More sensual, more opulent, the most refined rum born using the oldest and most mature rum reserves that silently rested in Havana Club?s cellars. Handcrafted carefully under the strict eyes of Cuban traditions and the famous Primer Maestro Ronero, Don José Navarro.

Navarro formulated the class of this blend as precisely as taking a dram for yourself ?There will never be a rum that better expresses the Cuban rum culture and its rich tradition than Havan Club Máximo Extra Anejo?. A rare rum experience limited to just 1.000 fillings enshrined in beautifully hand-blown crystal decanters adorned with Paul Miller?s master signature.

Renowned cognac brand Hennessy has now unveiled the XO Exclusive Edition cognac festooned with 422 Swarovski crystals. The rich character of the Hennessy XO is enhanced by a unique decanter designed back in 1947, which is adorned for evening festivities. Hennessy X.O blends the spicy aromas of oak and leather with the essences of flowers and ripe fruit. The new Hennessy XO exclusive edition preserves the ?Eaux-de-Vie? with their elegant aromas. The cognac is delivered in a glittering metallic box that is decorated with diamonds in trompe-l?oeil. Add some ice cubes to the masculine Hennessy XO Exclusive Edition cognac and you will get to know what subtle flavors and aromas mean. It has been designed to appeal to admirers of XO and collectors.

www.Hennessy.com

Singapore restaurateur Ignatius Chan has scooped first place in the new Miele Guide of Asia's Top 20 restaurants.

Chan, who had previously been named Singapore's Best Sommelier, is an acclaimed wine expert, former winner of a Vueve Clicquot Champagne scholarship and a member of the world's oldest wine fraternity, the Jurade de Saint Emilion.

Iggy's beat off competition from other high end restaurants, including L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Hong Kong and Les Amis in Singapore.

As well as its food described as 'innovative cuisine with discreet, yet attentive service,' Iggy's has an extensive wine list, built on the owner's superb collection 'with a focus on Champagne, Riesling and Burgundy wine.'

Accepting the award, Chan - who is also a Decanter World Wine Awards judge - said that his biggest fear had been that Iggy's wouldn't make the cut at all.

The judging process consisted of 84 food writers selecting a shortlist of 320 restaurants. A panel of 1,500 food experts, combined with 75,000 public votes, named Iggy's the winner.

Tara?s celeb clients include Demi Moore, Lindsay Lohan and Teri Hatcher. She was a stylist on Sex and the City The Movie and has her own eco-friendly product range.

More Tara has worked extensively on Hollywood movies including Death Proof (directed by Quentin Tarantino) and Freaky Friday starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan.

Her clients include Natalie Imbruglia, Neve Campbell, Marisa Tomei, Angelia Jolie, Orlando Bloom, Patricia Arquette and Hayden Paniettiere. She has appeared on Celebrity Scissorhands and was involved with ?Stop and Chop? at the Clothes Show Live.

Vote for TARA at http://www.loveyourhair.com/choty.php

Magnum launched a towering book: New York The Magnum Edition, with an event at the National Arts Club in New York City.
Published by Gloria, this giant of a book, weighing in at 12Kg is book as architecture: it comes with its own base and skeletal frame. 1500 images, 756 pages, and features the most iconic images of New York by some of the most respected photographers of our times - including 28 Magnum photographers. The editon includes a silver gelatin print by Leonard Freed (estate stamped). There are only 25 of prints available worldwide.

New York contains thirty three chapters covering every aspect of the New York story, including history, architecture, design, art, fashion, music, film, television, dance, sport and 9/11.

28 Magnum photographers have work featured in the book. Some of the photographers featured in this book include Berenice Abbott, Diane Arbus, Eve Arnold, David Bailey, Henri Cartier- Bresson, Bruce Davidson, Patrick Demarchelier, Elliott Erwitt, Philippe Halsman, Evelyn Hofer, Annie Leibovitz, Steve McCurry, Helmut Newton, Norman Parkinson, Jacob Riis, Jerry Schatzberg, Edward Steichen, Dennis Stock and Weegee among others.

