Sandfly Cocktail

This single malt is perfect at the centre of a Sandfly, a cocktail dreamt up in New York in 2017 as an adaption of The Mosquito. We think this is just gorgeous. The smokiness from the super peated whisky is beautiful, and despite being in pretty much equal parts to the Campari, isn’t overwhelming at all. There’s spicy sweetness from the ginger, and bittersweetness from the Campari to round it out too. It’s the perfect drink for this season, sat around a bonfire sipping away – an autumnal cracker.

Ingredients
25ml Port Charlotte 10 year
20ml Campari
20ml Lemon Juice
10ml Ginger Syrup

Method:
Combine all the ingredients with ice and shake well. Strain into your cocktail glass and bottoms up! 

Buy it or Bin it

This is one that reveals itself slowly. It looks just like a glass of milk, and initially smells like it too, but then there’s a boozy kick and a ‘Milky Bar’ feeling to it. 

It’s Mozart White Chocolate Cream Liqueur! This milky, chocolaty, Bourbon blend tastes like Christmas in a glass, and the bottle is beautiful too, like a giant Ferrero Rocher. It’s crying out to go into a White Chocolate Espresso Martini. It has 60% less fat and a lot less alcohol than other Irish creams too by the way! This is 100% a ‘buy it’ pick.

Size: 500ml
ABV: 15%
Find here: £14.99

Australian Wines

Australia is almost the size of Europe, so the diversity in wine flavours, styles and grapes is massive down under. We run through the very best of Australian wine, from incredible value Viognier to Pinot perfection, and everything in between.

Fast Food Drinks Pairing Quiz

November 16th is National Fast Food Day, so we run through the perfect drinks to accompany just that! Champagne and fried chicken? Negroni Sbagliato with a hot dog? Listen in and tell us what you think of our pairings!

Drinks Confessions

Wine tasting should be a joyous occasion, learning about the origin, aerating the wine etc. Well, not for Alex, not at his first ever session anyway. And it won’t have been great for the person standing in front of him either, let’s just say that. Find out why he had to run off in embarrassment on the podcast!

Bring a Bottle Podcast: Episode 97

Greetings drinkers! You can listen to Episode 97 of the Bring a Bottle Podcast now! Joining Helena is Jason Myers, a hospitality king who travels the world seeking out amazing food and drink experiences. Discover why his favourite ever whisky cocktail may have changed mid-recording, hear about the pub returning to candlelight, the blockchain powered fine wine revolution and how will Helena fair putting herself in the ‘Buy it or Bin it’ firing line? 

Our Guest Drinker

Joining Helena on the pod this week we have Jason Myers! He’s a hospitality CEO who’s worked and travelled around the world, always keeping one eye on food and drink (particularly his beloved wine and whisky). When he’s back on home turf he’s involved with Grosvenor pubs, opening wonderful new sites like The Hare & Hounds in Newbury, and Wild Thyme and Honey in the Cotswolds. Welcome, Jason!

What’s In Our Glass?

Bruichladdich (pronounced like ‘brookladdie if you weren’t sure), is a very progressive distillery from the island of Islay just off the west Scottish coast. They’re the first of their kind to become a ‘BCorp’, meaning exceptionally high levels of social and environmental performance but right now we’re focusing on what’s inside their ‘Classic Laddie’ Scotch, and it’s very nice indeed.

Unlike the neighbouring distilleries on the island, the entire range is made without the use of peat. It’s a super warm, floral, and elegant Single Malt Scotch with a nice smokiness coming through. It’s bottled at 50% but make no mistake, it’s very easy drinking and not heavy at all. 

Size: 700ml
ABV: 50%
Find here: £41.45

Not only does it make for a stunning dram, but it also makes a fabulous cocktail. Here’s what we tried in the studio…

Young Laddie

The sweetness and bitters balance out delightfully here, retaining a subtle smokiness that’s perfect as an introductory whisky cocktail for a newbie. The garnish twists tie everything together very nicely at the end too, so we recommend you include one. 

Ingredients
50ml Classic Laddie
20ml simple syrup
2 dashes angostura bitters
Walnut bitters
Grapefruit/ orange/ lemon twist (garnish)

Method:
Simply combine everything (except the twists), add a large chunk of ice, and stir until chilled. Squeeze the twists before dropping them in and you’re ready to go!

