A Farewell to Arms is a love story set against the backdrop of Italy during World War I. The protagonist, Frederic Henry, is a young American ambulance driver for the Italian army and Catherine Barkley is the English nurse he falls in love with. Having decided on a "separate peace", Henry eventually deserts the army and heads off to Stresa on the shore of Lake Maggiore to find Catherine. He checks in to the Grand Hotel des Iles Borromées where he celebrates his return to civvy street with several Martinis. “I had never tasted anything so cool and clean. They made me feel civilised." 

In celebration of World Whisky Day Sacred Spirits is offering the chance to win £50 of gift vouchers - check out our social media channels for more information!

We are delighted to announce that our range of award-winning vermouth's are relaunching soon with a beautiful new bottle. Visit our online shop for more information and take a look at our social media channels with some exciting prizes to be won in celebration!

This week Siobhan has picked her favourite cocktail, The White Lady...

The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald is Fitzgerald's second novel, the precursor to the brilliant The Great Gatsby.  Set in the 1920s (the book was published in 1922), the first part of the book relates the initial meeting and courtship of Anthony Patch and Gloria Gilbert...

This is Sacred's take on this classic cocktail that seems so fitting right now!

Harry Craddock, author of the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book, observed of a drink of this nature that "Four taken in quick succession will un-revive the corpse again" and thus the cocktail was named. 

This is a compelling, visceral account of Marie, a young, single-mother, who waits tables in a series of Texas restaurants. When she wants to be, she is good at her job and works hard - she takes time to study the wines for the new menu - but she is also hell-bent on a path of self-destruction.

Ian's favourite classic cocktail is the Martinez, so this week's cocktail is just that!

Many people are familiar with the film Breakfast at Tiffany's which launched Audrey Hepburn, who plays Holly Golightly, into a style icon for generations to come. However, not so many are acquainted with the slim novella by Truman Capote on which the screen adaptation is based. In both versions, the Martinis flow freely...

The Slaves of Solitude, which was written in 1947, has, as its might title suggest, a certain resonance with current events.

Hilary loves a gimlet, so we thought we would share this very simple classic cocktail to try at home.

The Long Goodbye  is considered by many to be Raymond Chandler's finest novel. Those who are not familiar with his work might assume...

I'll Go to Bed at Noon by Gerard Woodward is an account of an impoverished middle-class family living in north London in the 1970s. However, this is not a whimsical story of make-do-and-mend and or putting on a brave face for the neighbours...