Whisky Live Celebration - Gateway with Three Ships Whisky

It's one of the events I look forward to the most on the calendar, Whisky Live is back in KZN and has a new home, the Wavehouse at Gateway Theatre of Shopping. The event runs from the 1st of  June till the 3rd and see's a host of distilleries showcasing their finest single malts and blends, one of which will be Three Ships Whisky, whom will have something special on their stand for visitors to savor. 

When Three Ships launched its 15-Year Old Pinotage Cask Finish whisky end last year, consumers from around the world desperately tried to add this world's first whisky to their collection. Only a few bottles remain and those visiting the Whisky Live Celebrations at the Wavehouse in Gateway, Durban during the Whisky Live even will have the final chance to taste this extraordinary whisky. 

The whisky is the oldest released to date from the Three Ships and is the first in the world to have been finished in a cask previously used to mature uniquely South African wine cultivar, Pinotage. The grain and malt components of the whisky were first matured separately in American casks before being finished for different periods in eight casks previously used for Pinotage. The win casks imparted the typical Pinotage varietal character of the red berry fruit and a slight earthiness to the whisky which softens the malt component and complements the sweetness of the grain. 

At the Whisky Live Celebrations you can meet master distiller Andy Watts and join him in a tasting of the range of Three Ships Whisky, including the recently released Three Ships 10-Year Old Single Malt with a 2005 vintage statement. 

Tickets are available at www.ticketpros.co.za starting from R180 each and include a tasting glass, 16 tasting vouchers and a bottle of Consol Still Water. The events start at 18:00 until 22:00 and with than 100 whiskies to taste its an absolute treat for any whisky-lover. For more information, visit www.whiskylive.co.za, email info@whiskylive.co,za or Follow the accounts on twitter @whiskyliveSA @ThreeShipsWhisky @TheWhiskyMaker

Monday Choon: Tiësto & KSHMR - Harder ft.Talay Riley

This song has been stuck in my head for most of the weekend, its the new one by Tiesto and KSHMR and while it's not officially released yet there are many fan made videos on YouTube, the video below is taken from his live set at Ultra Miami. It's a brilliant track and I can't see the Dutch maestro out doing himself this year with any other song. It was first played at Ultra Miami during his sunset set where he had KSHMR join him on stage. I'm not sure when the song will be released officially but judging by the reception its getting already, its sure to be a chart topper, listen to it for yourself then you'll know why 

Bucket Seat: Toyota CH-R

I've go to be honest, even though I am a massive fan of Toyota and own one myself, they haven't been the brand to make anything exciting over the past few years. They liked to play it safe so to speak, give consumers a product that is reliable and good rather than make something dramatic and controversial. Well I'm not quite sure what happened at the Toyota HQ when they were coming up with the idea for today's car but I'm glad it did happen! Introducing the Toyota CH-R, there's many ways people are describing this car, but the best one I've heard so far is SAV. Sports Activity Vehicle for those who aren't too clued up on acronyms. It describes the vehicle perfectly and after spending a week with it and driving over 1000km I can confidently say that this car puts to bed the comment that Toyota make boring cars. 

STYLE

Lets talk about the styling, I mean how can you not talk about it? It's stunning, eye catching, in your face, bold and I could go on all day. While there is no clear symmetry, some how it all works and looks fantastic, it certainly is a head turner and it got a lot of people looking as a drove past, it could also be partially due to the bright blue colour but I'm sure it was more down to the bold design. The design itself makes it look like a raised sports coupe and the rear door handles being located next to the rear window gives it that illusion as well.  Toyota's designers have ventured out of their shell here but at the same time kept key aspects that make it great. It was mentioned that the CH-R was actually a concept for Toyota's sub brand Scion in the USA but after it was closed down, Toyota decided to adopt the car and badge it as its own. It's funky, hip and certainly a hit with the youth and that is who the car would be aimed at but to be honest its a car for anyone. The interior is pretty awesome too with dual cylindrical dials for your instrument cluster, a raised touch screen radio, nifty aircon controls with its own LCD screen, all in a cabin that's well designed and has lots of detail and high quality textures. 