Drinks News

The Tollemache Arms in Northamptonshire is rolling back the years by switching off all the lights every Thursday evening in November and setting up cosy candlelit dinners instead. It’s not just because of the tough times we live in either, it’s just to get back to basics and create a romantic and cosy atmosphere. Could this become a trend? We certainly think it should!

Buy it or Bin it

Something slightly different this week as Jason puts his wine tasting to the test with this dense, savoury, and blackcurrant-y red... little does he know it’s actually a Bourdeaux blend by Helena herself!

Crurated

Crurated is a wine community completely changing up the fine wine industry by selling fractions of wine barrels that you can personalise yourself. It’s a membership club that uses blockchain and NFT technology to skip the middleman and open up the world of fine wine to everyone. Helena chats with Paolo Sforza to find out more in the podcast and you can also read more here.

Instant Sommelier

What wine would Jason pick to impress colleagues?  And has his favourite ever whisky cocktail changed literally over the course of the podcast? Listen to hear the answers to these questions and other fab recommendations!

Mailbag

A question from the mailbag to finish of course, and it’s...*drum roll* ‘What is the best value wine usually found on a pub wine list?’ Listen in to find out what you need to drink next time you’re down the pub!

Bring A Bottle Podcast: Episode 95

In Bring a Bottle Podcast Episode 95, Helena is joined by the fabulous founder of, ‘All Things Drinks’, Dimple Athavia. They chat about grape powered skincare, a liqueur that smells like baked cherry pie, Helena’s new wine slogan t-shirts and how to explore great wines on a budget! There are some really great recommendations in this episode too that you definitely won’t want to miss, so listen now!

OUR GUEST DRINKER

This week we’re joined by the lovely Dimple Athavia, a wine and spirits enthusiast who used her passion to set up ‘All Things Drinks’, an online drinks company specialising in curating a wonderfully varied selection of craft drinks. As the name suggests, they really do sell pretty much everything! They also want to create an inclusive community within the drinking world that goes beyond retail, educating and connecting those with the same passion. Cheers to that! @dimpsflavourgirl

WHAT’S IN OUR GLASS?

Last week we tried the Glen Grant 10-year-old, and this week it’s the older 12-year-old single malt Scotch that’s gracing our glasses. It has gorgeous vanilla aromas on the nose, and a hint of caramel alongside touches of spice to taste. This isn’t a peaty scotch at all, it’s smooth and gentle and a fantastic option for beginners wanting to try a classic Speyside Malt.

Size: 700ml
ABV: 43%
Find here: £39.94

Rob Roy Cocktail

Whisky is all too often buried in cocktails but using this fantastic Scotch in a Rob Roy allows it to be the star of the show. The warm vanilla flavours are very much in the limelight leading to a delicious and surprisingly light, cocktail.

Ingredients
40ml Glen Grant 12YO
20ml sweet white vermouth
A couple of dashes of angostura bitters
Maraschino cherry (garnish)

Method:
Shake everything with plenty of ice because dilution is key here. Finish with a gorgeous Maraschino cherry and voilà!

DRINKS NEWS

Did you know that grapes are used in skincare? Brad Pitt’s new, ‘Le Domaine’ range worked with Mirabeau to use grape skins and seeds in an effort to waste as little of the grape as possible. The science behind it is that the antioxidant high polyphenols in wine are good for the skin, and Le Domaine aren’t the first to cotton on to this. Westwell and Pelegrims also use grape extract, and Caudalie use oil from the seeds in their products.

Helena’s T-Shirts

Helena has been busy making her own wine slogan t-shirts, ‘Mama loves Malbec’ and, ‘Talk Terroir to Me’! All made with the environment in mind, there’s no plastic packaging and they’re fully recyclable! You can literally send them back to be recycled when you’re done with them.

Buy it or Bin it

This week’s, ‘Buy it or Bin it’ is super autumnal. If we say it smells like marzipan and almonds, then you might already be able to guess what kind of drink it is? That’s right, it’s Amaretto...well, almost. It’s actually a slight reimagining of it, and it’s called Adriatico. It’s full of morello cherries so combined with the classic amaretto flavours, it smells like a baked cherry pie once you crack it open. It’s drier on tasting than you might expect, and has a surprising saltiness intertwining with cinnamon, cocoa, and subtle coffee flavours. At 28% it’s fantastic over ice and would also work well in a hot cosy cocktail or coffee.  

