The American

Long Island Distillery is a craft spirits producer surrounded by 5,000 acres at the western end of Long Island’s North Fork wine trail, not far from the Hamptons. This month it will release its first rye whiskey. The Rough Rider Bull Moose three-barrel rye ($40) spends a year aging in new American oak, followed by two or three more months in bourbon barrels and finally two or three months in single-malt whiskey barrels. The resulting spirit has a crisp, fruity nose, notes of caramel, vanilla, and blackberry on...

Sicily’s Taormina Film Festival is pulling together a tribute to James Gandolfini who died suddenly while on holiday in Rome en route to the event. Gandolfini was due to receive the Taormina City Prize and to teach a masterclass on Saturday in the coastal town. Festival organizers Mario Sesti and Tiziana Rocca said today, “We are deeply saddened. We had heard from James Gandolfini a few hours before and he was very happy to receive this award and to be able to travel to Italy.” They are currently organizing a tribute to his “career and talent.” They noted, “He was the American actor that better than anyone else has been able to interpret the Italian-American with his personality full of contrasts, ambition, pain, humor. He was the face of the golden age of television, but also a memorable film actor.” The festival concludes Saturday night. Related: R.I.P. James Gandolfini