Chapters have been written by the cream of New York literary talent including Ric Burns, Anthony DeCurtis, Don DeLillo, Paul Goldberger, David Halberstam, Pete Hamill, Michael Kantor, David Remnick, James Sanders, Gay Talese, John Updike, EB White, Colson Whitehead and Tom Wolfe.

New York?The Magnum Edition, $4000, Limited Edition of 25, Published by Gloria, for Magnum

The concept ?Dry Blizzard? is a study of style and a new technical approach to an ice bucket for champagne Veuve Cliquot.

Using dry ice at the bottom to maintain the cold. A battery operated sytem is used to create a current of cold air around the bottle to allow champagne tasting at an ideal temperature while eliminating the usual water dripping.

Equally innovative is the double walled glass with an aluminum foot that keeps the champagne cool while holding and drinking.

www.VeuveCliquot.com

Clos d?Ambonnay, made entirely from Pinot Noir, cost a whopping $3,000 or more per bottle

Bruce Sanderson
For 15 years, Champagne Krug has kept a secret. During that time, brothers Rémi and Henri Krug, the former managing director and winemaker, respectively, and Henri's son, Olivier Krug, the current managing director, dreamed about, developed, vinified and aged a new single-vineyard Champagne. The new wine, Clos d'Ambonnay 1995, has one of the highest-ever price tags of a newly released wine, currently estimated at $3,000 to $3,300 per bottle.

The Clos d?Ambonnay is a blanc de noirs made entirely from Pinot Noir. Ambonnay is a village in the Montagne de Reims, rated grand cru, where the southeast exposure tends to yield richer, fuller wines. The new wine was inspired by Krug's single-vineyard Clos du Mesnil wine, which comes from a tiny 11.5-acre parcel in the Côte de Blancs, which Krug purchased in 1971. The Clos du Mesnil wine was started by Rémi and Henri Krug, and was, until now, the house's most expensive cuvée. The 1996 Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne Clos du Mesnil (96 points on Wine Spectator's 100-point scale) was released this year at a price of $800 per bottle.

"The idea arose a few years after the revelation of Krug Clos du Mesnil, when both Henri and Rémi had in mind to find a second jewel vineyard," said Olivier Krug. "That jewel was owned by one of our suppliers in Ambonnay, which had always been one of our darling villages." In 1994, after working in the vineyard for a few years and some trial fermentations in small oak barrels (a technique Krug is known for), the company made an offer to purchase the vineyard.
The 1995 is the first vintage of the wine to be released. Krug's parent company, luxury goods giant LVMH, held a prerelease in early October for friends of the house, but Krug fans in the United States will have to wait until spring 2008 for the official release. Compounding the difficulty of acquiring a bottle is that only 250 cases were made.

www.Krug.com

In 1829, Champagne Bollinger introduced an instantly recognizable, dry, toasty style that connoisseurs around the globe have coveted ever since. Six generations of the Bollinger family have maintained that trademark style, and Bollinger is one of the rare
Grande Marque houses to be owned, controlled and managed by the same family since it was founded.

With 399 acres of vineyards situated in the best Grands Crus and Premiers Crus villages, Bollinger relies on its own estate for nearly two-thirds of its grape requirements, including the Pinot Noir that gives its Champagne its distinctive roundness and elegance. Bollinger is one of a select few houses that can control the quality of its grape supply so carefully.

Bollinger is renowned for its stringent quality standards, which are explicitly spelled out in the Bollinger Charter of Ethics and Quality. It adheres to traditional methods, including individual vinification of each marc and cru, barrel fermentation (it is the last
Champagne house to employ a full-time cooper) and extra-aging on the lees prior to disgorgement.

Members of the British Royal Court were among the first to embrace Bollingers unmistakable quality, and Queen Victoria made Bollinger the exclusive purveyor to the Court by Royal Warrant in 1884. Besides royalty, loyal devotees have included heads of state, celebrities and even famous fictional characters: Agent 007, James Bond, demands the exclusive Champagne Bollinger

www.Bollinger.com

Maranello gifts its 599 with better handling and as much cutting-edge tech as it can handle.

Ferrari will use the 2009 Geneva auto show to share some 599-related news.