Size: 700ml
ABV: 28%
Find here: £28.74

Quickfire Questions

What is the best drink for a very hot curry? 
What is the best wine restaurant in London? 
What is the best winter warmer you’ve ever tried?
Our guest has all the answers, and some must-try recommendations too!

Mailbag

We have one of the most famously contested drinks questions this week and it’s, ‘Do I have to spend a lot of money to find really good wine?’ 

Listen in to find out what the sweet spot is for finding value in wine, and how you can still try new and exciting wines throughout the year without breaking the bank! 

Bring a Bottle Podcast: Episode 93

Have you heard of Crémant? Made in exactly the same way as Champagne but with decent bottles available for under £10 – you are going to want to listen in to our Crémant special podcast to find out more! That’s not all we cover this week though, we chat to two Crémant producers, Helena is joined by a very special guest and we have a ‘Buy It or Bin It’ you will not want to miss!

Our Guest Drinker

This week Helena has welcomed Libby Brodie to the podcast. As City A.M.’s wine columnist, and passionate communicator of the world of wine without any of the stuffiness, Libby is a true inspiration and her passion and enthusiasm is infectious! You can find her here!

What’s in our Glass?

This week it’s all about Crémant and Helena opens up two stunning examples of it. For those who are wondering, ‘What is Crémant?’ It’s a sparkling wine made using exactly the same method that is used to make Champagne. Once not thought of to be particularly well produced, current-day Crémant is stunning and massively over-delivering given its price and quality. It has continued to fly under the radar for many years but it won’t for much longer if we have anything to do about it! Here are the bottles we tasted this week:

First up was Maison de la Rougerie Crémant Blanc Brut. It’s easy drinking, with a gentle but generous fizz. It’s lovely alone but it would also work perfectly in a Kir Royale! Want to know the even better news? Check out the price!

Size: 750ml
ABV: 12%
Find here: Iceland £8.75

Next up we have Celene Opale Blanc de Blancs Brut. A blend of Muscadelle, Sémillon and Sauvignon, it’s elegant with notes of lemon cream to start that later turn into subtle tropical fruits as it opens up in the glass.

Size: 750ml
ABV: 12%
Find here: £18

Drinks News

We’ve got all the stories this week as we chat about putting vodka into Brita filters (…yep!), Nigel Farage’s latest endeavour…a new trio of red, white and blue gins… Libby fills us in on what she’s been getting up to with The Wine Collective of late, and Aidy and Helena catch up with Crémant producers, Céline Lannoye and Clément Lescouzères!

Buy it or Bin it

It’s creamy, it’s opaque, it’s beige… any guesses?! You’ll have to listen in to see if you got it right 😉

Mailbag

This week the question is ‘You can get a perfectly nice bottle of wine for £6 so why spend more?!’ With working conditions and chemicals in wine cropping up in the answers Libby and Helena give, it’s well worth a listen to find out more.

To listen to our previous podcasts, click here!

Bring a Bottle Podcast: Episode 88

Hello, hello, and welcome back to the Bring a Bottle Podcast! We’re back from our Summer jollies and up to our usual mischief while helping you fall in love with what’s in your glass. From this week onwards though, we’re mixing things up by not only recording podcasts together but also recording podcasts separately with special guests and it just so happens that this week it’s Aidy’s turn!

You can listen to the full podcast via the player below or via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify. Here’s a little snippet of what he got up to:

Third Drinkers

Joining Aidy in the studio are Amanda Selby and Keiligh Baker.

Amanda Selby, known as @DrinkWithMeUK, is an online drinks sensation. From wine to spirits she’s worked in just about every drinks job there is working on a huge roster of brands like Jack Daniels, Chambord, Russian Standard Vodka, Finlandia Vodka, Sonoma Cutrer Winery in California, Royal Tokaji in Hungary, we could go on.

Keiligh Baker is a journalist and podcast extraordinaire. On the writing side, she’s worked with everyone from the MailOnline to BBC and the Travel Show publishing breaking news stories. In the podcasting world, she’s been working on a number of hit BBC Shows like Ouch and is currently a producer of the BBC’s disability podcast, Access All.

What’s in Our Glass?

We’re putting Grand Marnier to the test this week. Grand Marnier is an orange liqueur made in the heart of cognac and is more commonly mixed into cocktails than drunk mixed with tonics. We’ve chosen to mix our Grand Marnier with Franklin & Sons Rosemary and Black Olive tonic water and Franklin & Sons Mallorcan tonic water.