PERFORMANCE

The CH-R is one of the only Toyota's with a turbo engine, it has a 1.2 litre 4 cylinder turbo petrol engine which pushes out 85kW and 185Nm of torque. Not much to write home about I know but combine this with its light body and 17" alloy wheels and you will be surprised at how nippy the CH-R is. As mentioned before, I drove over 1000km during my 7 day stint with the car and was pleasantly surprised at not only the performance of the car but also the fuel consumption with me managing to do just about 640km on one tank with 4 adults and a fully stocked boot. Note that the tank is only 40 litres, and I had a manual transmission, so that in itself is damn impressive! It picks up speed well and quite fast too, with me having to check regularly if I wasn't exceeding the speed limit, thankfully the car did have cruise control so I could set a speed and let it drive for me.  Around town its just as economical and because of its size and shape, it really is fun to drive. 

COMFORT

The car is comfortable, like any other Toyota, it is a pity that they do not offer leather seats as an option but the cloth seats it comes with is nice. Like I said, I had 4 adults in he CH-R and we all sat comfortably, the ride was smooth even with the large wheels, hardly any wind noise in the cabin. The aircon worked beautifully and access in and out the car was pretty effortless given the sloping roof. The boot space on the other hand could have been bigger with majority of the space being used up for a full size spare wheel. Also with it's edgy design, its not the best car to park with many blind spots, but the car doesn't come with PDC's or a reverse camera either. Fortunately the CH-R is not very big so it isn't that difficult to get into most spots. 

VERDICT

Prior to getting this car to review, I had a look at it in the showroom and from my first impression, I was not that impressed with what I saw but after spending time with the car and getting a feel for it, I am actually considering getting one. Firstly it's pricing is spot on for its target market, it well priced and has everything you'd need in a car, from bluetooth audio streaming, cruise control, dual climate control aircon, electric hand brake and it looks great. However with the one engine option, and keeping the entry price low, I would have like an option list to spec the car up a bit more as it has so much potential to be more than what it is. Some creature comforts for those who aren't as young but want a CH-R for themselves, so some nice alloy options, leather seats, PDC's and reverse camera, a better LCD radio as this one isn't the best, some sound options and sun roof. Perhaps they're saving that for the second spec? We'll have to wait and see but for now, the CH-R is still a winner in my books. 

SPECIFICATIONS

Engine	1.2 litre TurboPetrol 4 cylinder
Gear Box	6 speed manual
Power	85kW
Torque	185Nm
Top Speed	200km/h
Fuel Tank	40L
Price	R 318,500*

The End is Nigh

No, the world isn't ending, well for some of us it feels that way. Every year millions of grown men around the world bemoan this weekend that is coming, it signals the end of weeks of anguish, excitement and glory, it's the last weekend of the English Premier League. While this year saw Chelsea secure the title with 2 games to spare, it wasn't plain sailing from the 5 times winners of the trophy. They started off the season on a bit of a shaky note with loses at home and dropped points against silly teams but Antonio Conte and his men then put their heads down and while focus wasn't so much on them anymore went about their business notching up 3 points every weekend and slowly started building momentum for their title charge. While many tried but fell away, there was no denying that Chelsea deserve their title. After a small stumble towards the end of the season, well more like a sudden surge from fellow London club Tottenham Hotspurs but a loss to Westham a week ago saw that one put to bed.

While Chelsea will are in celebrations mode, it will have to be cut short for the final league game as well as the final of the FA Cup which they will be facing another London rival, Arsenal. While on the subject of the Gunners, over the last decade, Arsenal's claim to fame is finishing in the top 4, in fact in the 2015/16 season they celebrated finishing in the top four as though they won the title. This year however saw many other clubs push their way into their seat, with the resurgence of Liverpool and Mauricio Pochettino men making progress from last season to nudge into second place, this season could see Arsene Wenger's team finish outside a Champions League place. There is however a small chance that Arsenal still could get fourth place, with the Top 3 places almost already decided with Manchester City's win over Westbrom last night, Liverpool have to win their last game against Middlesbrough to guarantee they Merseyside club a return to Champions League football. 

Having had a terrible second half to the season, most of the damage was done in January, Jurgen Klopp's men have found a last bit of fight in them to end the season on a high, following a triumphant rout at Westham over the weekend, spirits are high in the camp and they hope to transpire this onto the field on Saturday when they end their campaign at home in front of the Anfield faithful. Anfield normally being a good hunting ground for the reds was the scene for many disasters this season, goalless draws against minnows and even defeat from teams who were fighting relegation. The Reds have found themselves being complacent at times and other times, looked like the best team in the world. It's a Jekyll and Hyde complex that Klopp needs to figure out and fix before the start of the new season as this team has potential to go on and win trophy's. Obviously there needs to be some changes in the team, our defence isn't the best and it's become a problem for us with teams knowing how to exploit this issue.