599GTB Fiorano HGTE

A new package for the 599GTB Fiorano, called Handling GT Evoluzione (HGTE), aims to up the car?s handling prowess. Judging from the image seen here, the package includes new wheels and a unique grille?with one less horizontal and vertical bar?all the better to show off the prancing horse. We?re unaware of any changes to the car?s V-12 powerplant, but not to worry; it?s a Ferrari, and everyone knows it?s fast.

Ferrari calls the 599XX a ?technological laboratory,? saying that it will be used as a test bed for the company?s latest technologies. The cars will be offered to a select group of Ferrari owners and we expect the program to be similar to that involving the Enzo-based FXX.

Faster than a speeding Continental GT Speed.

It was previously referred to simply as ?the extreme Bentley,? but the crew from Crewe has now shared the proper name and details of the baddest Continental in the land. The Supersports badge is, of course, rooted in the company?s long history, as a 3-Liter Supersports was introduced in 1925 to follow the 3-Liter Speed?fitting since this new Continental Supersports is an evolution of the GT Speed.

What?s so super about it? For starters, it?s the fastest and most powerful Bentley ever to see production. The company is also excited to let us know that the Supersports will run on E85 as well as plain gasoline, helping the marque build up to its promise of offering a biofuel option for all of its vehicles by 2012. That will help the company?s CAFE numbers here in the U.S., as the EPA counts only the portion of gasoline contained in biofuels as contributing to fuel mileage. Aside from all of that, we think it?s the sexiest of the Continental bunch so far.

More Power Means More Fastness
Stowed under a newly vented hood is a reworked version of Bentley?s 6.0-liter W-12 putting out 621 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque. Those numbers represent increases of 21 hp and 37 lb-ft over the once-king-of-the-castle GT Speed. The extra output comes courtesy of increased boost from the twin turbochargers, hence the heat vents cut in the hood and larger air intakes feeding the front-mounted intercoolers. Bentley will fit a strengthened version of the six-speed ZF automatic (found in lesser Continentals) to deal with the extra power. Its new Quickshift system is said to chop shift times in half by cutting fuel and ignition during upshifts. The transmission also blips the throttle on downshifts and allows two-gear downshifts. The car?s all-wheel-drive system uses a 40/60 rear torque bias instead of the standard Continental?s 50/50 split.

Along with the added power, a new front fascia and a re-profiled deployable rear spoiler contribute to the model?s title of fastest Bentley. Beating the GT Speed?s top velocity by a mere 2 mph, the Supersports is claimed to reach 204 mph. Zero to 60 mph is said be achieved in 3.7 seconds, which would handily best our time of four seconds in the GT Speed. The rear track has been widened by two inches, necessitating wider rear fenders. The 10-spoke, 20-inch wheels that fill them contribute a savings of 22 pounds total (the entire car sheds 243 pounds compared to the GT Speed). Scale-friendly carbon-ceramic brakes will be standard.

Who Cares How Much it Weighs, That Interior Looks Hot
Weight reduction continues on the interior, where liberal use of Alcantara, soft leather, and carbon fiber can be found. All three materials cover new lightweight front seats with hide framing a quilted Alcantara center section, all attached to a slim carbon-fiber clamshell back. The rear seats have been removed in favor of an Alcantara-covered parcel shelf with a luggage-retaining carbon-fiber cross beam. The interior can be trimmed in single-tone black leather or black with either tan, gray, or red accents. We?re fans of the red shown in the promotional pictures.

The Supersports will be easily recognizable by its use of smoked steel in place of chrome trim. This dark material rings the headlights, coats the front grilles, and surrounds the glass. There is also an accent strip that incorporates a Supersports badge and runs along the bodyside at the bottom of the door. In the rear, a new valance has a black center section with larger dual split-oval tailpipes poking through. Supersports buyers will be able to select from the Continental?s standard array of 17 exterior colors as well as two pearlescent and?what most intrigues us?two matte colors exclusive to this range-topping model.

The car will be available here in the fall of 2009, with the biofuel-capable version showing up once it meets federal approval sometime in 2010.