The Mallorcan tonic water has a smell reminiscent of an orange spritz! It is lovely and fresh, not too sweet and when mixed with the Grand Marnier a natural breeze of fresh orange marmalade hits you with a refreshing burst of tonic at the end. It’s like summer in a glass!

Find here: £17.50 for 24 (200ml)

The Rosemary and Black Olive tonic water is like a meal in a bottle before you’ve even put any Grand Marnier in the mix – think focaccia! When mixed with the Grand Marnier, orange and rosemary hits your nose and to be quite honest it smells like Christmas and would make for a great aperitif before your turkey! It’s a perfect winter drink.

Find here: £17.50 for 24 (200ml)

Drinks News

Have you ever flown Emirates? Well, for all those of you lucky enough to fly first class with them (please do get in touch we have soo many questions!), you will be pleased to hear that now, not only do you get a double bed, a 3.5 minute hot shower and a huge TV screen, but Emirates has just invested £1.6 billion in unlimited Dom Perignon and Caviar for you to enjoy! Cheers to that!

Buy it or Bin it

In ‘Buy it or Bin it’ Amanda puts our tastebuds to the test with a bright blue liquid that looks like either WKD or an energy drink. We can tell you it is neither of those and we can also tell you that you’re going to love the reactions had when it’s tried! Listen in to find out what it actually is here.

Question Time with Aidy

Aidy has some burning questions for Amanda and Keiligh and the answers involve NYC’s Gangsta Crab, how to make the perfect Martini no matter how you like it best, what life is like working for BBC’s disability podcast, Access All, and finally… stealing your baby’s diffuser and putting it to “much better use” by using it to make cocktails!

Mailbag

This week’s burning question is ‘Why do people rub lemon around the glass when making a martini – is it just theatre or is there a reason?’ Well, there is a reason and although it may seem like quite a bizarre thing to do, it’s really quite an important reason. Listen in to hear Amanda explain more!

⁣Enjoyed this? Well, there’s plenty more to listen to so make sure to check out Episode 88 of The Bring a Bottle Podcast now!

The Bring a Bottle Podcast: Episode 87

We’re back with another fun-filled podcast and this week we’re joined in the studio by special guest Christian Smith. Listen in as we chat all about the perfect mixers for your tequila, a great hangover cure, 24-carat gold covered fish and chips and more!

What’s in our glass?

This week we’re focussing on great mixers for tequila and have chosen Franklin and Sons Grapefruit and Bergamot tonic water and Pink Grapefruit Soda.

Bergamot is what you associate earl grey tea with and the tonic didn’t disappoint. Subtle and floral with a nice fruity edge from the grapefruit, it made for a beautiful and very refreshing drink alone and then in combination with the tequila led to a more savoury drink with a slight peppery edge to it. Nom! 

Size: 200ml
Find here: £17.50 for 24

The Pink Grapefruit soda is a beautiful and very sophisticated soda that we would quite happily enjoy on its own as a soft drink. Today, however, is all about the tequila mixers and this soda did not disappoint. It smells just like that burst of oils you get when cutting into a grapefruit and tastes just as good with a touch of zesty lime on the finish. 

Size: 200ml
Find here: £17.50 for 24

Third Drinker

This week we are joined in the studio by Christian Smith who is the online editor for The Drinks Business. He shares with us his favourite stories, including one about 24-carat gold adorned fish and chips being sold for £80 in Glasgow, a stunning whisky and tells us more about what it is like to work as the online editor for The Drinks Business!

The Three Drinkers in Ireland Wins an Award

For those who haven’t yet heard, The Three Drinkers in Ireland won an award for ‘The Best Contribution to Wine and Spirits Tourism’ at the Drinks Business Awards this June! If you haven’t seen the series yet, all 6 episodes can be found on Prime Video!

Drinkers Discovery

Stepping away from our usual Drinkers’ Discoveries this week, we bring you ‘Phizz’. These are orange or apple and blackcurrant flavoured tablets that dissolve in water and enable you to absorb 3x the amount of water you would from just drinking a glass of it. Full of natural electrolytes, like sodium, potassium and zinc, not only are they perfect for rehydrating but they’re also great for your skin, hair and nails… and we reckon they would work a treat when you have a hangover too ;)

That’s not all though, we also have a fantastic ‘Buy it or Bin it’, Aidy brings back his ‘Wine and a Whine’, we share a dishwasher hack for your cloudy glasses and talk about vines grown in space! Listen in today!