One can't do a season wrap up and not talk about the teams from Manchester, lets give the Red side a break and talk about the Blue side for a bit. There was much fanfare at the start of the season with the appointment of Pep Guardiola as their manager, he is undoubtedly one of the best in the world and given the kitty City have at their disposal, we were all expecting big signings and a strong City challenge but Pep quickly learnt that the English league isn't like the Spanish or German one, he didn't make any notable signings apart from Jesus in January who gave his team that spark which kick started them and helped finish 3rd, I feel if he didn't get injured City would have been there with Spurs fighting Chelsea for the title but alas it wasn't to be. 

Now the Red side, well with the leagues favourite manager taking charge at the most successful club in the Premier League, you know everyone's eyes would be cast onto Old Trafford checking their transfers, results and what colour tie Jose is wearing. And Jose is one to never shy away from the media, so that coupled with his breaking of the transfer record fee by acquiring Paul Pogba at an astronomical price, he was only heaping more pressure on him and the team. Suffice to say, while they didn't do as badly as previous seasons since Alex Fergurson departed but they didn't do that great either with them pretty much cemented in 6th place, even after their long stint of unbeaten games that saw them move no where. They have a lot of work to do but are still holding on to their hopes of reaching the Champions League by winning the Europa League where they will face a very tough Ajax team. Knowing Jose thought, he'd park the bus and hope the game goes to penalties so you never know. 

Never the less, this season was great entertainment as always, it provided us with much to talk about, whether it be bad refereeing of which we saw plenty of, or great games such as Monday nights 7 goal thriller with Chelsea and Watford. One thing we can be sure of is next season is going to be a whole lot more interesting with teams back in the Champions League and competing for the title. It's going to be a busy summer and the Confed Cup coming up in Russia should seal the void that we might have over this break period. 

Bucket Seat: Mike Williams ft. Brēzy - Don't Hurt

This young talented DJ and producer from Netherlands was featured a while back on the blog with his track that he collaborated with Tiesto. Mike Williams since then has been slowly gaining success on his own accord and his latest track featuring Brezy has shot up to number one in the Beatport Future House Chart. It's a great song with a mixture of deep house and techno, with the vocals just elevating it to a new level. He really does seem to be the next big thing coming out of the Netherlands with many of the legends in the industry tipping him so, so we'll keep a close eye on him. 

Bucket Babe: Juené Ferreira

It's hard to believe we're 5 months down in 2017, but at least we can look forward to the 5th beauty to be featured this year on the blog. We're keeping it really local in May as this months lass hails from the warm shores of the East Coast. She is a go-getter, entrepreneur and business woman. She's achieved a lot in her short existence and has big plans for her business and career going forward.  

Juené Ferreira

Bio

My name is Juené Ferreira, I am widely ambitious and ready to take the world by storm. I started my own business when I was sixteen years old and now own one of the most popular up and coming swimwear brands in South Africa. Get in touch with me on Facebook, Instagram, Website and Snapchat: jueneferreira 

Links

Q&A

1. Hot girls and hot cars go hand in hand, what ride would you like to  see yourself in?

• That's true, I would like to see myself in the limited edition Bugatti Veyron by Mansory Vibere (I like them fast).

2. What sandwich are you most likely to make for me? and will it be toasted or plain?

• I'm most likely not going to make you a sandwich, I'd rather treat you at your favorite restaurant. 

3. Everyone loves popcorn (well I think they do) what is your topping/ sprinkle of choice?

• That's an easy one, salt and vinegar for the wine every single time!

4. Dream cover shoot?

• Sports Illustrated.

5. If given a choice, full time model or full time executive, what would you choose?

• Full time executive, I like being a boss babe.

6. Growing up you must have had someone you aspired to be, so who is your role model?

• Both of my parents came from absolutely nothing and both became self made millionaires in their own right. I aspire to be like them .

7. Anyone holding that hand yet? or is it available?

• I have a boyfriend, he's a professional rugby player. I love a strong athlete.

