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
Popular Leeds cafe known for its fluffy Japanese sandos is moving to a bigger space
One of the city's best independents is expanding into a bigger premises.
Shokupan on Wellington Street is a proper little gem that food-lovers across Leeds will rave nonstop about if given the opportunity.
Husband and wife team Alan and Alison took inspiration from trips around the world to bring a taste of Japan to the city and over the past few years it's gained a loyal following.
They're famed for their delicious Japanese sandos made with pillow-like fluffy shokupan bread, stuffed with everything from crunchy chicken katsu and flavourful pork to fresh strawberries and whipped cream.
But it's not all just about sandwiches, they also serve rice bowls and katsu curries as well as small bites such as chicken karaage and octopus balls.
Their food is so bloody good, that they've had to find a better location and this time it's slap bang in the city centre on Central Road.
And they're joining brilliant company too, with the likes of House of Koko and Vinyl Grounds as neighbours.
Announcing the very exciting news to Instagram, Shokupan said: "You guessed right…we are moving to Central Road, LS1 6DE. We are nearly there…
Images: The Hoot Leeds
"All the building work is complete and now we are finishing off the decorating. You might also start to see some signage appearing over the next few days…It has been lovely seeing some of our customers dropping by to see us whilst we slowly lose our sanity.
"Powered on caffeine and determination! Not long to go before we can announce our opening date and welcome you through the doors."
We can't wait to check out the new space, keep an eye on their opening date here.
Cult favourite burger chain Burgerism is officially coming to Leeds this August
Clementine Hall
An award-winning burger chain is coming to one of Leeds' suburbs.
If you don't know Burgerism, then get to know.
The Manchester-based burger chain is known by many for its incredible smash patties and quick, reliable service.
Their concept is simple: good burgers made with quality ingredients and cooked fresh to order. Delicious.
And it's not just burgers, they've also got some great wings and fries available too with a range of homemade sauces on offer for dunking, drizzling and devouring. We're a particular fan of the buffalo wings with their garlic ranch dip.
The chain used to have a dark kitchen on the outskirts of the city where people could order via Deliveroo, however this closed down and since then there's been a Burgerism-shaped hole left in our foodie scene.
Image: The Hoot Leeds
Burgerism recently applied to move into a vacant shop unit in Meanwood at 605 Meanwood Road, seeking change-of-use planning permission for the former Papa Johns site which was previously only allowed to serve...well, pizzas.
And the plans have now been approved, which means Burgerism will officially be coming to Leeds. Hurray!
Burgerism's new takeaway will be walking distance from the The Meanwood Tavern, perfect for those looking for some post-pint burgers.
It will be strictly takeaway with no dine-in option available.
The brand-new Burgerism will employ 15 people from the local area with food being served between 11am and 11pm.
We'll keep you up to date as and when we find out more, but for now we're aware that Burgerism Leeds is set to open this August.
Sophie Smith -
4th March 2022 