The Bring a Bottle Podcast: Episode 83

Whether it be the best crisps to pair with your champagne, beer that tastes like chardonnay, stunning mixers for your vodka or £5 wine that tastes decent, we’ve got a little bit of everything for you in Episode 83 of the Bring a Bottle podcast! Listen in now via the player below!

What’s in our glass

We’re making our way through more of Franklin & Sons mixers this week and this time we’re mixing them with vodka. First up we tried the Rhubarb and Hibiscus Tonic with Assaranca Vodka – the result was a creamy well-balanced drink very evocative of childhood memories of rhubarb and custard sweets. The herbal nature of the vodka matched the rhubarb, which is also quite herbal in flavour, really well and the whole drink wasn’t overly sweet due to the slight bitterness from the tonic making for a delicious sip.

Size: 200ml
Find here: £17.50 for 24

The second mixer we tried was the Guava and Lime soda. The guava came through first, more on the nose than the palate, and then the lime came racing in the back making for a very refreshing drink. This mixer would also pair beautifully well with a white rum such as Equiano white.

Size: 200ml
Find here: £17.50 for 24

Assaranca Vodka

Size: 500ml
ABV: 41%
Find here: £26.99

Drinks News

This week it’s all about Champagne and what to pair it with. Some say caviar works best, many say fish and chips are the way to go but Champagne Laurent Perrier have created the perfect bag of crisps to pair with their Champagne! This bag of crisps, aptly named ‘Chip Shop Scraps and Fries’ is a playful take on fish and chips and contains scraps of batter, thin-cut fries and crunchy peas seasoned with salt and malt vinegar! You can pick a pack up from Sainsbury’s for £1.75 and if you want the champagne to match you’ll only have to fork out an extra 24x the price of your crisps ;)

Bryan Rodriquez

We are joined in the studio by the wonderful Bryan Rodriguez, wine and spirits buyer for Harvey Nichols. He tells us all about his upcoming wedding, what it’s like to be the wine and spirits buyer for Harvey Nichols and shares a few drinker’s discoveries you’re going to want to try!

Drinkers Discovery

We are treated to a Drinker’s Discovery this week as Bryan has brought a bottle of Boom Beer into the studio all the way from Belgium! This particular beer, VAT31, is a lambic style sour beer. It was brewed in 2015 before being naturally fermented in big old barrels which have been around for over 100 years before finally being bottled in 2020! The beer itself will last until 2040 and will age like fine wine. To look at, it is cloudy and orangey, it smells like beer but has a California chardonnay note to it and a lot of light woody influence from all its time in the barrel. It’s creamy to taste and not gassy at all and would work wonderfully with sushi, fish and chips and roast chicken. This would be a great way to get wine drinkers into beer although it is very hard to get your hands on in the UK. For those looking for something easier to find, Burning sky is a UK-based sour beer producer well worth looking into.

Bang for Buck

You can’t beat a bargain and Helena has found a corker! Tesco has a new range of £5 wines that are produced fairly and taste great for their price point! You can find out more here.

This next one is not a cheap bargain; however, it is still a big bargain. Harvey Nichols Napa Cabernet Sauvignon is actually made using the same grapes that are de-classified from Insignia, Joseph Phelps's world renowned 3-figure iconic wine. Considering a bottle of Insignia retails at nearly 10 times the price of this bottle, it is an absolute steal and it will age beautifully for another 10+ years.

Size: 750ml
ABV: 14.5%
Find here: £35

If you like the sound of this and want to hear more, make sure to listen in today and to read more of Bryan’s recommendations, click here!

10 Top Drinks Discoveries for the Summer with Bryan Rodriguez

Words by Bryan Rodriguez (Wine & Spirit Buyer at Harvey Nichols)

Bryan recently joined us for Episode 83 of our Bring a Bottle Podcast where he shared a number of fantastic products with us, so naturally, when asked if we would like to hear more we jumped at the chance to bring more drinky news your way. Here’s what he had to say…

As a Wine & Spirit Buyer, I am always discovering new and exciting beverages, as well as re-tasting and going back to old favourites that provide consistency and comfort. When asked, I always have a wine or spirit recommendation to offer, whether for a specific occasion or the appropriate vessel to drink from.

In this line up, I offer my suggestions based on topics discussed during my appearance on the Bring a Bottle Podcast with Aidy and Helena.