8. Obviously being a female you would love fashion. Favourite label/ designer?

• I am obsessed with Dolce & Gabbana, they set the trends and other designers follow suit. D&G define the luxury lifestyle of fashion and I hope to do with same with my swimwear.

9. What type of music gets your booty shaking?

• I love hip hop, rap and R&B. I can be quite gangster (LOL I wish).

10. Which city is your dream party destination?

• I'm a huge party girl so I would definitely want to go to Ibiza or Las Vegas (cliche I know!)

Bucket Tech: Hisense C30 Rock

Many ask "what is the best phone on the market?" but often the answer to that is an over priced, smartphone of which 80% of the features you would never use. What about the other phones on offer then? Not the bottom end ones but like the mid range ones that are decently priced and are decent enough devices? Not much gets said about them and I often feel that they don't get as much attention as they deserve. One of those devices is the new Hisense C30 Rock and I had the opportunity to play around with one for the past three weeks and while it not be the best phone on the market it certainly did surprise me in many other aspects.

STYLING

Upon receiving the device, I was please that the box it came in was small and compact and not full of other junk that just ends up taking a lot of space. Unboxing the device was quick and easy and too my surprise the phone was much larger than I thought it would be. It looked great, with a rose goldish/ copper border and screws, rubber sides and what looked like a carbon fiber back (not sure if it was real carbon fiber or not). It gives the phone a real rugged but cool look, which is part of the image Hisense is trying to portray with the device seeing that it's one of the most durable and hardy phones on the market. 

DURABILITY

It's one of the only devices I know of that has an IP68 rating and IK04 shock resistant, so not only is it dust and waterproof but it can also withstand some heavy falls. Reading it on paper and testing it out for yourself is two different things, I was hesitant at first but as the tests went on I became more and more confident with the C30 Rock, where I went as far as pouring a glass of water over it at a crowded bar just to show people how waterproof it is. People we left amazed and so was I. There was a few drop test conducted as well, some purposely and some not so much on purpose, safe to say the C30 Rock didn't even get a scratch from any of them. So full marks on the durability tests and I agree 100% with them calling it "life-dimensional", where its ready to withstand whatever life throws at it. 

PROCESSING

While the device might be pretty impressive in terms of build quality and strength, one still has to remember that it still has to work. The phone has an impressive chipset with the efficient Qualcomm Snapdragon octa-core 64 bit processor at its heart. It has 3GB of RAM and 32GB of on-board storage, with it running Android OS, of which it is the latest version of Nougat, you have access to Google drive so your storage capacity could be endless depending on the size allocated to your account. The phone boasts a 3000mAh battery with quick charge. There's a lot you can do with this phone before the battery dies on you. It even has an automatic battery saving mode to ensure a prolonged battery life. While its not the fastest phone I've used, it still wasn't slow and coped with most of the tasks I used it for. 

DISPLAY

The C30 Rock does have a big screen, a 5.2" Full HD Display with 424 pixels per inch. Its a good screen but felt the quality of it did lack in brightness now and then but regardless, it was good quality to view on. The touch screen is extremely responsive with zero lag and the phone came with some handy tricks. For example, when watching a video, if my eyes for some reason deviate from watching the screen, the phone would pause the video and start playing it again when I focused on the screen again. 

CAMERA

The C30 Rock comes with a 16 megapixel Q-Shot primary camera with LED Flash and takes some decent quality pictures and videos of which I cannot show you none because my SD card that I had in it got corrupted... It's shutter speed isn't the fastest so make sure your hand is steady when taking pics and hold in place until after the picture is captured for perfect results. Pics in low light are decent quality as well. It has a host of modes and settings for you to play with to get the perfect snap.

VERDICT

For the overall product you getting and at the price you getting it at, the Hisense C30 Rock is an absolute steal. If you're not to bothered with too many features and want a good quality phone that does the job and not going to give you heart palpitations if it falls or gets liquid spilt on it, the C30 Rock is for you. 

Monday Choon: Armin van Buuren - My Symphony

The king of trance, Armin van Buuren released a new track at Ultra Miami, "My Symphony" is then anthem that comes off his latest album, The Best of Armin Only. It's a great track and represents everything about Armin and his years of Trance and what he's done for trance famil with his weekly podcast, A State of Trance. Its got a great beat and and build up with massive trance  background. There is an extended version of the track but the original kicks ass.