After the success of its Rum Festival in 2021, Leeds' Corn Exchange is debuting Leeds Whisky Fest, a one-day festival that champions all things boozy.
A vibrant selection of global and homegrown brands is set to take over Leeds Corn Exchange on Saturday 9 April, bringing an impressive line-up of whiskies from all over the world to our doorstep.
Leeds Whisky Fest will welcome guests for an afternoon or evening of tasting, learning and entertainment. Inside, there will be makers and creators from renowned distilleries, including Woodford Reserve, Starward, Nikka, Slane, Port Askaig, Single Malts of Scotland, Highland Nectar, Elements of Islay and more.
In total, there will be over 100 whiskies available on show, but you'll only need the one entry ticket for all-access to unlimited samples, talks, masterclasses and tastings, as well as an exclusive Leeds Whisky Fest branded tasting glass and guide to take home with you after your visit.
A selection of the masterclasses on offer will be from The Flavour of Bourbon. With over 200 delectable flavours of their chosen Bourbon on offer and a variety of food samples to compare flavour notes with: this will be a one-of-a-kind experience for wannabe and actual connoisseurs of spirits with respective interest.
A selection of food from Mans Market. / Image: The Hoot Leeds
There's some of Leeds' best foodie options on offer to keep stomach's lined and well-fed throughout the experience. Sunday Times-recommended Mans Market will be providing an incredible selection of authentic Chinese dishes and Oeey Gooey will be whipping up some exclusive bourbon brownies in collaboration with event sponsors Woodford Reserve.
Leeds-own Latitude Wine and Spirit Merchant will be operating a bottle shop on the day for anyone wanting to find some old favourites or new bottles to take home.
Lee Jones, from organisers Rolling Social Events says: “It feels amazing to be able to plan our 2022 line up of events and we’re always wanted to put on a whisky festival, so we’re dead excited to add Leeds Whisky Festival into the calendar.”
The events are always designed around drinking better quality, and we’re very lucky to be working with some incredible brands throughout the course of the year, including many sustainable and environmentally friendly distilleries.”
Punters that reckon this Whisky Festival will make the perfect addition to their weekend plans can choose to head down to either the afternoon session (12-4pm) or the evening session (5-9pm) of Leeds Whisky Fest, with tickets available for £40 at eventbrite.co.uk.
Feature Image- Luwadlin Bosman, Unsplash
Eats
Get Baked’s viral ‘Bertha’ cake has a sister on the way – and she sounds just as cheeky
She's big, she's green and she's ready to ruin your figure.
A lot of you will have seen the viral ‘Bertha’ cake by Leeds born beloved sweet treat specialists Get Baked.
They recently opened another site in Manchester's Northern Quarter, where queues literally formed round the block of hungry punters wanting to get their hands on the infamous sugary treats.
And now it's going to happen all over again, as they've recently unveiled their newest flavour which is sure to go down a storm.
We’ll give you a hint: it’s a current food and drink trend that’s about as big as Bertha herself – it’s not matcha, it’s not hot honey (duh), and it’s not Guinness…
Images: Get Baked
Yes—scratch that; HELL YES!Get Baked is set to welcome Bertha’s equally beautiful twin sister, and she’s officially a pistachio girlie.
Having started out life simply as ‘Bruce’, after taking inspiration from the iconic scene from Matilda, this thing has become a phenomenon in its own right, and who doesn’t like more flavours of a good thing?
Probably one of the biggest foodie crazes going at the minute, thanks to the popularity of pistachio cream, cookies, lattes and the similar social media sensation that is the ‘Dubai Pistachio Bar' people are rather fittingly going nuts for this particular flavour of almost absolutely anything.
With that in mind, the Leeds-born bakery and dessert shop – founded by Rich Myers over in Headingley back in 2011 – have shown no hesitation in hopping on the bandwagon and creating a new twist on their own viral menu item.
Teasing the full details in a post on their Instagram this week, they wrote: “What’s big, green, and is going to destroy your life in a couple of weeks’ time? Pistachio Bertha. Strictly limited to 5,000 slices. Coming oh so soon. GB.”
In case you were wondering just how mad those with a sweet tooth could possibly go for a slice of cake, just look at the recent queues when they finally launched in Manchester city centre:
Speaking on the grand opening here on our turf and his partner Amy’s hometown, Myers said simply: “Manchester, what a launch. Thanks for much for the warm welcome. Stay baked.”
The Swine That Dines announces the official opening date of its brand new restaurant
Clementine Hall
Much-loved Leeds Bistro The Swine Bistro, formerly known as The Swine That Dines, has moved to a bigger space in Headingley.
Although it’s gone through a few name changes over the years since launching as The Greedy Pig cafe in 2012, this independent spot has long been a firm favourite for Leeds locals for some time now.
Run by chef couple Jo and Stu Myers, they’ve been operating out of North Street where it’s all about cooking seasonal produce simply and with an added ‘little bit of sunshine’.
But now Swine Bistro has moved up over to Headingley, taking up a unit previously occupied by Jam hairdressers on Otley Road.
Image: Supplied
And the time has finally come for them to open their doors, as they announce their first service will take place on Friday 4 April with bookings open from today, Thursday 20 March.
The Myers will be welcoming head chef Kirsty Cheetham, who won Observer Food Monthly’s Best Sunday Lunch award in 2018 and 2022 when she ran The Queen o’t owd Thatch in South Milford, Leeds.
The expanded space in the restaurant has allowed the team to curate a bigger wine list which will include natural wines from Wayward Wines and Latitude Wines as well as local beers from Ilkley Brewery and Horsforth Brewery.
Image: Supplied
The team remains passionate about locally sourced ingredients and has partnered with a variety of Yorkshire suppliers including R&J Yorkshire for its fresh meat, Tarbetts fishmonger, cheese from George & Joseph cheesemongers and beans from micro roaster, Chipp Coffee Co.
Jo Myers, co-owner of the Swine Bistro said: “It’s taken a huge amount of time and effort to realise our dream to revamp what was previously a hairdresser into a fully functioning kitchen and restaurant. It’s been a wild ride but we’re excited, and slightly nervous, to finally open our doors.
“We love the vibe in Headingley and the time out has allowed us to have fun with our menu as well as take part in lots of essential taste testing of ingredients and drinks from our brilliant local suppliers. We can’t wait to welcome guests into our new restaurant!”
Sophie Smith -
4th March 2022 