When recording the podcast, I brought a bottle of the wonderful Lambic Geuze beer with me, all the way from the brilliant Boon Brewery based in Lembeek near Brussels, Belgium. The beer really caught both Aidy and Helena’s attention. The beer is known as the Vat 31, it’s difficult to find commercially so below I recommend two of their more widely available styles. 

Rum was also discussed and for me, the Daiquiri is the ultimate rum cocktail. As an avid lover of rum, I am always testing out different rums in a daiquiri. Every bartender has their own recipe and version. This is my personal recipe I use at home…

Ingredients
60ml White or Gold Rum
25ml Velvet Falernum
25ml Fresh Lime juice
2 to 3 dashes of Angostura Orange Bitters
Method
Shake over ice and pour into a frozen glass 

Of course, depending on the rum used, measurements might need to be adjusted but the above should offer a good starting point.

I recommended a brilliant Harvey Nichols Own Label red wine from Napa Valley. Along with this, I offer my personal favourite white and sparkling from our Own Label range. A perfect dinner party trio that will match up against a wide variety of foods and will certainly be crowd pleasers.

Finally, as an extra addition, I offer what I describe as “essentials” – two of the products used in the Daiquiri recipe, as well as specific glassware that works with the drinks recommended, as well as a whole host of other cocktails and beverages. I always like to recommend different glassware according to the drink being consumed. I find it can elevate the drinking experience, especially for wine, with grape and region-specific glassware being released by the likes of Riedel. Plus, I always find that elegant glassware can enhance your online and social imagery of bottles, drinks, and cocktails in the same way a beautiful piece of jewellery can enhance a fashion shoot.

BEER

Boon Geuze Marriage Parfait

One of the finest beers in the world full stop. The Boon Geuze Marriage Parfait is an unfiltered Lambic sour beer made in Belgium at the Boon Brewery. The beer itself is a 3-year-old Lambic, aged in large oak barrels known as Foeders. Boon uses Foeders built between 1883 and 1914 so the beer you’re drinking may have been ageing in wood over 100 years old. The unique addition to the beer that gives it its sourness, character and complexity are the wild yeasts and bacteria from the brewery which descend on the beer during the wild fermentation. This includes microflora of previous generations of wild yeast remaining on the wood. This all results in a wine like beer. A beautiful gold colour with rich ginger, grapefruit and bergamot citrus aromas along with gentle vanilla, sweet cooking spices and oakiness reminding you of both light styles of Scotch whisky and buttery chardonnay. Enjoy chilled now and in decades to come as this beer can outage fine wine. Just have a look at the best before dates on the back label. It will only get better with time and ageing, preferably in a cool and dark place. Gives this a try with fish and chips. The acidity will cut through that batter leaving your palate ready and refreshed for the next bite. Serve in a wine glass or tulip shaped beer glass.

Size: 375ml
ABV: 8%
Find Here: UK £6.00

Boon Kriek Cherry Lambic

There are fruit beers and then there’s the Boon Kriek. It stands on its own, heads and shoulders above the rest. The beer is made using 250 grams of fresh cherries per litre fermented naturally with young lambic beer before being blended with older lambic beers for added complexity and left to mature in barrels. It is bottled unpasteurised for a fuller bodied mouthfeel and texture. This should definitely be on every beer or drink lover’s list of drinks to try. It has an aroma of wonderful, deep, marzipan like cherries, kirsch, vanilla oakiness and acidity that keeps your palate feeling fresh and vibrant. It’s perfect as an aperitivo but also works with dessert alongside a dark, rich chocolate mousse. The vintage date on the beer represents the year the cherries were picked. Serve in a wine glass or in a tulip shaped beer glass.

Size: 375ml
ABV: 4%
Find Here: UK £4.60

RUM 

Plantation 3 Stars White

The Plantation 3 Stars White is difficult to beat when it comes to value for money. This is a seriously good rum which is appreciated by both industry professionals as well as the home consumer. The rum is made using distillates of various ages from Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad with distillation taking place in a mix of Column and Pot stills. After blending, the colour is then removed via filtration through carbon resulting in a slight yellow hue. A textbook white rum made for use in a daiquiri but try sipping it neat out of the freezer or give it a go in a mojito. The slightly fuller bodied nature of the rum will add to the weight and texture of the drink.

Size: 700ml
ABV: 41.2%
Find Here: UK £26.00

Equiano Light Rum

At Harvey Nichols, we declared the original Equiano release as “Probably the most important and critically acclaimed inaugural release from any rum company ever.” We still hold to that belief, and I feel the Light Rum is a perfect continuation of their journey. It is a blend of two distilleries. Firstly, it uses molasses based 3-year-old ex-Bourbon barrel matured distillates from the Legendary Foursquare Distillery which adds weight, power and robustness. Secondly, it uses unaged sugarcane juice-based distillates from the Gray’s Distillery in Mauritius which impart some grassy, vegetal, and citrus notes. Both distillates are blended at the Foursquare distillery by master blender Richard Seale and result in a beautiful, balanced, and delicious rum. The company is female led and has Global Rum Ambassador, Ian Burrell as a co-founder. The rum itself is named after Olaudah Equiano (Born c.1745, Died 1797), a Nigerian slave turned writer, public speaker, and anti-slavery activist. Donations from the rum go towards quality projects and ending modern day slavery around the world. All this said, the rum is beautiful to drink, elegant with a real mix of complex flavours that work perfectly sipped neat or in a Piña Colada using fresh pineapple.

Size: 700ml
ABV: 43%
Find Here: UK £44.00

Doorly’s XO

Have you ever tried a Daiquiri with dark, aged rum? If the answer is no, now is as good a time as ever. My first was at OXO Tower Bar in a cocktail named The Gayle Seale, a daiquiri recipe created by Global Rum Ambassador Ian Burrell in honour of Gayle Seale, the Foursquare Distillery Global Brand Ambassador and wife of Master Distiller/Blender Richard Seale. If you want the exact recipe, it is…

Ingredients
50ml Doorly’s XO
25ml Fresh Lime Juice
15ml Taylors Velvet Falernum
5ml Simple syrup
3 Dashes of Angostura Bitters
Method
Shake over ice and pour into chilled glass.

Aged rum adds a complexity and flavour to a cocktail like the daiquiri that sends it in a different direction. It adds to its texture and gives it a certain morishness, especially the Doorly’s XO which sees maturation in Oloroso Sherry cask. Talking of the Doorly’s XO, I picked this rum as it’s a consistent, affordable, and outstanding rum made at the Foursquare Distillery in Barbados. It is bottled un-coloured and un-sweetened resulting in a rich, wonderful, moreish rum that sips beautifully neat or can be used in a Corn N’ Oil, Mai Tai or simply mixed with Ginger Beer for those days when you want a break from a Daiquiri.

Size: 700ml
ABV: 40%
Find Here: UK £43.50

OWN-LABEL WINES

Harvey Nichols Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2017

Imagine finding a fully blown, full bodied, powerful Napa Cab made by a producer like Joseph Phelps that doesn’t cost the world? Well, here it is! A wine we are very proud of and one I always like to show off. The wine is a blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 1% Malbec. Some of the grapes used in the blend are de-classified from Insignia, Joseph Phelps flagship, 3 figure iconic wine. It sees 14 months of maturation in a mix of used American and French oak. Open and decant for a few hours to reveal a polished, decadent Cab Sav with wood polish, cedar wood, crème de cassis, graphite, and sweet cooking spices. Perfect alongside a fillet of beef, roasted lamb or with robust, earthy vegetable dishes. It comes with some bottle age on it but will age for another 10 years+ so a perfect wine to buy and put away.

Size: 750ml
ABV: 14.5%
Find Here: UK £35.00

Harvey Nichols Aconcagua Chardonnay 2019

Probably my favourite of the Own Label white wines. This particular Chardonnay is produced by the excellent Chilean winery, Errazuriz Estate from vineyards in the cool climate Aconcagua region, roughly 100km north of Chile’s capital Santiago. Errazuriz makes South America’s best examples of Chardonnay, some of which could easily compete and beat the Burgundians best, but at much lower price points. This Chardonnay is made from hand picked grapes and matured for 10 months on its lees in French oak barrels. 20% of those barrels are brand new. The result is an elegant, creamy, citrus, and tropical fruit lead white with perfectly balanced, vibrant acidity and a whisper of smoke from the barrel. Big complexity levels but not so much that you can’t just simply enjoy a glass in front of the TV or outside in the sun. Perfect with grilled fish, white meats, steak tartare or on its own, chilled in a big round wine glass.

Size: 750ml
ABV: 13.5%
Find Here: UK £15.95

HN Premier Cru Brut Champagne NV

My personal favourite style of wine is Champagne, so I feel it is appropriate to add the Harvey Nichols NV Brut Champagne to the list. I absolutely love this wine. It shows the essences of what a good, solid non-vintage champagne should be like year after year. Consistency is key with own label products, and this is the perfect example of that. Made from a blend consisting mainly of Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir from Premier Cru sites by Champagne Lombard & Medot who are based in Epernay. Made in the traditional style, this is a vegan friendly, comforting Brut style champagne that drinks perfectly on its own or will match any starter and light bite. It can also be used in a variety of cocktails such as the Classic Champagne cocktail. Imagine lightly toasted brioche, macadamia, yellow and stone fruits with refreshing acidity. Perfect!

Size: 750ml
ABV: 12%
Find Here: UK £32.50

ESSENTIALS

Angostura Orange Bitters

Bitters can help to elevate a cocktail and add complexity to it. Most people will recognise the standard Angostura Bitters with its yellow cap and oversized label usually used in an Old Fashioned. I always tend to recommend the orange variant of this brand as it’s slightly softer, lower in ABV and has a pronounced bitter orange and sweet spice woody aroma. I use it in just about everything from Daiquiris to Gimlets, G&T’s and even Martinis. You can also use it in food too. Just a few drops can make a big difference!

Size: 100ml
ABV: 28%
Find Here: UK £10.00

John D. Taylor's Velvet Falernum

Falernum is tropical based syrup usually containing a mix of lime, ginger, almond and can also include clove, nutmeg, and other sweet spices. You can find it in both alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions. The John D. Taylors Falernum is an 11% abv Falernum made in Barbados. The alcohol helps to preserve the syrup making it last longer while adding to the flavour and texture of the liquid. I enjoy using this as an alternative to sugar syrup as it can add interesting notes to a sweetened cocktail. Next time you try a Gimlet, try the Falernum instead of simple sugar syrup for a tropical take on the classic cocktail. I recommend keeping this in the fridge.

Size: 700ml
ABV: 11%
Find Here: UK £18.00

Riedel Nick & Nora Glasses

The right glass can heighten the experience of the drink you are enjoying. Brands such as Riedel make glassware specific to the grape, spirit and even cocktail being consumed. With varying price points, there is an option for everybody and every pocket. The Nick & Nora glass was made famous by the 1934 movie “The Thin Man”. The design is a curved lip on a small bowl. It directs the alcohol to the mid-palate, allowing the aromas to travel directly to the retronasal olfaction, (the back part of your nose that allows you to “taste” flavour). Short and elegant, these will fit nicely in a freezer ready for a Martini, Daiquiri, Gimlet, Manhattan, or any shaken or stirred cocktail.

Size: Set of 2 Glasses
Find Here: £29.00

Riedel Overture Beer Glasses

As I mentioned a few beers earlier on, I thought I would add a beer glass recommendation that works with any beer type including the Lambic beers. I love these tulip shaped glasses. When full of delicious, crisp lager or hoppy IPA, deep, dark Stout or Sour Geuze, there’s something immediately pleasurable from holding these up, taking a sip and enjoying that perfect beer. The shape helps to maintain aroma, temperature as well as the head of the beer.

Size: Set of 2 Glasses
Find Here: £28.00

Riedel Performance Tasting Set Wine Glasses

The Riedel Performance glass is a very attractive, elegant glass that I personally use daily. The glass has an optical effect on the inside of the lip which increases the inner surface allowing the wine to open even more. It also adds to its attractive appearance. This set comes with (from Left to Right), 1x Sauvignon Blanc Glass, 1x Chardonnay Glass, 1x Pinot Noir Glass, 1x Cabernet Sauvignon Glass. Each glass can be used for different styles making this set very versatile and keeping in mind the three Harvey Nichols Own Label Wines recommended earlier, this set goes perfectly with them. The Sauvignon Blanc glass can be used for sparkling wine and champagne. The Chardonnay glass could be used for oaked-Sauvignon Blanc or even Junmai Sake. I use this for Blanc de Blancs Champagne too. The Pinot Noir glass can be used for Nebbiolo, Gamay or softer and lighter red styles, I also use it for Blanc de Noirs Champagne. The Cabernet Sauvignon glass can be used for Merlots, Malbecs, Cab Francs or any big, hefty red wines. With a set like this, you are pretty much covered!

Size: Set of 4 Glasses
Find Here: UK 110.00

If you’d like to hear more from Bryan, make sure to listen to Episode 83 of the Bring a Bottle Podcast!